Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare
Christian Ministry and Advocacy
Attached is the 13th Mandated report from the Regional director of the Administration of Children and Families, Denver office. What he describes is horrible, but not isolated to just the Spirit Lake Reservation. Prayer is vital for the children and individuals caught up in what is happening.
- While praying for those in need, including leadership, please pray with Ephesians 6 in mind
…Baby Veronica’s rights, Women’s rights, and States Rights…vs Tribal Gov’t Tyranny – What the Cherokee Nation is pushing for and the South Carolina Supreme Court erroneously overlooked – is that any woman, of any heritage, who sleeps with any man of any apparent heritage – even a one night stand – CANNOT go ahead with an adoption without somehow ensuring that this man does not have a smidgen of tribal heritage.
WHAT does this kind of ruling do for the rights of women – of unwed mothers? What kinds of hoops will teenage girls now have to go through if the Supreme Court rules for the tribal governments? Where is the outrage from women’s groups over this case?
And yet – no one would say a thing of she opted to abort her baby instead. The tribal government wouldn’t – couldn’t stop her from doing that. Just consider the ramifications of a tribal government victory in this case.
Our Families are NOT Chattel for tribal governments – no matter how many claim them to be. As parents, we will continue to fight for full rights and freedom for our families – every one of whom is a United States Citizen – even if this Supreme Court makes the wrong decision. Read More…Click the headline
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Children continue to be abused while perpetrators go free. Further, he reports that we were lied to by the U.S. attorney on February 27 when those gathered at the Spirit Lake town hall meeting were assured that he was going to speak to the elderly woman who stood up last to tell her story. Mr. Larson will remember her, I am sure. She tried very hard to speak at that meeting but wasn’t allowed to. Tragically, because of the neglect of her story, the two children she tried to talk about – who obviously, desperately, need to be taken from that home immediately and given intense counseling, have been observed continuing the same behavior and another child was hurt. May God be with us – how is it that we as a state and nation allow this to continue?
When an elected official shows not only class and dignity, but a sincere desire to uphold Constitutional rights, some of us tend to feel a little shocked.
Below is the apology delivered by Representative Kevin Cramer following a disagreement at a meeting of the North Dakota Council on Abused Women in late March.
First – from what I understand of what happened, he did not need to apologize. He was standing up for me, my daughters, my granddaughter. He was standing up for Due Process and our Constitutional rights. This is exactly what I want him to do. But he did apologize, even though he didn’t need to, and for that, I think he has class.
“With the varied reports across the nation of corruption and abuse within tribal government, to continue the charade that taxpayer money is unquestionably well managed and appropriately used to serve the needy within Indian Country is unconscionable. Instead of the BIA attempting to “make it hurt” in order to keep outlandish budgets, let’s ensure that all elderly and children from across the nation, no matter their heritage or location, are the number one priority and are well cared fo, while instead, cutting out the real waste and corruption that we know exists within bureaucratic budgets.”
How many women will simply suffer in silence rather than attempt to be heard in tribal court? How do laws like this seriously protect an already victimized woman? What can be done to ensure that victims know they have the option to refuse tribal jurisdiction and seek justice elsewhere?
Further – could you please tell me in what manner women who would be affected by these amendments were consulted? During the discussion of these amendments, what non-tribal entity or organization represented and advocated for needs of women who live within Indian Country?
The statutory and constitutional issues addressed in this case impact the equal protection, due process, liberty, and state rights provisions of children in need of care.
A child’s best interests should be considered in every child custody determination. There is no presumption that residing with members of a child’s tribe is in the child’s best interests, particularly when the child is domiciled off the tribe’s reservation.
Further, tribal governments lack inherent jurisdiction over nonmembers. To the extent ICWA applies to the parent of an Indian child, which parent is not a member of the tribe, then it violates the equal protection provision of the federal constitution, even if the parent domiciles on the tribe’s reservation.
The almost 40 children returned to on-reservation placements in abusive homes, many headed by known sex offenders, at the direction of the Tribal Chair. These children remain in the full time care and custody of sexual predators available to be raped on a daily basis. Since I filed my first report noting this situation, nothing has been done by any of you to remove these children to safe placements.
Sierra and her adopted parents openly spoke about how Sierra was abused and used sexually as a child. Sierra recounted how she was first given to a man at the age of ten and how her younger sister was used in the same manner. Sierra explained how she attempted to run away over a dozen times and begged to be returned to the only family she ever felt safe with and knew she was loved—the Campbells. She told how while in a tribal foster home she was ultimately cut down from a rope she used in attempt to hang herself.
There’s another side to the ICWA that until very recently has received little disclosure or news coverage. Just why would a family (2-parent, single-parent, multi-generational, or blended) decide that reservation life is not what they CHOOSE for their family? The reasons are many, but some of the reasons are shocking. What cannot be denied is [...]
by Elizabeth Sharon Morris “They just took my baby after 3 years…her sobbing is forever etched in my soul. She wanted us to save her and we couldn’t. Devastated.” An adoptive mother contacted CAICW on Facebook with this message at 1 am on Saturday, November 20, 2010, just hours after losing her little girl. CAICW [...]
. This is the true story of an American tribal member who, after coming to know Jesus Christ, realized just how much policies within tribal and federal government were hurting his extended family. Roland grew up watching members of his family die of alcoholism, child abuse, suicide, and violence on the reservation. Like many others, [...]
My husband did not feel his reservation was a safe place to raise children and thus raised them elsewhere. Further, we are not alone. Many tribal members have left the reservations on purpose and taken their children with them. As U.S Citizens, we have a right to choose how and where we want our children raised. We had personally chosen the friends and family we would have liked to be guardians should the need arise.
A terrible injustice that has occurred to a two-year-old South Carolina child named Veronica Rose and her adoptive parents. Two years ago Veronica’s Latina birth mother chose Matt and Melanie to love, nurture and raise her child. To this day, Veronica’s birth mother remains committed to her decision and Veronica has been a thriving, happy [...]
The mother chose us to adopt (non-native) and the father agreed at the time. Now to bring you up to speed since our last letter Nov ’09. We waited until the bio-father was out of jail in hopes to meet with him and his family about the adoption. It was our understanding that the only reason the tribe intervened in November ’09 was because they believed the paternal family wanted to adopt her and that the father changed his mind…
CONGRATULATIONS TO FIVE WONDERFUL FAMILIES Who in the last two months have either successfully completed their adoptions or will be completing them shortly…AND a VERY SPECIAL THANKS – To all those who have been praying faithfully for these families as well as the many others who contact us!! God Bless all you awesome prayer warriors!
I’m not going to diplomatically dance around so as not to step on toes. Kids are dying. Beautiful Michelle hanged herself in a simple closet, where all she had to do was stand up to save herself.
Over twenty years earlier, I stepped into the closet where Michelle, who was taller then I, had hanged herself that morning. The wooden rod from which clothing hung just touched the top of my head. She could have saved herself simply by standing up. How could she have hated herself that much? How could anyone hate themselves that much? How deep her despair must have been…
October 30, 2001- Mr. Sowell is currently a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute in Stanford, California. In a world where the media are ready to magnify innocuous remarks or a minor problem into a trauma or a disaster, there is remarkably little attention being paid to cruelties routinely inflicted on children by our laws [...]
