I posted this on the QDRO board, but thought I'd try my luck here as well---

The 401(k) plan of a Native American tribe has received an order from a tribal court dividing a participant's interest in the plan. The QDRO rules require that an order be issued pursuant to state law, but the order sent to the tribal plan was issued pursuant to tribal law. Will the plan violate the anti-alienation rule of the Code and ERISA (assuming it applies) if it recognizes the alternate payee's interest under the order?

I have researched this in the past and concluded that a tribal DRO is not a QDRO for this very reason. I understand it can be resubmitted to an appropriate state court for reissuance (I have heard of this being done, for example, where a DRO is presented from a Mexican or Canadian court to "domesticate" it), and then it may qualify as a QDRO. I think there are some threads on this message board to this effect.

duplicate posting
http://benefitslink.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=33435