Petition – Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare

At 7 am, Wednesday Dec. 15th, my 18-year-old son, Timothy, and I

Senator-elect John Hoeven

headed out to Bismarck to meet with Sen. Elect Hoeven’s Chief of Staff, Don Larson at 11 am. Although the sky was cloudy, the roads were clear. About half way into the trip, I became a little concerned as light flurries began. But the weather report indicated things should get better, so we kept going. From there, the roads varied between light snow-pack and wet. About an hour later, as I topped a slight hill, the bright red brake lights of a semi truck confronted me. Stepping on my brakes, our car began to slide on slick black ice. Pumping and counter turning, it began to fishtail. Not wanting to go into a spin, I avoided the semi and let us skid into the ditch.

Timothy says he’s just glad he wasn’t the one that was driving.

About a half mile ahead of us, a mini-van had spun out of control and flipped. To avoid hitting it, a semi jack-knifed and blocked the road. A second semi managed to stop, and that’s the one we came up behind.

I got out of our tiny Saturn, which was deep in snow and now pointing back east, and went to the road to wave the cars coming up the hill to slow down. Several drivers, seeing the wreck ahead of them, thought traffic would be stuck there for a couple hours. I have to admire North Dakota response. The police and a sanding dump truck took only minutes to arrive. The dump truck immediately assisted in moving the semi and managed to get it off the road. A path was cleared for traffic to move in less than fifteen minutes. It was amazing.

Unfortunately, we, the only car in the ditch, weren’t among the vehicles leaving.

By the time we were pulled out, it was too late to make the meeting. But I had called by quarter to and made arrangements for a conference call the next day.

So what of all the prayers people were praying for us concerning the meeting that day? Timothy and I are fine. The car is fine. Considering we could have ended up a fixture on the rear of a semi, that’s answer to prayer.

And – prior to the call the next day, I had a chance to relax and go over in my mind what I wanted to say… what I wanted Senator Hoeven to gain from this meeting.

I began by introducing myself and giving him my background as the wife and mother of enrolled members of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.

I stated the issue concerning us, and then said, “While the Indian Child Welfare Act is embraced by tribal government, it has hurt many multi-racial children and families across the United States.”

I then quoted from a parent letter, told him a couple stories, and went on from there. I had talking points in front of me, and was able to go point by point quickly and easily. No stuttering, no flusters. Mr. Larson was attentive and kind. The call went very well. I followed up with an email to him, thanking him for the call and attaching additional information for him, including our legislative draft.

Hmmm… Maybe I should do all our meetings by conference call…

Thanks so much for your support!

To help spread the word – Please also share these important links:

Letters from Families: https://www.caicw.org/familystories.html

Facebook Page: http://facebook.com/fbCAICW.org

Home Website: https://www.caicw.org

Cause page: http://www.causes.com/causes/537834

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/CAICW

EMAIL: administrator@caicw.org

From Lisa Morris
Administrator
Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare (CAICW)

UPDATE! November 18, 2011

Friday One Year Ago: – A 3-year-old girl was taken from the only home she knew and loved and placed with strangers – extended family who had never bothered to visit her or get to know her. Her adoptive parents fought for her in court and experts said she would be traumatized by the forced move, but the court decided that was okay and moved her anyway.

Almost five months later, on APRIL 13TH, the adoptive parents got a call to come and get their little girl right away. There was a problem, and she had to be moved from the home she had been placed in. They left immediately, driving a couple hours to get her. When she saw them, she ran into their arms and said she was ready to go “home” – “Can I go home?” she asked – Adoptive mom wept – but daughter held her tears until after they had left the building, then wept freely. The people she had been with had told her that her adoptive parents were wolves, and would eat her –

Fortunately, she wasn’t physically hurt during the five months. But she was, indeed, emotionally traumatized. She was NOT okay. She had been told there were monsters in the closet who would come eat her if she cried, and she reported that she had been locked in a storage shed. She was only three so it’s still hard to say what actually happened, but it is known that things were not well – as evidenced by the emergency request by social services for the adoptive parents to go after her.

TODAY – A YEAR TO THE DAY she was taken from them – the Adoption was finalized and no one can take her away again!

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION – Kids of tribal heritage need protection EQUAL to any other child in the U.S. – PLEASE sign this White House Petition. If we can get 25,000 signatures by mid-December, the White House will review the petition and give a response!

Children such as the child in this story have no voice – there are many organizations advocating for ICWA, but no other national organization advocates for Children and families who, although U.S. citizens, do NOT have the right to say “No” to tribal government. Please help by bringing their needs to the attention of those who can change the law.

It is a little complicated to sign this petition – it is on a White House Website and Lord knows they can’t make anything uncomplicated. But we need your help to do this – Please click the below link, register, and SIGN this petition and ask others to as well! – Thank you!

http://wh.gov/bvZ

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Event Took Place Friday, November 19, 2010

Dec. 9, 2010

CAICW Friends;

An adoptive mother made her first contact with CAICW on Facebook about 1am Saturday morning, November 20, 2010, only hours after she had lost her little girl…

“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.”

She then wrote to friends:

“Please sign this petition..the despair on her face pushes me to help destroy this law. She didn’t want to go and was looking for us to protect her and we couldn’t…I can’t remember ever feeling so worthless.”

Saturday, November 20th, 2010, was National Adoption Day. On this day, a small girl, denied the right to be adopted by the only mother she’d ever known, spent the first day in her memory in foster care, frightened and alone amongst strangers. She was denied the right to be adopted solely because of her heritage. In America, having even a small bit of Indian heritage can mean not having the same rights and opportunities for adoption that other children receive.

Saturday, November 20th, was also her adoptive mother’s birthday. Her mother wrote on Facebook, thanking her friends for their love and prayers, and said that the best gift was people signing the petition.

We will be taking the petition with us when visiting Congress in DC at the end of January. The purpose of the Petition is to show Congressmen that people are concerned about this law and want it changed to reflect the best interest of children, not government expediency. We want to the rights of parents and children respected. We encourage families that have been affected by ICWA to join us.

If you aren’t able to join us in DC, I urge everyone to obtain the legislative drafts we have available and talk to as many of your US Senators and Representatives and you can, as well as you legislators on the State level. We need to be pushing our representatives on both the federal and state levels to pass protective legislation for these children. No more pretending that what they have decided to do with children of heritage is acceptable or even constitutionally legal.

Finally – CAICW needs financial support. Please help us to:

* Stay in Contact with Families,
* Publish the Newsletter,
* Research Case Law,
* Update & maintain the CAICW.org Website,
* Develop a legal Defense Fund,
* Continue to Educate Federal and State Officials,
* Educate the Community through Facebook and Twitter,
* Speak to and Connect with family-oriented Organizations

All Children need to feel safe. Help CAICW to Advocate, Educate, Assist, & Defend.

https://www.caicw.org/pleasedonate.html

– Please see these sites for more information, and please share these important links:

Read Letters from Families: https://www.caicw.org/familystories.html

How You Can Help: https://www.caicw.org/HowYouHelp.html

Follow CAICW on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/CAICW

Join CAICW on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fbCAICW.org

EMAIL: administrator@caicw.org

Thank you all for your prayers and support –

Lisa Morris
Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare (CAICW)
PO Box 253
Hillsboro, ND 58045

CAICW – Christian Evangelism and Ministry – Gal. 2:10, “All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.”