The Obama administration is supporting the birth father and the continued use of the ICWA law.

CNN: Supreme Court tackles Native American adoption dispute

But Brown argues that he successfully established paternity under state law, and qualifies as a "parent" under the ICWA, thereby giving him proper control and custody of his daughter.

CNN: Supreme Court tackles Native American adoption dispute

The federal law in question is the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978, a response to decades of often abusive social service practices that resulted in the separation of large numbers of native youngsters from their families, in many cases to non-Indian homes.

CNN: High court to tackle Native American adoption dispute