PHOENIX (AP) – A state appeals court has ruled a move by lawyers for Arizona’s Gila River Indian Community to shift custody proceedings to its own court came too late as the tribe tried to intervene in the adoption of a Native American girl to a non-Native American couple.

The tribe had aimed to transfer the case to its jurisdiction under the Indian Child Welfare Act – a federal law that prioritizes placing Native American children removed from the custody of their parents with relatives or another Native American family. It was passed in 1978 to prevent the break-up of Native American families after officials found children within tribes were being removed from homes at disproportionately high rates.

“The net effect of today’s appellate decision, if upheld, will be to tear a small child away from her siblings and from her Akimel O’otham heritage,” Gov. Stephen Lewis, of Gilar River Indian Community, said in a written statement. “Our Community believes this is not at all in the best interest of the child, nor does it represent the intent of the Indian Child Welfare Act.”

He said the tribe’s legal team is reviewing options for an appeal.

A months-long dispute over the adoption case of the Arizona girl born in 2014 to a woman who is a member of the Gila River Indian Community has pitted the tribe southwest of Phoenix against the Goldwater Institute.

The Arizona-based conservative advocacy group is challenging the constitutionality of the law in federal court and representing the girl’s adoptive parents in state court.

The toddler is identified only as A.D. in court documents.

The Arizona Court of Appeals said Thursday that the tribe did not request to transfer court proceedings until the parental rights of the girl’s biological mother had been terminated in March 2015 and her foster parents had gained permanent custody of her.

The girl was taken into state custody within about a week after her birth because both she and her biological mother had tested positive for amphetamines and opiates, court documents said.

The panel of judges said they based part of their ruling on the girl having lived with the foster parents since the month she was born, and believing that removing her from the home could prove potentially harmful for her.

“We’re very grateful that the court has laid this case to rest and ensured that A.D. will have a bright future with a loving adoptive family,” Adi Dynar, the Goldwater Institute attorney who argued the case, said in a release.