First of all, when there's family violence on the reserve, usually it's the police who are called, and they decide whether or not there's a level of violence that warrants the laying of charges. Those charges are not heard by the chief and council; they're heard by a court. If a court finds that a person is guilty, they'll put certain orders in place, usually non-communication orders. Often, whichever parent is going to look after the children will stay in the house and the other party has to stay away.
The chief and council get involved when it's a mixed marriage where one's a status Indian and the other's non-status, and the status Indian may want to borrow money from the band to pay the wife off so she can get a settlement and they can get on with their lives. We don't have the financial resources to accommodate those arrangements. That's how most marital breakdowns are handled—one party's paid off and they settle their differences through financial means. Alternatively, they may want another place for the husband to live so the wife and children can live in the house. Sometimes it's the father who has the children and the wife who has to leave.