States Not Complying with ICWA – for Good Reason

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Jun 152009
 

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The Second Appellate Court in California issued a partially published opinion in Justin L. v. Superior Court, and stated in part;

“We are growing weary of appeals in which the only error is theDepartment’s
failure to comply with ICWA. (See In re I.G. (2005) 133Cal.App.4th 1246,
1254-1255 [14 published opinions in 2002 through 2005, and72 unpublished cases
statewide in 2005 alone reversing in whole or in part fornoncompliance with
ICWA].) Remand for the limited purpose of the ICWAcompliance is all too common.
(Ibid.) ICWA’s requirements are not new. Yetthe prevalence of inadequate notice
remains disturbingly high.”

Perhaps compliance is difficult because the law itself is unjust, and caring people don’t like to see children subjected to not only unjust, but dangerous law.

And under the single criterion that a home be ICWA eligable, kids are continually being placed into horrible situations with the blessing of both the federal and tribal governments.

And not just kids of tribal heritage – but children of every heritage, because a child doesn’t need to be 100% tribal to for a tribe to have jurisdiction over them through ICWA. Most tribes require only 1/4 blood quantum, meaning the child has an even greater heritage somewhere else. Some tribes require even less to claim a child. For example, a child in Texas has less than 2% tribal heritage, but the tribe is trying to claim him.

The law itself is a crime, and as long as it stays that way, there will be difficulty in getting compassionate people to comply.
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Two more families ask for help

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Jun 082009
 

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We recieved two more letters this last week asking for help.

One is from an aunt of an enrollable child. The other is a foster / pre-adoptive home. They both need lots of prayer and good legal advice.

I am still having trouble finding time to update our website with letters. I don’t think I’ve updated it in a year. But that doesn’t mean the letters have stopped coming. It just means I’m overwhelmed with the children in my home, and trying to provide for everyone.

The problems with ICWa continue to exist and are hurting children across the country.

I pray for time to update the many letters we’ve recieved.
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ICWA steals adoption option from Young Mother

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May 282009
 

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My teenager is pregnant. Freshly graduated from high school, she had planned to go on to college in the fall. There is no argument, from her or me, that she made plenty of foolish decisions over the winter. But here we are, and what do we do now.

We love children, and we love this child. We won’t allow it to be hurt in any way. Abortion isn’t even a consideration. It’s not gonna happen.

But neither is adoption an option. The Indian Child Welfare Act would kick in if we tried it. But it would be over my dead body, literally, that I sit back and allow the tribe to have anything to do with the care and custody of my grandchild.

Too many childen on the reservation, under the “care” of tribal governments, are being raised amid poverty, violence, and alcohol, drug & sexual abuse. Tribal leaders claim that this is the best interest of the child. Bull.

The only ones benefiting from this set up are the tribal leaders themselves – and the money and power they have aquired by having a certain number of tribal members under their thumbs.

Quit blaming rotten reservation life on what happened 150 years ago, 100 years ago, 50 years ago, or even 5 days ago to this or that tribe or tribal member. It has to do with adults making rotten choices, same as my daughter (and I) have done. Plain and simple, everyone needs to grow up and take responsiblity for their lousy lives. And quit subjecting innocent children to the garbage they’re being subjected to.

We are faced then with only one choice – my daughter keeps custody and lets go of many the plans she had for the future, or at the very least, greatly adjusts those plans.

I will do all that I can to help her get through some type of schooling and care for her child. If I have to take physical care of my grandchild, I will do it without going to court for legal custody. I’ve seen too many grandparents robbed of their grandchildren by the tribe to want to mess with it.

Another Win Against ICWA

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May 152009
 

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A child and his family won in court at 2 pm Friday May 8, 2009. The child won the right to be adopted by the family his birth parents had chosen. The tribe lost. Praise God.

The child’s grandmother by birth wrote, “Thanks to everyone for all the prayers and support during the past two years. It has been quite the battle and I know this is but one small victory over ICWA. Thanks again.”

This may seem like a small victory to this humble grandmother, but for the child, it is a huge victory. Again, Praise God.
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ICWA Continues to hurt Famlies

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Apr 132009
 

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We get at least three letters a month at http://www.CAICW.org from families that need help. The Indian Child Welfare Act is hurting them and their kids. But we don’t have much for staff at CAICW. It’s a volunteer org made up of busy parents. We care, we pray, we encourage, we tell our stories. We try to connect people that can help each other.

But the Tribes have the money and attorneys. Tribal government leaders want our children to bolster their memberships, bring them more money, and help them to keep their little kingdoms. They don’t really care about what’s good and right for our kids. All our kids are to them is warm bodies that bring federal dollars.

And what would the BIA be if all tribal members left the tribal system? The BIA doesn’t want to lose its purpose – and people that work for the BIA don’t want to lose their government jobs.

Lord Please help us. It’s a tribal industry and our kids are pawns in a game.
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Are Indians Protected by the Constitution?

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Dec 302008
 

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Reflections on the Chocktaw Decision (1998) (emphasis by Blog author)
By Dr. William Allen

In a major decision delivered earlier this month, the Supreme Court held that Indian parents have no rights over their offspring that the federal courts will protect. The case was Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield, and considering its significance, it is shocking how few people have paid attention to it.

The facts of the case are uncomplicated. The mother of twins, with the consent of their natural father, elected to give birth to her children two hundred miles away from the Indian reservation where she lives. The reason: She preferred to have her children adopted off the reservation. She found willing adoptive parents in Orrey and Vivian Holyfield. Acting in concert, the natural parents arranged for the birth of the twins, respected the prescribed procedures of the law as far as they were known, and effectuated the adoption.

The case makes no suggestion of any exchange of money or other kind of consideration. The natural parents were not bribed, the children were not sold. Apparently the natural mother and father were acting on their judgment about the best interests of their children. The matter is analogous to the Mexican mother who exerts herself to give birth on American soil in order to give her child the advantage of United States citizenship.

To the untrained eye there would be nothing here to go to court about. Though unmarried, the mother and father agreed. They found willing adoptive parents. And they followed the laws applicable to U.S. citizens.

The mere fact that they were Indians, however, robbed the parents of their rights.

Standing between the wishes of the parents and the interests of the twins is the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Congress’s aim in the act was to preserve the racial integrity of Indian tribes in general and the cultural integrity of particular tribes. Congress responded to a legitimate problem—namely, how to halt the wholesale removal (especially the involuntary removal) of Indian children from tribes. But Congress’s solution came at the cost of closing state courthouses—and even federal courts if the majority on the Court is to be believed—to Indian parents and children.

In the Court’s interpretation, the Indian Child Welfare Act gives a tribe veto power over the wishes of both parents and children in custody cases.

Although Congress mandated in the law that the wishes of parents and children should be considered, and that decisions be made in the best interests of children, the act’s lodging of final authority in tribal courts, which are not even reviewable in federal courts, means that those mandates of Congress are rather prayers than orders.

How could Congress justify this closure of the federal courts to Indians? The Choctaw tribe, in its brief to the Supreme Court, sought to couch the denial of court access in the familiar language of affirmative action: “. . . . if a jurisdictional holding occasionally results in denying an Indian plaintiff a forum to which a non-Indian has access, such disparate treatment of the Indian is justified because it is intended to benefit the class of which he is a member.”

Group benefits; individual penalties—that is the recurring lesson of state-sanctioned racial preferences, benign or malign. The question is, why does the Supreme Court extend to Congress a benefit of the doubt on this affirmative action program in the first place? That is where the ambiguities of Indian law come into play.

To start, Indian law is a sub-category of American law, treated neither by the Court nor by Congress as fully comprehended within American law. Indian tribes are called “dependent sovereigns,” meaning that Congress can deal with them in their corporate capacities without regard to the effects of its actions on Indian individuals.

The ambiguity enters when one notes that Indian persons, as opposed to tribes, are also citizens of the United States—paying our taxes, participating in our elections, and defending our freedom. When, therefore, Congress and the Court abandon these brothers and sisters of our equal liberty to the rule of their tribes, Congress and the Court (and we through them) are actually withdrawing certain of the guarantees we otherwise promise and certainly expect for ourselves.

In the Mississippi case these questions of constitutional status did not arise, for the Court rightly limited itself to statutory interpretation. No constitutional questions were raised in the arguments for the case, although that may only reflect the fact that the parents were not represented there. If the Supreme Court had considered the constitutional questions involved, the decision might have been very different. A consideration of the constitutional questions involved may well have produced a Yoder-like decision, reaffirming a “charter of rights for parents.”

Yoder, of course, was the 1972 case that defended the right of the Amish community to be different by defending the right of Amish parents to guide the religious upbringing of their children. There the Court ruled that Amish parents could not be compelled to send their children to high schools because of the devastating effects such a practice would have on Amish culture. Yoder shows us how we can preserve people’s distinct cultures and ways of life by means of defending the individual rights of parents and children.

The rights of all Americans are implicated in the denial of rights to Indian parents sanctioned in Choctaw. The notion of truly sovereign tribes connected to the United States by treaty rights became untenable from the moment Indians became citizens. The granting of citizenship to Indians interested every other American in the limitations and privileges of Indian citizenship.

If American citizenship per se poses no limitation on the power of Congress to legislate away the rights of Indians, we must sooner or later expect other citizens to be brought no less surely under the so-called “plenary power” of Congress. Our Indian brothers and sisters cannot defer to the “great white father” without making the rest of us equally vulnerable. The problem highlighted by enforcement of the Indian Child Welfare Act illustrates the foolishness of preserving “independent” tribes within “subordinate” states. We were better off when the tribes were entirely and truly sovereign.

[1] Published in the Okanogan County Chronicle (Omak, WA), August 2, 1998.
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Grandparents, Hurt by ICWA, write:

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Dec 242008
 

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“We are in a situation where we have a daughter-in-law who is 1/8 (tribal) —and one grandchild 1/16 (not eligible per blood quantum), who have been become part of the Department of Human Services system.

We are the closest blood kin, as paternal grandparents, and want to provide for our 10 month old granddaughter while our son and his wife meet the requirements and hopefully reunite their family in 3 to about 9 months.

I say “hopefully” now that the… (tribe) has become involved. They say they have “rights” based upon the Indian Child Welfare Act based upon descendancy!”

… 3 years later

…We paid over $55,000 of our retirement monies because of the tribe and ICWA–

…. We had to help our daughter-in-law in the same fashion as our son, because her family/tribe did nothing but put their full force into destroying the family, and using ICWA did irraparable damage to our families in composition, financially, emotionally.

We firmly believe that when our son and wife try to begin another family, the tribe will find them and destroy whatever peace they might achieve, inventing whatever lies they might to achieve their own ends. Do I sound bitter? You bet. I need to do something constructive, but with our own situation, with illness, and now, having much less financial resources, must first try to keep our own heads above the financial waters. …

Sincerely, (name), former grandparents of (child’s name)
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“ICWA for Dummies” – Illegality of ICWA for Those That Can’t Think

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Dec 212008
 

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Okay, some people can’t wrap their brains around why what happened last week to the tiny baby who was taken away from a safe and loving home, the adoptive home of Clint and Heather Larson, and given to a foster family on the dysfunctional and dangerous Leech Lake Reservation was totally and utterly wrong.

Let me say it very slowly and clearly for those with brain dysfunction….

My husband’s family is from Cass Lake, a major town on the Leech Lake Reservation. Leech Lake is very, very Dangerous to live in.

The Tribal Government …(Get ready for this) …Does Not Own My Children.
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Thus, this related concept:
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The Tribal Government …(Get ready for this) …Does Not Own Anyone’s Children.
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Now, I know that many have missed the news over the last couple years. But some might still remember names and issues in the back of their heads. Names like… Abramoff and Conrad Burns, and others that, along with Illinois Governor Blagojevich, believe in the “Pay to Play” concept.
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Okay, so now I’ll say this slowly.
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Tribal Governments… Get More Money Per Head. (I will post some of the many federal programs tied to tribal census figures later.)
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Thus, they Want More Heads.
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The Last Census Indicates that Many Enrollable Families are Moving AWAY From the Reservations.
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MEANING – Tribal Governments NEED Bodies in order to have Their “Sovereign Nation.” If Bodies move away, they Need Some Way to Regain their Population.
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Tribal Governments…(Are you Ready?) have been spending more and more on buying Senators over the last thirty years, and currently Contribute Millions of Dollars to Federal Campaigns. (See the Open Secrets web site for documentation)
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Tribal Governments have contributed large amounts of money to federal campaigns, including those of several on the Senate Committee for Indian Affairs. Former Senator Conrad Burns is one great example of a corrupt Senator changing his mind for a price. In the 1990’s, the tribes considered him one of their opponents as he rightly tried to introduce legislation to limit tribal jurisdiction over non-members. He supported our stand on ICWA. He also tried to keep the National Bison Range as a national jewel, where people of every race would have opportunity for employment.
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However, after the tribes derided and embarrassed him over the jurisdiction issue at a Billings meeting, he changed his mind. He began taking money from the tribes and was involved with Abramoff. He did a total Flip Flop on the Bison Range issue. When we went back to him about ICWA, his staff said he would never support new Indian policy legislation unless all 500 tribes agreed to it.
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We lived in Montana at the time and helped to vote him out of office, but not before he’d done damage. At any rate, he’s just one example of one of our great Senators who loved money a little too much. There are many more.
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And The Tribes Have Lots of Money to Give. Research Tribal Campaign Contributions.

Now, ask yourself two questions:
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#1) WHY have so many enrollable members moved off the reservation? As for our family and many of our relatives, the answer is that The Reservation Is No Place to Safely Raise Your Children.

Some will try figure out some way to blame it on the “white man.” Only trouble is, MOST Enrollable members are more white than Indian. Can you Understand that? It’s easy math. Most tribes require only 1/4 blood quantum to be enrollable. SOME TRIBES have much LESS. And the Cherokee Tribe has NO required blood quantum. We have a case where tribes has been interfering with an adoption of a child with less than 2% blood quantum. (http://www.caicw.org/familystories.html)
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#2) If the Tribes have so much money to pay Congressmen with, as well as attorneys to chase children down with, why aren’t they instead spending that same money on infrastructure and job growth on the reservation? What are the true priorities? Why not just develop resources and make an honest effort to move away from the federal dole? If the reservations were cleaned up, wouldn’t more people want to stay there and live? How can a government call itself Sovereign when it is constantly running to the US Congress and demanding more money? Sounds like a bunch of teenagers!
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So, let me wrap this little lesson up by pointing out the obvious to those that don’t understand the obvious. I will use my family as an example in order to get the point across.
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The Tribe Does NOT Own My Family – and in Particular, MY Children.
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My Children are 50% Minnesota Chippewa, but they are also 1/4 German, Jewish, and a spattering pf Irish Catholic. They have OTHER relatives than just those on the reservation.
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MOST enrollable children have relatives of other heritage.
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In fact, my enrollable children have German Jewish relatives that died at Auschwitz.
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So tell me Brainiacs. why my children’s Native American heritage is more important than their Jewish, Irish, or Scottish heritage. Tell me why in the world the state of Minnesota has passed a law last year that says that suggests tribal heritage is more important, and that the Minnesota tribes have jurisdiction over any enrollable child, even if the child and his family don’t want to be involved with the tribe and has never had any contact or relationship with the tribe.
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That law affects not only my children but my grandchildren, who will all be at least 1/4 Minnesota Chippewa.
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For every non-Indian screaming about how we have to honor Leech Lake’s tribal sovereignty…why don’t you move your families to Cass Lake, Minnesota. Enroll your kids in school there. Encourage them to go play at the housing tracts.
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Go ahead, hypocrites. You know darn well you wouldn’t‘ want your children raised there. So get your nose out of my family, and quit making stupid statements as well as laws that state that MY Children belong there.
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A commenter had the nerve in an earlier post to suggest the Larson’s had “kidnapped” this baby. Excuse me? Who the heck are the ones doing the kidnapping, but the tribes themselves that push federal and state legislators to give them all the rights to Our Children!
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Campbell Brown, you were RIGHT about Leech Lake. Stay Strong!

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Dec 202008
 

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Campbell Brown, please don’t bow to the negative comments you have been recieving. I am the mother of several enrolled children of the Leech Lake Tribe, and what you said was correct!

However, whenever anyone speaks out against the obvious happening on the reservations, they are tore limb from limb. They are bullied to make them shut up, and that is exactly what is happening to you. I know this because it has has happened me and even to my husband, who was a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe – Leech Lake, born and raised on Leech Lake Reservation. He spoke out because he was tired of watching his friends and relatives die. He knew that it was the reservation system itself that was destructive to them. He took our entire family and moved 1200 miles away and became politically active in an effort to bring change, happiness and hope to the people he loved.

However, getting any word out that is contrary to the image that the tribal government (industry?) chooses to project is very difficult. Although my husband went to Washington DC several times to speak to Congressmen, it was very hard as a small person to combat the lobbying the tribes do. Remember Abramoff?

Senator Burns’ staff, (he was our Senator at the time), told me that the only way he would ever agree to any legislation changing Indian law is if all 500 tribes agreed to it. Never mind what’s constitutional and never mind the civil rights of millions of US citizens. Just please the tribal governments. They pay very well.

And yes, there are many constitutional attorneys and professors that say that much of Indian law is unconstitutional. Please contact me and I can refer you to some.

Look at the last US census and ask yourself why so many enrolled members have moved off the reservation. #1) life is dangerous there. #2) many enrollable people are primarily NON-indian; meaning, their blood quantums are less than 1/2 tribal heritage. They have other lives, other family, and other world views, not always the same as the tribal governents.

However, if they should die, no matter their personal choice, the tribal government has jurisdiction over their children.

Please stay strong in the truth that you spoke! Don’t let them bully you!
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To Clint and Heather Larson

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Dec 192008
 

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Clint and Heather –
I don’t want to devastate you further. I wish I could assure you that your baby will be okay, but I can’t. The Leech Lake Reservation is so bad, that even my husband, a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe from Leech Lake, took our kids far from it and wrote in his will that he did NOT want the grand kids that he had legal custody of (through ICWA, of course) to go back there when he died.

He passed away four years ago and how I managed to keep his grand kids is still a mystery to us. The Lord definitely had his hand in it. We imagine that the Mpls. Star and Tribe series, “The Lost Youth Of Leech Lake,” which came out just two months before he passed away also brought such bad publicity to the tribe that they simply decided not to fight with us.

I strongly urge you to continue to fight for this little boy. It will be hard enough for him having to deal with the affects of having been born with substances in his system. But being in Cass Lake on top of it….

You said on the news that you want to fight to make sure this doesn’t happen to any more children. We are also trying to fight for the children. I have a grandson now who, at 1/4 blood quantum, is enrollable. If anything should happen to his parents, I WILL fight the tribe tooth and nail and I WILL defy the law if it came down to it.

We would like to work with you in your battle.

Leech Lake Tribal Government Steals Child from Utah Family

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Dec 182008
 

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On Sunday, December 16, 2008, in South Jordon, Utah, Clint and Heather were forced to give the baby they had adopted and cared for to one of the worst reservations in the United States.

In the Spring of 2004, the Minneapolis Star and Tribune had done a series called the “Lost Youth Of Leech Lake.” In it, the reporter described the horrible environment children are being raised in on that reservation, as well as the treatment of children by tribal social services.

I myself have witnessed first hand plenty the neglectful and downright dangerous treatment and care of children on that reservation, and twenty years ago, my husband, a member born and raised there, made a decision that our children weren’t going to be raised anywhere near it.

It is NOT safe, and the United States Government is CRIMINAL to be forcing children to be raised there when they have the option to live in a safe and loving home.

As a matter of fact, one of the worst cases of the U.S. forcing children out of a good home and into a dysfunctional home in Leech Lake was reported in the series, the “Lost Youth of Leech Lake.” It involved three little girls. That decision by the tribe – as well as every one of our US Congress that voted for this awful ICWA law – resulted in these little girls being placed in an awful home. The final result was a murder and attempted murder. And that isn’t the only tragic story involving ICWA in Leech Lake.

I urge every parent with a conscience to speak up against this law. After all, you never know when it might affect you. We have adoptive families that have written to our organization, in pain and fear because the child they have adopted is being pursued by a tribe, and the child has only a small fraction of blood quantum. in one case, the child is 98% NON-Indian. We also have had birth fathers write to us when they lost custody because they weren’t Indian. We’ve also had grandparents write because they were denied custody because they weren’t Indian.

Please, check out http://www.caicw.org/familystories.html to read many letters from families affected by ICWA.
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Possible Incentives for ICWA –

 Comments Off on Possible Incentives for ICWA –
Dec 152008
 

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Tribal Government Funding?

Ms. Scott Kayla Morrison, a member of the Mississippi Choctaw Tribe as well as an attorney specializing in Indian law, wrote in 1998, “ICWA is a money-driven program for the tribes from three perspectives: 1) federal funds generated by tribal membership; 2) federal income to fund program jobs; and 3) federal funds to administer courts adjudicating ICWA cases.

– “First, each tribal member generates $5,000 (1992) for the tribal administration from the thirteen federal agencies funding Indian programs. The more members, the more federal funds. With no blood quantum [required], [some tribes allow] a person with as little as 1/2000th (to) be enrolled as an Indian. If an Indian child is adopted by non-Indians, the tribe loses $5,000 a year for the lifespan of the child.

– “Second, federal dollars fund the ICWA program for the tribe. This generates jobs for tribal administration directly through program funds and indirectly through administrative costs. Of every federal dollar allocated by Congress, 89 cents goes to administer the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The remaining 11 cents goes to tribal administration. The Choctaw administration is allowed to take 46%, almost half or 5.5 cents, for administrative indirect costs. The remaining 5.5 cents are used to administer programs like ICWA. The more membership to serve, the more money the tribe requests that generates more jobs and more indirect costs. Allowing adoption outside the tribe cuts into the pocketbook of tribal administration.

– “Third, one purpose of a tribal court or a Code of Federal Register (CFR) Court is to adjudicate ICWA cases. The amount of federal funds allocated to the court is based on the number of cases served by the ICWA
program. The court program funds generate indirect costs and jobs.”

Ms. Morrison was correct. As a matter of fact –

– According to ACF Administration For Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, May 9, 2007, Child Care Bureau, Office of Family Assistance –

Tribal Child Counts: For funds that become available in FY 2008, ACF will calculate grant awards based on the number of children under age 13. A Tribe must submit a self-certified Child Count Declaration for children under age 13 (not age 13 and under), in order to receive FY 2008 CCDF funds.

“ – Tribal Lead Agencies are reminded that CCDF funds are allocated based on child counts of children from Federally recognized Indian Tribes, consistent with the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act’s definition of Indian Tribe.”

– According to Aneva J. Yazzie, Chief Executive Officer, Navajo Housing Authority
In her testimony before the Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate, on Reauthorization of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act, July 18th, 2007, Washington, DC

“The most contentious issue facing Indian housing in the last few years has been the use of Census data to determine funding allocations. NHA has been heavily involved in this discussion because we believe this is not just a debate about how funds are allocated; it is fundamental to NAHASDA and to all Indian programs. Tribal housing must remain for tribal members and tribal members should be counted when determining funding allocations.

“…We support the use of tribal enrollment data, not Census data, to determine need under NAHASDA. Until terms of verifiable enrollment data can be agreed upon by federal government and tribal representatives, NHA urges a return to the use of single-race Census data because, while imperfect, it is the better approximation of tribal enrollment numbers.

(NOTE from Blog Author: Census data shows that NOT ALL ENROLLED MEMBERS are LIVING on the RESERVATION. Tribes would only recieve funds for members actually living on the reservation. Therefore, Tribes perfer Enrollement Numbers because THEY INCLUDE MANY WHO HAVE MOVED AWAY and who, like our family, have NO INTEREST in using tribal funds or programs.)

“… One change in federal law we would like the Committee to consider would be the elimination of the prohibition from using Indian Health Service funds in concert with NAHASDA funds… The concern that the lack of available funds means we should keep these funding streams separate may be well-intended, but it flies in the face of
Tribal self-determination.”

– According to the 2003 DOI-BIA Indian Population and Labor Force Report, mandated by order of Public law 102-477, “The Indian Employment, Training, and Related Services Demonstration Act of 1992:

– Total number of enrolled tribal members and members from other tribes who live on or near the reservation and are eligible to use the tribe’s Bureau of Indian Affairs funded services – Total 2003 Tribal enrollment – 1,923,650. 5.9% increase from 2001 labor force report, 34.7% from 1995. The 2003 increase is attributed to updated tribal rolls, improved record keeping procedures, and revisions to tribal enrollment criteria.
– Total 2003 Service population 1,587,519. 4.2% increase from 2001 labor force report. 26.0% from 1995. It is also a 216% increase over the Total Service Population reported in 1982. The 2003 Service Population increase is attributed to increased record keeping and improved data collection methods, as well as eligible Indian individuals and families who came to reside in the tribe’s service area to benefit from opportunities and services unavailable to them in off-reservation
communities.
– 562 Federally recognized tribes

– Several corporate and “at-large” Alaska tribal entities formed by the 1971 ANCS Act.

From Indianz.com, “House panel boosts funds for Indian Programs”, Monday, June 11, 2007. accessed Aug. 30, 2007 –

– Indian Education, urban health clinics, law enforcement, and language preservation will see boosts in funding under bills advanced by the House Appropriations committee last week.
– At a markup on Thursday, the committee approved 5,7 billion for Indian programs at the Interior Department and related agencies, including the Indian Health Service….
– The bill “honors our obligations to Native American communities, making investments into better education and healthcare,” the committee said of the overall $27.6 billion package, an increase of 4.3 percent over current levels.”

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May 032008
 

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Wake up America. Tribal Government’s should not be given jurisdiction over our children simply because they claim the right. I understand that tribal government jurisdiction over Indian children sounds like common sense. It seems like a no brainer when tribal governments approach the federal and state governments and say, “They are our children and we have a right to raise them.” Everyone just nods their head and says, “Sure, no problem!”

Heavens, everyone’s afraid they’ll be accused of racism if they take the time to really think the issue through.

Wake up. These aren’t the tribe’s children. The ones in my home, for example, happen to be MY children, and we have no intention of living within the reservation system. Other parents across the country feel the same. According to the last census, most enrolled tribal members live off the reservation. Many, just like our family, left because they don’t want their children raised amid the dangers and dysfunction on the reservation. As American citizens, we have the right to make that choice for our families. And as well-intended as some in government are, they haven’t the ability to know what is best for my family or for the many other families that have left to live a different life.

Further, MOST children falling under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and other tribal jurisdiction laws have relatively small amounts of Indian heritage. Did you read that right?

Tribal governments decide their own membership and most have decided ¼ blood quantum is all that’s necessary. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma goes further and claims jurisdiction over any child with ancestry tracing back to the Dawes Rolls no matter how minute the blood quantum.

Now, the ICWA defines an Indian child as any “enrollable” child. Think it through.

Parents can’t avoid ICWA and other jurisdictional laws by not enrolling their children.

Therefore, many children with 1/4 or less heritage and no connection to Indian Country fall under ICWA. And that is actually most of the affected children.

It’s plain as day. Think of a pyramid. Children of 100% heritage are the least common. They are at the tip. The largest number of children are the ones with little heritage. They make up the base. But being of little heritage also means they are primarily non-tribal and have a large percentage of relatives that are also non-tribal.

Don’t misunderstand. I am not noting this because I think the non-tribal heritage is of primary significance. There is no blood quantum of any heritage is of primary importance over another. All of my children’s heritages are interesting and valuable. I hate the idea of referring to a percentage of a child’s heritage in the same way one refers to the pedigree of a dog. How demeaning. Or worse, it is abhorrent to focus a preference on one blood heritage in the same way 1940’s Germany scrutinized the heritages of millions. The only point of noting blood quantum is to note that children with less than 100% heritage have more than one history and more than one set of interesting and important relatives.

What I am pointing out is that ICWA and other jurisdictional laws affect millions of people – and most aren’t even aware of it.

Until something comes up.

January 2008, the Navajo Nation sent for a 6-year-old girl in Texas. The little girl had been living with her father most of her life. Now, the birth mother wanted custody. Normally, there is a hearing, an attorney looking out for the child’s interests, and a transition period if there is to be a change of custody. Normally, both parents get equal opportunity to state their case. But this wasn’t normal, and the Texas County police, thinking the Navajo court order was enough, helped the tribe pick the little girl up from her day care without a Texas Court order. The little girl and her father wept, and then she was gone. He has seen her only once since, at a hearing in Navajo Tribal Court. Again, they held on to each other and wept.

That was in late March. He hasn’t been able to see or speak to her since. He hasn’t been given an address or phone number to contact her and the guardian ad litem hasn’t been able to locate her. He has no money, and the attorney he hired has put him on notice. No funds, no help.

A man in Oklahoma has fought to keep his baby girl. The tribe took custody right after the child’s birth and refused to even tell him her name let alone see her. Two years ago, a tribal court judge told him that because he is white, he had no rights to his baby. At one point he won custody. However, the tribe has appealed it, and his lawyer told him he needs about $30,000 to fight the appeal. He doesn’t have the money.

As unbelievable as it seems, some parents have lost custody of their children because they couldn’t afford a lawyer.

A three year old girl in Oregon hasn’t seen her birth mom in over two years. The last time she saw her mom was when the tribal police took her out of her mother’s arms at a tribal court hearing that was only supposed to be about getting a DNA test. The mom tried to hang on to her, but the judge ordered the police to take the baby by force, so they put pressure on her arms until she let go. Since then, she tried to get her back but couldn’t to find a lawyer to help. In 2007, she wrote:

“… Last year was very hard for me, and the constant let down of not being able to see or speak to my baby has tore me apart. I have spoken to the … father and he informed [me] that it is final that I will never be able to see my little girl again as long he has anything to do with it. So I have taken it very hard. I did write the tribal court judges, and asked for another hearing at least for visitation, and my pleas were denied. …. There is probably not a day that goes by that I don’t cry for my baby. I feel like the life I once had no longer exists.”

She isn’t alone. A mother in Wisconsin is trying to keep her 4-year-old daughter off the reservation. She said she has spoke to dozens of lawyers and can’t find anyone to help her.
ICWA doesn’t apply to custody battles between parents. Nonetheless, many tribal courts claim jurisdiction over all children, even in custody battles. Non-tribal parents with limited knowledge or funds find themselves in situations they can’t do anything about, commonly facing discrimination in the tribal courts.

ICWA does apply in foster and adoptive cases, but the next two stories are examples of how the law can harm even these children. It is also an example of how the law reaches out to affect children with limited tribal heritage.

A Texas fireman and his wife offered to take custody of a baby whose mother was considering abortion. She agreed. Later, after the baby was in their home for several weeks and adoption procedures had begun, the father wrote,

“… it was discovered she [the birthmother] is 1/128th Cherokee. That makes my son 1/256 or .0039% Native American and 99.9961% not…. His mother…was very adamant about the Cherokee Nation NOT raising her child and the court records show this. In April of 2006, we were notified of the Cherokee Nation’s intent to take us to court and remove our son from our home… Since then, we have been in a constant state of panic…”

To this date, in May 2008, this family is still fighting to complete this adoption. They have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on the effort, but will continue to fight to the end because of their love for this little boy.

A couple in Arkansas had custody of two little girls for 5 years. Late one night in February, 2007, as the adoptive parents were getting their two girls ready for bed, police arrived at their door. The 10-year-old twins already were in pajamas, but brandishing a court order, the police took the frightened girls and drove them 60 miles to the home of the other relative. They weren’t able to even tell friends good-bye.

Background: In October, 2002, the birth mother, a distant cousin, had arranged for the couple to adopt the twins. However, after signing the papers, an elderly relative who had four of the twins’ siblings began custody action. Although everyone agrees the adoptive parents kept a loving and stable home, the elderly relative won custody with the Tribe’s support. But within months, all of the children were removed from that home due to neglect. However, the twins weren’t returned to their adoptive parents. All the children were instead places back with the birth mother.

Interestingly, neither the birth mother, the adoptive family, NOR the relative were Indian, so why was the tribe involved?

Because the twins’ natural father is an enrolled member. And although the court said that he had “undisputedly abandoned the children,” his status made him “relevant to this case.” This gave the tribe jurisdiction under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The tribe wanted the twins placed with the siblings, “irrespective of the fact that many other full and half-siblings are scattered among several other states.” And irrespective of the children’s other various heritages.

Again, why take children from the only safe, nuclear family they’d ever had, and place them in unstable homes?

Power. Citing a 1974 Congressional hearing statement, “there is no resource … more vital to the continued existence and integrity of Indian tribes than their children…,” an appeals court found that the “best interest” of the child wasn’t the only issue for a court to consider. Citing ICWA, the court found that “maintaining the integrity of the Nation, its culture, its children, and its progression through time not to become extinct” also had to be considered.

In other words – (stop and re-read what this appeals court actually said) this law is for the benefit of the tribal entity and tribal government. It is not designed for the benefit of individuals or families.

Be that as it may, neither the Tribe nor Arkansas explained how moving the girls from the potential adoptive parents and non-tribal home they loved to a foster situation in a non-tribal home they were strangers to would help preserve the tribe.

According to Mississippi v. Holyfield, ICWA’s original goal was to combat “abusive child welfare practices” that took children from tribal communities and placed them in unfamiliar environments with strangers. The trauma that Indian children suffered from, among other things, being forced to enroll in far-off boarding schools is undeniable. But today the reverse is happening. Children that have never been near a reservation are being removed from environments they love and forced to live with strangers chosen by tribes.

Tribal authorities argue they are most qualified to decide the best interest of enrollable children. Are they? Arguments aside as to how ICWA has safeguards to prevent misuse, stories affecting black, Hispanic, Norwegian-American and other families reflect this reality. Letters from birth parents, grandparents, pre-adoptive families, and tribal members themselves can be read at http://www.caicw.org/familystories.html

Three years ago, two boys of 50-50 heritage were taken from their paternal, Mexican grandparents in California and sent to their Ute grandmother in Utah. Their home in California was loving and safe. They were sent to Utah only because social workers decided that ICWA required it. In a matter of weeks, 3-year old Emilio Rodriguez and his brother, Jose, 4-years-old, were beaten so severely that they both suffered severe concussions and Jose ended up in a coma. Why were they beaten? It was reported in the Utah papers that their maternal grandmother didn’t like that they were speaking Spanish.

The boys and their sister are now back with their Mexican grandparents who recently won a million dollar lawsuit against the United States for removing the boys and placing them with the Utah grandmother. The Utah grandmother is in jail.

If there is any case that illustrates just how bad the ICWA is, this one would be it. Wake Up, America. Do away with this law that primarily benefits governments, not people.