Interior Secretary Says Changes To Indian Child Welfare Act 'Close Loopholes'

By Emily Schwing •  NWNews.

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  On a visit to the the Spokane Indian Tribe Thursday U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said changes under the Indian Child Welfare Act, or ICWA, close some long-standing loopholes in the law.

  @SecretaryJewell / Twitter

A day after tribal leaders and governors in all 50 states received a letter from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell paid a visit to the Spokane Indian Tribe.
Jewell said Thursday, changes under the Indian Child Welfare Act, or ICWA, close some long-standing loopholes in the law.
During her visit, Jewell said a disproportionate number of tribal youth are being placed in the non-tribal foster care system “without any credible effort being made by the states to place those children in a family structure and a community structure that honors their heritage and their culture.”
The new rules require state courts to ask all participants at the beginning of custody proceedings about a child’s heritage. As well, only tribes can determine if a child is Indian.
A spokeswoman from the National Indian Child Welfare Association said no organizations or agencies at the state or federal level track the number of kids placed under ICWA. The group’s most recent estimates say one-third of the Northwest’s native population was under the age of 19.
High ranking government officials don’t come to Wellpinit, Washington, often. Jason Campbell, CEO of Sovereign Power, the Spokane Indian Tribe’s energy company, aid tribal leaders usually have to go to Washington, D.C., for this kind of conversation.
The Spokane Tribe is a sovereign nation and you could say Wellpinit is the capital. There’s a clinic, a public safety building and the cars even have their own black and green license plates.
Campbell was among leaders who offered Jewell a tour. They discussed many needs as an excited group of women gathered nearby.
“The Spokane Tribe is being recognized and it’s about time. We need this,” said Nancy Raymond, who has lived on the Spokane Indian Reservation her whole life.
Wellpinit resident Clarissa Thatcher added, “There’s a long list of stuff that can be improved on here.”
The tribe was selected to participate in a federal initiative meant to boost economic prosperity. Secretary Jewell said that effort will continue despite the outgoing Obama administration.
“That doesn’t matter,” Jewell said. “It’s the programs and the structure and the career staff that facilitates moving this forward.”
Two federal staff members will be dedicated to helping the tribe with long term projects.

****
The Indian Child Welfare Act descends from a history of human rights abuses of Native Americans and subjugation of their culture, as the Christian Science Monitor's Bamzi Banchir explained in March:

The act was passed to amend historical practices that saw native American children taken from their families and communities and placed in boarding schools in an attempt to 'solve the Indian Problem' – native Americans were depicted as 'savage heathens' – by assimilating them into mainstream American society....

http://launch.newsinc.com/share.html?trackingGroup=90962&siteSection=csmonitor_nws_non_sty_dynamic&videoId=28688128 


***
AND from the Christian group who is seeking to destroy ICWA: [Christian Newswire 2016. All Rights Reserved. | 2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW - Washington - DC - 20006 | 202-546-0054] Elizabeth Morris is Chair of the Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare and author of "Dying in Indian Country." CAICW, a ministry and advocacy, has assisted families judicially, educationally, and as a prayer resource since 2004.  
If you thought Elizabeth Morris is gone after the Baby V case, she's not. Look at this

***
NARF statement about frivolous lawsuits: Since our founding 45 years ago, NARF has worked to protect the rights of Native children, families, and communities. We stand hand in hand with our allies against these recent attacks on ICWA and we will fight these meritless lawsuits. 

KATE FORT: Initial Observations #ICWA #BabyVeronica

Initial Observations on the ICWA Regulations

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Kate Fort

Today’s additions to this post have been added in red text.

The Rule is organized in much the same way as the Guidelines. They do not mirror each other, however. These are just highlights of the actual rule, not the 300+ pages addressing all of the comments, which look to be incredibly useful.
The Department anticipates issuing updated Guidelines in the next six months, before the final rule goes into effect. p.10, “Overview of Final Rule”
The Rule does not use the phrase “existing Indian family”, but pp 90-94 of the text explain that the Rule overrules the application of the EIF through other means:

The final rule no longer uses the nomenclature of the exception, and instead focuses on the substance, rather than the label, of the exception. Thus, the final rule imposes a mandatory prohibition on consideration of certain listed factors, because they are not relevant to the inquiry of whether the statute applies. If a child-custody proceeding concerns a child who meets the statutory definition of “Indian child,” then the court may not determine that ICW A does not apply to the case based on factors such as the participation of the parents or the Indian child in Tribal cultural, social, religious, or political activities, the relationship between the Indian child and his or her Indian parents, whether the parent ever had custody of the child, or the Indian child’s blood quantum.  

Rule at 93.
Highlights:
The definitions of continued custody, custody, and domicile are extensive and helpful, includes tribal custom and tribal law, makes clear that any custody at any time in the past counts as “continued custody” and makes the child’s domicile dependent on the custodial parent, not just mother. 23.2.
The active efforts definition is marginally different than the one in the Guidelines. It does not specifically state they are more or different than ASFA’s reasonable efforts, but it does say they must be “affirmative, active, thorough, and timely”. The list of elements under what active efforts “may include, for example” are also slightly different, and combine some of the Guideline elements (4 in the regs is 9&5 in the Guidelines; 7 is 10&14). 23.2.
The Department’s reasoning regarding ASFA is as follows, though is contrary to how state courts have been comparing the two at the appellate level, and not entirely helpful:

Unlike the proposed rule, the final rule does not define “active efforts” in comparison to “reasonable efforts.” After considering public comments on this issue, the Department concluded that referencing “reasonable efforts” would not promote clarity or consistency, as the term “reasonable efforts” is not in ICW A and arises from different laws (e.g., the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, as modified by the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), see 42 U.S.C. 670, et seq., as well as State laws). Such reference is unnecessary because the definition in the final rule focuses on what actions are necessary to constitute active efforts.

Rule at 50.

“When Does ICWA Apply?” addresses the issue of “continued custody” thrown into doubt by Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl. It also specifically states a child’s blood quantum may not be considered by the state court. 23.103(c).

State laws that provide higher protections to the rights of the parent control over the regulations. 23.106.

State courts must ask each participant in an emergency or voluntary or involuntary child-custody proceeding whether the participant knows or has reason to know the child is an Indian child. 23.107(a).

A parental request for confidentiality in a voluntary proceeding does not relieve the court, agency, or other party from any duty of compliance with ICWA, including the obligation to verify whether the child is an Indian child. 23.107(d).

Only tribes can determine if a child is an Indian child under the law, that is a final determination that cannot be substituted by the state, and the state can use tribal enrollment documentation (for example) to make the judicial determination a child is an Indian child. 23.108.

A court must determine domicile of the child in any voluntary or involuntary child-custody proceeding. 23.110(a).

If a parent or Indian custodian appears in court without an attorney, the court must inform them of their rights under the law, including the right to appointed counsel, the right to request transfer to tribal court, the right to object to transfer, the right to request additional time, and the right to intervene in the child custody proceedings. 23.111(g).

23.113 Emergency removals (or the Oglala Sioux v. Fleming section) addresses all the requirements of emergency removal including length of time (30 days), how to terminate an emergency proceeding (initiate a proceeding subject to the provisions of ICWA, transfer to the tribe, or send the kid home), and the standard of “imminent physical damage or harm to the child”.

The regs direct state courts what they cannot consider “good cause” not to transfer a case to tribal court, but do not specify what is good cause not to transfer. States cannot consider advanced stage, prior proceedings where there was no petition to transfer, whether transfer will affect placement, cultural connections, and socioeconomic conditions. 23.118(c).

There is no standard of evidence for active efforts (states are still split on this), but similar to the Guidelines, the evidence must show a causal relationship between the particular conditions in the home and the likelihood of serious emotional or physical damage to the child. Evidence with no causal relationship of poverty, isolation, single parenthood, custodian age, crowded or inadequate housing, substance abuse, or nonconforming social behavior does not on its own constitute evidence that continued custody is likely to result in serious emotional or physical damage to the child. 23.121
Who can be a qualified expert witness is fairly vague, but the regulation specifically excludes the social worker regularly assigned to the Indian child from being the QEW. 23.122(c)

The state court must determine if a child is an Indian child in voluntary proceedings, and that determination may mean contacting the child’s tribe to verify. 23.124(b)

Consent to a voluntary adoption largely mirrors the law, but also includes that when a parent request confidentiality, the execution of consent must still be before a court of competent jurisdiction, but not in open court. 23.125(d).

Good cause to not follow the placement preferences must be made on the record, the party seeking to deviate bears the burden of proving good cause by clear and convincing evidence, and may not be based “solely on ordinary bonding or attachment that flowed from time spent in a non-preferred placement that was made in violation of ICWA.” 23.132

The regs do give good cause reasons to depart from the preferences. They include the request of one or both parents if they attest they have reviewed the placement preferences that comply with the order of preference, the request of the child, the presence of a sibling attachment, the extraordinary physical, mental, or emotional needs of the child, and the unavailability of a suitable placement after the court finds a diligent search was conducted. 23.132(c).

Courts should allow participation by telephone, videoconferencing, or other methods. 23.133.
If there are certain changes in an adopted Indian child’s status (the voluntary termination by the adoptive parent, or the final decree of adoption was set aside or vacated), the biological parent, prior Indian custodian, and tribe must be noticed. 23.139. Of course, the child remains an Indian child regardless of the adoption, so ICWA should apply to these situations anyway.

The state must maintain certain records of every voluntary or involuntary foster care, preadoptive, and adoptive placement of an Indian child, including the petition or complaint, all substantive orders, the complete record of the placement determination. That record must be made available within 14 days of a request by the child’s Tribe or the Secretary. 23.141.

PDF PRESS RELEASE


NEW TEETH FOR ICWA? YES!
In my heart, I cannot stop thinking that little Veronica (BABY V) helped us all ... Trace (Pre-ICWA adoptee)

BREAKING NEWS: BIA Publishes Final ICWA Rule

Courtesy National Indian Child Welfare Association

Acting Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Lawrence S. Roberts today announced that the agency has published an updated final rule in the implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

 

 

Breaking: BIA Publishes Final ICWA Rule

Suzette Brewer |ICT | 6/8/16

Underscoring Congress’s intent to protect the cohesiveness of Indian children, families and communities in state welfare proceedings, Acting Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Lawrence S. Roberts today announced that the agency has published an updated final rule in the implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Roberts said the 360-page rule will provide a more consistent interpretation of the 38-year-old statute “regardless of the child welfare worker, judge or state involved.”

“We received thousands of comments from the public during the rulemaking process―more than three times the number of comments than any other rule we’ve published,” said Roberts at the press conference announcing the rule this afternoon (Wednesday). “An overwhelming number of those comments came from the tribes, so it’s clearly an issue of public interest. And we think this rule will help state agencies and courts in the application of the law and provide more consistency across the board.”
Roberts said the new rule advances the highest ideals of the federal trust responsibility in protecting and promoting cohesiveness for Indian children and their families. While praising the work of state courts across the country who work tirelessly to ensure the implementation of ICWA, he said there are still gaps in the consistency and application of ICWA in state proceedings.

“The final rule builds upon the work of tribes and states by clarifying the Indian Child Welfare Act’s requirements, promoting consistency in Indian child-placement proceedings, and ensuring that regardless of the state court forum, children and their parents receive the active efforts envisioned by Congress to maintain family and community,” Roberts said. “Child welfare workers, state court judges and state agencies deserve clear rules as they work with Native families and tribes to implement the protections of the law. This rule promotes family and community by ensuring that if a Native child has been removed from their home previously, they will have a pathway for reunification with their family.”

Under the new rule, all state courts in foster-care, termination-of-parental-rights, and adoption proceedings will now be required to ask whether the child is an “Indian child” under the definitions articulated in ICWA and subject to the law’s procedures; prompt notice of involuntary proceedings; and minimizing unnecessary separations of Indian children from their families.  Additionally, the rule requires that “active efforts” will replace “reasonable efforts” with the overall goal of reunifying the child with his or her family.

“Reunification with a child’s family is a standard the United States strives for in child welfare,” said Roberts. “It’s the gold standard and best practice and ICWA is the minimum federal standard, because tribal families continue to be broken up because of inconsistent application of the law. We are concerned that without these federal regulations that the disparities among Indian children in state custody may continue.”

Notably, Roberts said the final rule also addresses the wishes of Indian parents wanting to place their children for adoption, making it clear that the decision to place children for voluntary adoptions lies with the child’s parents. As well, the rule includes a number of new provisions which respect and enforce the confidentiality and privacy of all Indian children in state court proceedings.

The BIA has been working on strengthening the federal statute for several years. In 2014, the Department conducted five listening sessions with tribes, judicial organizations and child welfare professionals to determine whether the BIA ICWA Guidelines for State Courts should be updated and, if so, what changes should be made. The agency received hundreds of comments from tribes, child welfare professionals and state court judges, which overwhelmingly recommended updated guidelines.

That November, the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence also recommended that the Department of the Interior issue new regulations in order to better implement the law. Tribes and other commenters were near-universal in noting the lack of compliance with and inconsistent adherence to the guidelines in state courts, calling for the promulgation of new regulations for a more consistent interpretation of ICWA.
Subsequently, in February 2015, the agency issued revised Guidelines for State Courts and Agencies in Indian Child Custody Proceedings—the first such update since the guidelines were originally issued when ICWA (Public Law 95-608) was passed in 1978.


A month later, the agency, then headed by former Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn, announced its intention to seek a federal rule to reinforce the 38-year-old federal statute in state courts across the country, where Indian children continue to be removed from their families and communities at far higher rates than their non-Indian peers.


Public meetings and tribal consultations were held in locations throughout the country, including Portland, Oregon; Rapid City, South Dakota; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Prior Lake, Minnesota; Tulsa, Oklahoma, and by phone conference. The hearings were attended by hundreds of tribal members, attorneys, social workers, adult pre- and post-ICWA adoptees, and tribal leaders, as well as lawyers representing the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.

At times contentious and emotionally-charged, the ICWA public meetings were crowded and sometimes standing-room-only, drawing sharp comments from the tribes and members of the adoption industry, at odds over what constitutes the “best interests” for Native children. Often, complained tribal leaders, they are rarely given adequate notice or respect in court proceedings involving their children in ICWA proceedings. Conversely, members of the adoption industry responded with similar talking points that ICWA is “bad for children.”

For months, as the two sides skirmished in the hearings, the BIA continued gathering input and comments toward publishing a final rule. In anticipation of the final rule, the Phoenix, Arizona-based Goldwater Institute filed suit in federal court in July 2015 seeking to overturn the Indian Child Welfare Act because it contends that the 38-year-old statute is unconstitutional.

The new federal regulations provide a more consistent interpretation of and promote compliance with the Act by incorporating standard procedures and requirements for state courts and child welfare agencies in Indian child custody proceedings. Roberts said that although the final rule is being published today, it will not go into effect for 180 days in order to give time to the tribes, state agencies and courts to familiarize themselves with the new rule and for training and technical assistance.

“ICWA was designed to safeguard Native children from undue separation from their families and cultural identity. This rule will achieve consistent implementation of a law that remains critical to protecting the best interest of Native children and promoting successful Native communities,” said Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, who serves as chair of the President’s White House Council on Native American Affairs. “It is in a child's best interest to keep their family intact when it can be done safely, and provide pathways to connect with the child's larger family and community. This rule reflects the highest standards in child welfare.”

RELATED: Breaking: Federal Agency Publishes Proposed Rule, Announces Major Grant to Implement ICWA

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/06/08/breaking-bia-publishes-final-icwa-rule-164738

 

A new federal rule requires judges to ask whether a child is Native American during foster-care and adoption proceedings. Under the rule, judges also must ask about a child’s status as a tribal member during hearings to determine whether or not a mother’s or father’s parental rights will be terminated. The new rule is part of the Indian Child Welfare Act and it’s intended to reunite Native American families after statistics showed they were broken up at higher rates.

 

I heard this announcement when I was in SAN DIEGO at the ICWA conference!  Good News... Trace

When the Government Steals the Children #60sScoop

Wakiksuyapi: Carrying Historical Trauma: Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart

Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart, Hunkpapa, Oglala Lakota, PhD, is a Research Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico Department of Psychiatry. Brave Heart’s groundbreaking concept of “historical trauma”—which describes how the effects of collective injuries such as genocide and discrimination can linger for generations—offered new avenues for recognizing and healing trauma experienced by members of Maine’s Wabanaki Confederacy.

In 2000, Maria Brave Heart published the article, "Wakiksuyapi: Carrying the Historical Trauma of the Lakota." 

Using the historical trauma research conducted in survivors of the Holocaust, Brave Heart would identify a comparable cluster of events correlated with massive group trauma across generations, including the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre and the forced removal of children to federal boarding schools.^[4]

She conceptualized the current form of historical trauma in the 1980s as a way to comprehend what she observed as many Native Americans being unable to fulfill "the American Dream".^[5][6]

Her most significant findings came in a cluster of six symptoms: 1. 1st Contact: life shock, genocide, no time for grief, a Colonization Period in which the introduction of disease and alcohol occurred, and traumatic events such as Wounded Knee Massacre, 2. Economic competition, which resulted in loss from spiritual and tangible dimensions, 3. the occurrence of Invasion/War Period, which
involved extermination and refugee symptoms, 4. a Subjugation/Reservation Period: confinement and translocation occur, a relationship forced dependency on oppressor is formed, and a lack of security occur, 5. Boarding School Period, in which the family system is destroyed, beatings, rape, and prohibition of Native language and religion ensue; Lasting Effect: ill-prepared for parenting, identity
confusion. and 6. Forced Relocation and Termination Period: transfer to urban areas, prohibition of religious freedom, racism and being viewed as second class; loss of governmental system and community. and a three-pronged intervention mode: education, sharing the effects of trauma and grief resolution through collective mourning and healing.^[7]


Since 1976, Brave Heart has worked directly in the field to gather information on the impact of historical trauma within the indigenous communities. These groups include the Lakota in South Dakota, multiple tribes in New Mexico, and populations of indigenous and Latinos in Denver, New Mexico, and New York.^[8]
Dr. Brave Heart is also responsible for hosting and presenting over 175 presentations on subject matter related to historical trauma as well as training numerous tribes across the United States and First Nations populations in the country of Canada.^[8]

Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart is known for developing a model of historical trauma, historical unresolved grief theory and interventions in indigenous peoples. Brave Heart earned her Master of Science from Columbia University School of Social Work in 1976.^[8]

In 1992, Brave Heart established the Takini Network, a Native nonprofit organization dedicated to healing the wounds inflicted on Native Americans through the experiences of intergenerational trauma,^[9] located in Rapid City, South Dakota.^{[10] (WIKI)}



Dr. Brave Heart's Historical Trauma and Unresolved Grief Intervention has received grant awards, including grants that incorporate components of the intervention in reservation-based parenting work. From 2001-2004 Brave Heart directed an international conference that brought together indigenous survivors of massive trauma and their descendants.  Brave Heart has been a repeat conference presenter for the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Council on Social Work Education and as a consultant to the National Indian Country Child Trauma Center.

A Framework for Indigenous Adoptee Reconnection: Reclaiming Language and Identity #60sScoop

[PDF] A Framework for Indigenous Adoptee Reconnection: Reclaiming Language and Identity.

SW Cardinal - CJNSE/RCJCÉ, 2016

 

When I was eight, just before my Mormon baptism, I looked in the mirror in the church bathroom searching for myself. A mirror in front of me and a mirror behind me created the illusion of infinity and a multiplicity of selves. I knew I was adopted. I knew I was Native. I knew I wasn’t supposed to talk about or question where I came from. I didn’t know my adoption was part of a larger movement of transracial adoption known as the Sixties Scoop. - Sarah Wright Cardinal, University of Victoria, Canada

 

Click on pdf 

A formal apology from Ontario's premier

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne apologized for Canada's mistreatment of indigenous boarding school students, such as these in Manitoba (Photo: St. Paul's Indian Industrial School, Middlechurch/Courtesy Library and Archives of Canada).

 

A formal apology from Ontario's premier

Listen

Native Politics in Broadcast Media and Film | Native Peoples, Native Pol...

#ICWA in the headlines

NEWS

• Alaska Legislature Passes Foster Youth System Reform and Protection Bills

  SitNews

  “Expediting a child’s exit from the foster care system helps to reduce trauma to the child and ensure that family connections remain strong,” Governor Walker said. “Our hope is that this bill will increase the number of Alaska Native children finding permanent homes within their family, culture and traditions in a timely manner.”... but particularly those family members of a child covered under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) who want to preserve and have the court apply ...

• 

  Cherokee One Feather

  
  

  Cherokee Family Safety Program gets new home

  Cherokee One Feather

  ... and includes Foster Care and Child Welfare Services, the Safe Babies Program, the Transitional Housing Program, and an Indian Child Welfare Act ...

• Minnesota Minority Child Heritage Protection Act

  Minnesota State Legislature

  They are covered by the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 and the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act (Minnesota Statutes, sections ...
  It should be noted that Native American children have a special placement status since they are members of tribal nations with rights established through treaties with the United States. They are covered by the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 and the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act (Minnesota Statutes, sections 260.751 - 260.835) which seek to preserve Native American families. The initial Minnesota law was passed in 1985 (Laws of Minnesota 1985, chapter 111). That same year Minnesota also created the Minnesota Family Preservation Act (Laws of Minnesota 1985 1st Special Session, chapter 9, article 2, sections 69-75). It was repealed in 2003.  

Lawsuit Shines Spotlight on Sexual Abuse of Navajo Children within the Lamanite Placement Program

PRESS CONFERENCE: Lawsuit Shines Spotlight on Sexual Abuse of Navajo Children within the Lamanite Placement Program

Two enrolled members of the Navajo Nation filed suit against LDS Family Services and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly known as the “Mormon” or “LDS” Church, stemming from child sexual abuse that occurred during the Church’s “Lamanite Placement Program” in the 1970’s and early 1980’s.

Complex PTSD as an official diagnosis

CLICK: Complex PTSD as an official diagnosis

For many of us adoptees, this PTSD diagnosis is reason enough to seek immediate help... Trace

Complex PTSD as an official diagnosis

CLICK: Complex PTSD as an official diagnosis

For many of us adoptees, this PTSD diagnosis is reason enough to seek immediate help... Trace

Complex PTSD as an official diagnosis

CLICK: Complex PTSD as an official diagnosis

For many of us adoptees, this PTSD diagnosis is reason enough to seek immediate help... Trace

How do we heal trauma suffered by Native communities?

BY GABOR MATE’ SOURCE

It is not enough that the Attawapiskat First Nation has declared a state of emergency over the epidemic of suicides and suicide attempts among its youth. Our entire country should declare a state of emergency about the appalling health status, physical and mental, of First Nations and Inuit communities. Would we not have already if, instead of Nunavut or Attawapiskat, it was, say, the teens of Westmount, Forest Hill or Kitsilano who were killing themselves at 10 times the national rate?

I am often asked to visit First Nations communities across Canada to speak about addiction, stress-related illness and child development. The ordinary Canadian citizen simply has no idea, cannot even begin to imagine, what misfortunes, tragedies and other kinds of adversity many native young people experience by the time they reach adolescence – how many deaths of loved ones they witness, what abuse they endure, what despair they feel, what self-loathing plagues them, what barriers to a life of freedom and meaning they face.

At the core of the suicide pandemic is unresolved trauma, passed almost inexorably from one generation to the next, along with social conditions that induce further hopelessness. The source of that multi-generational trauma is this country’s colonial past and its residue in the present. The march of the history and progress Canada celebrates, from which we derive much pride and national identity, meant catastrophe for natives: the loss of lands and livelihood and of freedom of movement, the mockery and invalidation of their spiritual ways, the near-extirpation of their culture, the corruption of their intra-familial and intra-communal relationships, and finally, for nearly a hundred years, the state-sanctioned abduction, rape, physical abuse and mental torture of their children.

The questions we must ask ourselves nationally are very simple. How do we as a country move to heal the trauma that drives the misery of many native communities? What can be done to undo the dynamics our past has dictated? Some may balk at such inquiry, fearing the discomfort that comes with guilt. However, this is not a matter of communal guilt, but of communal responsibility. It is not about the past. It is about the present. And it is about all of us: When some among us suffer, ultimately we all do.

To begin, native history must be taught fully and in unsparing detail in our schools. All Canadians should know, for example, that 50 years ago it was not unheard of for a four-year-old girl to have a pin stuck in her tongue for the crime of speaking her mother language and later endure serial rape by teachers, religious mentors. Such were the antecedents of today’s drug use and suicidal anguish. The resonant values, brilliant art, stories and wisdom culture of First Nations people should be introduced in Canadian schools. Canadians must be helped to see their First Nations peers in their fullness, which includes their humanity, grandeur, unspeakable suffering and strength.

We must renounce any political, economic or social policy that reinforces the colonial trauma of disempowerment, loss and dispossession. Not another square centimetre of native land must be disturbed, not a blade of grass cut, not one more drop of water diverted, not a millimetre of pipeline laid without First Nations agreement.

Institutions and individuals interacting with native people must become deeply trauma-informed. Judges, teachers, law-enforcement personnel, nurses, doctors, psychiatrists, social workers, public employees, policy-makers all must understand what trauma is, its multiple impacts on human mentality and behavior, and how to address it. Without such information, as I have witnessed repeatedly, the best-meaning people can unwittingly re-traumatize those who can least bear further pain and loss. Practices that devastate families must be stopped, such as the frequent apprehension of children without restorative and compassionate family-building support.

Alternative forms of justice must be developed, aligned with native traditions and in consultation with First Nations. The implicit racism in our law-enforcement institutions must be openly acknowledged and cleansed. Powerfully beneficial traditional healing practices must be researched, taught, encouraged. We need to celebrate the First Nations cultural renaissance, a tribute to human resilience, now taking place.

Economic and social conditions that engender despair must be addressed, with the utmost urgency. If we could spend more than $15-billion on our self-declared mission to help the people of Afghanistan, surely we can find the resources in our rich land to help redeem people whom our history continues to victimize.

(Gabor Maté is a retired B.C. physician who specializes in addiction.)

Missing Threads Best Documentary award! #WICWA

Adoptee Loa Porter (HoChunk)

One Native film, Missing Threads, was selected as the festival’s Best Documentary. The film chronicles the creation and passing of the Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act (WICWA). This important piece of state legislation has far-reaching implications, and sets an important precedent for all tribes as they navigate the sensitive subject of the foster care system and its impacts on Native children. According to the ABQfilmx website the film reinforces the significance of the "thread that connects a child to their culture, to their sense of self, home and belonging. When that thread is broken or missing, the individual and the culture suffer. Can the thread be mended? Can connection be restored? This documentary explores the pivotal influence of tribal culture and connection for Native children, and the negative impacts for the child, the family and tribal culture when that connection is missing." 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/05/24/albuquerque-film-and-music-experiences-native-stars-stories-164570

 

More about this film is in the new anthology STOLEN GENERATIONS!

Early thoughts: Revelations and Dead Indians

Back in 2008, I had a draft of my first book and I had given it the name DEAD INDIANS (taken from the phrase "the only good Indian is a dead Indian.")  Here are some of my early thoughts.   

Trace (author of One Small Sacrifice)

Revelations

“…well I reckon I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and civilize me and I can’t stand it. I been there before. – Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)

           

Being so disconnected from self, or discombobulated, I’d call it paralyzed, emotionally closed for business. In other words, I was a wreck. This was a very big revelation for me. Huge. I didn’t like any of it. I’d found lots of books on what to do if you adopt a baby. There weren’t any on how to live like this.

            Realizing my assimilation, I had to accept that I’m a stranger to my own history, my own tribe. I wanted to feel better. I’m no kid. I’d had Indian friends all my life. What hurt, ducks around me were nice but didn’t care. They were not in my skin or have any clue.  How do I heal or deal with this? In many ways I was ashamed to admit any of it.

            Two ducks raised me, two (chickens) had walked away. All four parents were completely unaware of how they contributed to the big picture; this wasn’t about any fault or blame. I knew adopting was the way it was done; the bigger system decreed let someone else raise your baby. For Indian people, which you will read later, some were unwilling and did not have a choice.

            It was very hard for me to accept why my own birthparents, why my mother, rejected me. That’s how I felt. I didn’t know why.  “Left… Let go... Abandoned… Orphaned.”  Those words echoed inside me like an infection, like I was defective. Seriously, at times I acted like an emotionally battered and beaten dog. I remember. I felt terrible as a kid. It wasn’t safe to be me, so sad, so shameful. I remember living with my adoptive parents and it wasn’t all rosy. I held in more anger and anxiety than they or I could handle. I buried that too, filed it away, pretended it wasn’t there.

            I can see now that my new mom and dad pretended too; my (adoptive) parents were hiding their own pain, her infertility, their loss after her two miscarriages. As my little brother and I grew up their adopted kids, we lived their secret fear we wouldn’t turn out ok.

            This dead feeling (and sickness) was in my soul, invisible, but it’d spread like cancer. I could function, sure, and even be a writer and musician, someone my family could brag about. There’s no question my adoptive family gave me many things – along with the confidence that they loved me. Yet growing up, no one said how deeply disturbed or troubled I was.

            Right above my office chair is an African mobile called the Circle of Joy. The circle of dancers sway above me and remind me of why I’m here. It’s my purpose to ask, to write, to find joy in every moment, to dance my way home.

            So what is trauma and what caused the trauma I felt? I had to know so I could release it.

Sage Smudge is essential for all of us

Adoption Trauma, Adaptation & Addiction

By Trace Hentz (American Indian Adoptees editor)


I freely admit I am an adoptee with trauma, a trauma that happened when I was a tiny baby (pre-language).  Doctors might classify this as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Today there are many other terms: Reactive Attachment Disorder, Severe Narcissistic Injury, the Primal Wound, or perhaps the Adoptee Syndrome.


Today I was explaining to a friend on the phone I was trying to find an analogy for her high stress (distress).  I told her: Imagine you are a rabbit raised in a den of snakes. That rabbit would never feel comfortable and you'd be on high alert, as in adrenal overload - "fight or flight." That stress on you the rabbit would not go away: You are not home. The mother snake is not your mother. You want your own mother. You don't feel safe. These snakes are not your people. They literally scare you.

The trauma can add up: being abandoned-relinquished-separated from your source/mother, foster care before adoption, or an orphanage, not bonding to anyone: all these add up to more trauma and being afraid.


Now I know this will upset people who adopted a baby. Some are very nice people. They don't want to be called snakes or scary.


But the bottom line for the adoptee: The strangers are not your parents. They adopted you. They are substitutes.  What happened as a baby affects us as adults.


And as this short video (above) by Paul Sunderland suggests: it's not adoption, it's adaptation. We adoptees do adapt.  Some of us go insane. And we get scarred. And the stress of that is not good for any child. And it follows you into adulthood. (And as the video suggests, some of us fall into addictions and self-medicating behavior and suicide.) Some of us get very sick.  Full Video


No matter how well meaning our adoptive parents are, they must understand how we view this situation, what we take from it and understand, and what we feel deeply in our soul.

Watch Part One: Primal Wound with Nancy Verrier...

This loss we experience is a soul injury.  And it lasts our entire life.

#60s Scoop Unbelievable Journey

Canada: Unbelievable journey just beginning for Heather Sararas @PriscillaStoneS @Trace15 @search_angels https://t.co/sGY0CJFe39

— Frank Ligtvoet (@frank_ligtvoet) May 20, 2016

LINK

Heather Sararas is one of the crisis counsellors at Maggie’s Resource Centre of North Hastings, and for many years has been working to help women and children in North Hastings change their lives for the better. She is a mother, wife, and now grandmother; a hard worker devoted to her family and herself, and her community.

Language has power: “Education is the means whereby a culture perpetuates itself and transfers itself to the young"

Can teaching Native languages improve graduation rates in Alaska? https://t.co/NP3TycleBe #AlaskaNative #IndigenousLanguages

— Kaleimamoowahinekapu (@candacekgalla) May 6, 2016

The University of Alaska Southeast graduated its first Alaska Native Languages and Studies majors in 2014. (Photo by Lisa Phu/KTOO)

Many of Alaska’s rural schools are not working. Low student performance and high teacher turnover are just two of more obvious indicators of problems in these mostly Native school districts. Those working in the schools say it’s time for radical changes.

Paul Berg has taught in Alaska for more than 40 years — 10 of them in villages.

“You want to see racism go to a village school,” said Berg. “You’ll see Outside, usually Anglo teachers have the best jobs, the most pay. Vast majority of administrators will be Anglo. It is not working. The statistics and the data are very clear. ”

Berg, now 70, teaches high school students during the summer and works as a cross-cultural specialist for the Goldbelt Heritage Foundation. He, among other educators meeting this month at the University of Alaska’s Natives Studies Conference, describes schools as colonial forces not that much different from the boarding schools of years ago that punished Native children for speaking their languages.

“Education is the means whereby a culture perpetuates itself and transfers itself to the young. Public education has taken this away from the Yupik, the Inupiat, the Aleut and others and given basically middle-class America to these people,” said Berg. “As to the degree that they wish that… that should be their choice but they should have the inalienable undeniable right to transfer the culture and the language to their children. It’s called the right of culture sovereignty and English-speaking nations are among the last on earth to recognize it.

Xh’unei Lance Twitchell addresses a crowd at the 2014 Alaska Federation of Natives Convention. At the event, Gov. Sean Parnell signed HB 216, a bill making Alaska’s Native languages official state languages. (Photo by Jennifer Canfield/KTOO)

“My prayer is that Tlingit is going to live forever because we want our little babies to be talking,” said Xh’unei Lance Twitchell.

Keep Reading

A Journey of Discovery, Truth and Reconciliation | Cecelia Reekie | TEDx... #60sScoop

Indian Child Welfare Act: The Real Tragedy Is That It’s Not Enforced

• by Richard Wexler
• May 17, 2016

Casey Jo Caswell of Lansing, Mich. made a terrible mistake. Homeless and jobless, she turned to Michigan’s child welfare agency for help raising her son, Ricky.
But the agency offered no help with housing, no help with a job and no help with education. They told her to surrender the child to “temporary” foster care, and then rushed to terminate her parental rights.
Ricky was placed with middle class foster parents in a nice, big home. First it was as a foster child, then it became his adoptive home.
Once, during a counseling session, The Detroit News reported, the boy was playing with two plastic horses when he said: “This little horse is going to die if he can’t be with his mother.” That proved prophetic. Ricky Holland’s white adoptive parents murdered him. They stuffed his body in a trash bag and left it by the side of a road.
Yet in all the years since, no one has suggested that, because of this horror story, the so-called Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), the law that spurred the rush to place Ricky in the home where he was adopted to death, should be repealed or curbed. That’s understandable. There’s an excellent case for curbing ASFA, but it shouldn’t be built on horror stories that unfairly stigmatize entire groups.
Yet Marie Cohen offers a similar horror story involving a Native American home (recycled from the Goldwater Institute) as the only evidence in support of her claim that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) should be curbed. Or maybe should never have been passed at all; she’s not clear about that.
Cohen dismisses in a single sentence the horrors inflicted on Native American children that led to passage of ICWA. In fact, from the 19th century through the 1960s, American child welfare agencies tried to effectively eradicate Indian culture and, indeed, Indian tribes, by simply taking away children.
First, they were warehoused in hideous orphanages. Later, there was a campaign of mass adoptions. Melissa Harris Perry called the orphanages an “explicit cultural extermination mission.”

By the mid-20th century, people stopped actually saying “kill the Indian, save the child.” But it took ICWA to change practice, and it hasn’t changed nearly enough.

KEEP READING

HELP us find Navajo adoptee Christopher Largo

We received this urgent message from Tina. If you know an adoptee born on Nov. 12. 1973/4 - or on January 12, 1974 -- please contact me immediately. [larahentz@yahoo.com]

His mom is very ill and just had cancer surgery. She has made a major effort to try and find her son (my brother) recently. She put him up for adoption through the Navajo Nation Social Service. 

My brother was adopted through the Navajo Nation Social Service. What information I received from my mom is as follows: He was born November 12, 1973/1974 at the Gallup Indian Hospital or on January 12, 1974 in Gallup, New Mexico.  My mom, Betty Jean Largo, named her son Christopher Largo. He was immediately adopted as soon as he was born.  Since he was adopted out through the Navajo Nation and in his 40's there was nothing Navajo Social Services office could do. 
My mom said she thought she gave birth on November 12, 1973/1974 but her aunt said she gave birth on January 12, 1974.  Anyway, my mom said everything was a blur. The days after she adopted, she tried to get her baby back but social service told her she couldn't do that.

If he has non-identifying information, his mother was born in 1949 and was age 24 when she had him. Both parents are Navajo.


Please share this message.

We Were Children #Canada #ResidentialSchool

Josephine sent us this link from New Brunswick, Canada

PREVIEW https://www.nfb.ca/film/we_were_children/

In this 2012 feature film, the profound impact of the Canadian government’s residential school system is conveyed through the eyes of two children who were forced to face hardships beyond their years. As young children, Lyna and Glen were taken from their homes and placed in church-run boarding schools, where they suffered years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, the effects of which persist in their adult lives. We Were Children gives voice to a national tragedy and demonstrates the incredible resilience of the human spirit.

Thank you Megwetch Josephine!