By ICT Newscast with Aliyah Chavez
We meet the author behind the book aiming to support young women called
'Sisterhood.' A short film explores the legacy of the Rapid City
boarding schools. The Vatican has repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery.
We discuss its influence on tribal sovereignty ... The Vatican officially repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery
on Thursday morning. This comes after Indigenous peoples across the
world demanded this action. The Doctrine of Discovery originated in the
late 1400s, as justification by the Catholic Church to seize lands that
were not inhabited by Christians. continue reading
The Pope seems to not know about the Doctrine, according to a twitter Native.
The Vatican has formally repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery,”
which justified colonization and the taking of Indigenous lands.
Two Vatican departments issued a joint statement Thursday saying it’s not part of teachings of the Catholic Church.
Indigenous people have long called for the church to rescind the legal concept.
Joint Statement of the Dicasteries
for Culture and Education and for Promoting Integral Human Development
on the “Doctrine of Discovery”, 30.03.2023
1. In fidelity to the mandate received
from Christ, the Catholic Church strives to promote universal
fraternity and respect for the dignity of every human being.
2. For this reason, in the course of history the Popes have condemned
acts of violence, oppression, social injustice and slavery, including
those committed against indigenous peoples. There have also been
numerous examples of bishops, priests, women and men religious and lay
faithful who gave their lives in defense of the dignity of those
peoples.
3. At the same time, respect for the facts of history demands an
acknowledgement of the human weakness and failings of Christ’s disciples
in every generation. Many Christianshave committed evil acts against indigenous peoples for which recent Popes have asked forgiveness on numerous occasions.
4. In our own day, a renewed dialogue with indigenous peoples,
especially with those who profess the Catholic Faith, has helped the
Church to understand better their values and cultures. With their help,
the Church has acquired a greater awareness of their sufferings, past
and present, due to the expropriation of their lands, which they
consider a sacred gift from God and their ancestors, as well as the
policies of forced assimilation, promoted by the governmental
authorities of the time, intended to eliminate their indigenous
cultures. As Pope Francis has emphasized, their sufferings constitute a
powerful summons to abandon the colonizing mentality and to walk with
them side by side, in mutual respect and dialogue, recognizing the
rights and cultural values of all individuals and peoples. In this
regard, the Church is committed to accompany indigenous peoples and to
foster efforts aimed at promoting reconciliation and healing.
5. It is in this context of listening to indigenous peoples that the
Church has heard the importance of addressing the concept referred to as
the “doctrine of discovery.” The legal concept of “discovery” was
debated by colonial powers from the sixteenth century onward and found
particular expression in the nineteenth century jurisprudence of courts
in several countries, according to which the discovery of lands by
settlers granted an exclusive right to extinguish, either by purchase or
conquest, the title to or possession of those lands by indigenous
peoples. Certain scholars have argued that the basis of the
aforementioned “doctrine” is to be found in several papal documents,
such as the Bulls Dum Diversas (1452), Romanus Pontifex (1455) and Inter Caetera (1493).
6. The “doctrine of discovery” is not part of the teaching of the
Catholic Church. Historical research clearly demonstrates that the papal
documents in question, written in a specific historical period and
linked to political questions, have never been considered expressions of
the Catholic faith. At the same time, the Church acknowledges that
these papal bulls did not adequately reflectthe equal dignity
and rights of indigenous peoples. The Church is also aware that the
contents of these documents were manipulated for political purposes by
competing colonial powers in order to justify immoral acts against
indigenous peoples that were carried out, at times, without opposition
from ecclesiastical authorities. It is only just to recognize these
errors, acknowledge the terrible effects of the assimilation policies
and the pain experienced by indigenous peoples, and ask for pardon.
Furthermore, Pope Francis has urged: “Never again can the Christian
community allow itself to be infected by the idea that one culture is
superior to others, or that it is legitimate to employ ways of coercing
others.”
7. In no uncertain terms, the Church’s magisterium upholds the
respect due to every human being. The Catholic Church therefore
repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human
rights of indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the
legal and political “doctrine of discovery”.
8. Numerous and repeated statements by the Church and the Popes
uphold the rights of indigenous peoples. For example, in the 1537 Bull Sublimis Deus, Pope Paul III wrote,“We
define and declare [ ... ] that [, .. ] the said Indians and all other
people who may later be discovered by Christians, are by no means to be
deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property, even
though they be outside the Christian faith; and that they may and
should, freely and legitimately, enjoy their liberty and possession of
their property; nor should they be in any way enslaved; should the
contrary happen, it shall be null and have no effect”.
9. More recently, the Church’s solidarity with indigenous peoples has
given rise to the Holy See’s strong support for the principles
contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples. The implementation of those principles would improve the living
conditions and help protect the rights of indigenous peoples as well as
facilitate their development in a way that respects their identity,
language and culture.
“The
‘enrollment’ process was started by the Feds so they could use ‘blood
quantum’ to finish the Genocide of Native Americans. Now we are finishing the job ourselves by continuing to use it as a ‘membership’ requirement. Membership: like the Elks Club or Lions Club or the Moose Lodge. Sad.”
—Harold
Monteau, former chair of National Indian Gaming Commission and a
citizen of the Chippewa Cree Tribe, today on social media
Missing and Murdered: proactive tribal and state initiatives
The Yurok Tribe hired its own investigator to
pursue unsolved cases of their citizens who are missing or murdered.
Arizona is among the states establishing an MMIP task force that the new
governor says will “ensure that not one more Indigenous man, woman, or
child is a target of violence, abuse, or exploitation.” The actions are
part of the attempts to address the slow momentum to investigate and
solve cases with Native victims. Today on Native America Calling, we
speak with Jessica Carter (Yurok), Yurok Tribal Court Director; Daisy Bluestar (Southern Ute), member of the MMIR Taskforce in Colorado; Skye Alloway (Forest County Potawatomi tribal member), co-chair of Wisconsin’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force; and Annie Forsman-Adams (Suquamish), program director for the Washington State Native American Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (Women Spirit Coalition).
A very very good story. It reminds me of the SOS Villages a friend in Austria told me about many years ago, and how it WORKS! Trace
Marcella Gilbert organizes Lakota cultural activities and provides
respite care for parents at the Children’s Village operated by Simply
Smiles in La Plant, South Dakota. Bryan Nurnberger, president and
founder of the nonprofit, serves as interim director of the foster care
village. (Arielle Zionts / KHN)
It Takes a Village: Foster Program Is a New Model of Care for Indigenous Children
LA PLANT, S.D. — Past a gravel road lined with old white wooden
buildings is a new, 8-acre village dotted with colorful houses, tepees,
and a sweat lodge.
The Simply Smiles Children’s Village, in this small town on the
Cheyenne River Reservation, is home to a program aimed at improving
outcomes and reducing trauma for Indigenous foster children.
All foster programs seek to safely reunite children with their families. The Children’s Village goes further.
“We want to make Lakota citizens of the world,” said Colt Combellick,
who oversees mental health programs at the village. “If we can help
them relearn their culture and their heritage and connect them to the
resources that they need to thrive moving forward, we’re going to try to
make that happen.”
The program is an example of the growing nationwide effort to improve
services for Indigenous children, after generations were routinely
traumatized by being separated from their families and cultures. While
the Indian boarding school era
is over, and improvements have been made to child welfare systems,
Indigenous families remain overrepresented in the foster care system.
“We actually have research that shows
that kids who have stronger cultural identity have better child
well-being outcomes” such as succeeding in school and avoiding drugs,
said Angelique Day, an associate professor at the University of Washington and an expert on Indigenous child welfare.
Day, who is not affiliated with Simply Smiles, said she’s excited by
any innovative program aimed at improving child welfare in tribal
communities if it provides adequate training so foster parents can
support the children and avoid turnover. She said it’s also important
for organizations to arrange for independent evaluation of kids’
progress after leaving foster programs.
It’s too early to say whether Simply Smiles will succeed in its goals, but the Children’s Village has the support of the leaders of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and has attracted interest and visits from officials representing Indigenous nations across the country.
It was a Cheyenne River Sioux tribal member who suggested the
nonprofit set up a foster village on the reservation after learning
about a similar program the nonprofit runs in Mexico. The tribal council
voted to support the idea, and Simply Smiles has advisers including
child welfare experts, elders, and other leaders of the Cheyenne River
Sioux and other tribes.The
Children’s Village operated by the nonprofit Simple Smiles is in tiny
La Plant, South Dakota, on the Cheyenne River Reservation. (Arielle Zionts / KHN)
Simply Smiles’ model combines living in a house in a family setting
with the resources of more institutional settings, said Bryan
Nurnberger, president and founder of the Connecticut-based nonprofit.
The Children’s Village in La Plant has one foster parent caring for
three teenagers. It’s hiring other parents to fill its three homes,
which, together, can house up to six parents and 18 children.
The family has access to a counseling and family visiting center, as
well as a large blue barn that stores a bus, maintenance equipment, and
new clothing for the children to “shop” through.
MarShondria Adams, 39, grew up with stepsiblings who were placed in
multiple foster homes. Last year, she moved 300 miles from Sioux Falls,
South Dakota’s largest city, to La Plant, population 167, to become a
foster parent at the Children’s Village.
On a recent cold and foggy morning, Adams’ three foster teens made
smoothies for breakfast inside their navy-blue house with a
bubble-gum-pink front door at the Children’s Village. Adams drove them
to school and then returned home, where she did laundry and filled out
paperwork for the state’s child welfare department. Her after-school
plan was to cook dinner as the kids tackled a YouTube exercise class.
Being a traditional foster parent in Sioux Falls would “be a
day-and-night difference,” Adams said. She wouldn’t have on-site
resources and staff members to assist her and the children with tasks
ranging from repairing flat tires to finding a specialist who conducts
learning disability assessments.
“I have all these people that are around me to support me and help
me,” Adams said. Traditional foster parents probably spend more time
than she does playing phone tag with case managers and searching for
other resources, she said.
The program’s foster parents receive 70 more hours of training than
required by the state, including education about Lakota culture. It also
offers telehealth therapy, evaluations, and medication management to
the foster parents, children, and birth parents. Combellick said the mental health services use trauma-informed and culturally relevant evidence-based methods.
The nonprofit funds these services through donations, grants, and the
state, which also refers potential foster children to Simply Smiles.
Combellick, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, is another
Simply Smiles staffer with a personal story about family separations.
His father was 6 years old when his mother went missing and was found
dead on the reservation. Combellick’s dad and his siblings were sent 80
miles away to an Indian boarding school, where they stayed about a year
before being reunited with their family.
Combellick said his father developed post-traumatic stress disorder
from boarding school, where he faced corporal punishment and was not
allowed to speak the Lakota language.
“That’s what spurred my passion. I just wanted to learn about my
family history and how to break those cycles of oppression,” he said.
Combellick became a social worker and hoped someday to find a way to directly support his tribe.
“I came by Simply Smiles, and — boom! — it’s like 300 yards from where my ancestors grew up,” he said.
One of the children’s rooms inside a home at the Simply Smiles Children’s Village in La Plant, South Dakota. (Arielle Zionts / KHN)
Bundles of dried sage sit on the kitchen counter inside a home at
the Simply Smiles Children’s Village on the Cheyenne River Reservation
in South Dakota. Lakota people use sage for purification rituals,
medicine, and other purposes. (Arielle Zionts / KHN)
Experts say the law has reduced disparities since the 1970s, but by
2003 child protection agencies were still more likely to investigate and
substantiate allegations against Native American families than other
groups, and more likely to remove their children than those of any other
group, according to data analyzed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
And as recently as 2020, Native American children were nearly three times as likely to be in foster care as other children, according to a Casey Foundation analysis. More than half of these foster children were placed with non-relatives or non-Indigenous caregivers.
MarShondria
Adams moved 300 miles to foster three teens in this house at the Simply
Smiles Children’s Village in La Plant, South Dakota. (Arielle Zionts / KHN)
South Dakota lawmakers recently rejected legislation that would have codifiedparts of the Indian Child Welfare Act into state law. But they may create a task force to study how the state can improve Indigenous child welfare.
Eleven percent of the state’s licensed foster homes are Native American, according to state data.
Child welfare expert Day, a descendant of the Ho-Chunk Nation, said
some Native Americans aren’t able or approved to accept foster children
because they have low incomes or live in crowded or subpar housing.
“It’s not like tribal families don’t want to step up and do this
work. It’s that we have barriers, systemic barriers, that are embedded
within the system that discriminate against families who want to do this
work,” she said.
Even with the pay and on-site support, Simply Smiles has found it
challenging to recruit and retain caregivers. The first foster family
arrived in fall 2020, but the parent burned out amid covid pandemic
closures on the reservation. Another parent, from a large city outside
South Dakota, left after finding life in such a remote area too
difficult.
Marcella Gilbert, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe,
coordinates cultural programming such as trips to powwows and outings to
hunt elk and bison. She also cares for the children when their foster
parent needs a break.
“We’re asking people to do the hardest job in the world, which is
being a parent to children coming into our homes with loss and trauma,”
she said.
From
family stories handed down, and from whatever research she’s been able
to uncover, Kayl Commanda knows her great-grandmother’s 49 years were
shockingly sad.
Beatrice Commanda —
Kayl’s mother’s grandmother — was a victim of the infamous “’60s Scoop.”
The term refers to the mass removal of Canadian Indigenous children
from their families into the child welfare system, in most cases without
the consent of their families or bands.
Beatrice
lost her children, scuttled away to residential schools and foster
families near the Nipissing First Nation, where she would eventually die
at the age of 49. Family members marked her grave with a simple wood
cross, vowing to at least keep her legacy alive.
But
Kayl, a student at Trent University in Peterborough, says the sadness
didn’t end there. The property where Beatrice was buried flooded one
year and the wooden cross, as well as her burial location, was lost.
“My grandmother remembered attending the funeral,” says Kayl, who also uses the name Opichi — the Anishinaabe word for robin.
“The
issue that happened was that the Nipissing cemetery was flooded …
obviously, it wasn't exactly a wealthy community at the time, so all of
the gravestones were just OK.” But the flood took many away.
Kayl
says the family had great difficulty in finding exactly where Beatrice
was buried, but eventually her remains were located. They were able to
put a bouquet of flowers on the site.
“But
now we're trying to give her a proper headstone because she was an
amazing woman, from what we hear,” she says. “She had a major injustice
done to her, having all of her children taken away.”
It’s
an expensive undertaking, but it’s one the family is determined to
accomplish. Kayl says they started by selling family belongings,
reaching out to relatives to see if they could spare some items. Kayl has also started a GoFundMe page, generating close to $3,000 so far.
Editor’s note: This short piece accompanied “Forever Home” in the March+April 2023 print edition of Mother Jones.
This spring, the US Supreme Court will hear a case
that could decide the future of the Indian Child Welfare Act, the 1978
landmark law that strengthened tribes’ rights to keep Native children
out of the foster care system. At the center of the current case are the
Brackeens, a white Texas couple hoping to adopt a 4-year-old girl from a
Navajo family. Devout Christians, the Brackeens have said that they
felt called by God to adopt, telling the New York Times in 2019 that they considered adoption a way to “rectify our blessings.”
Christian groups have jumped
to the Brackeens’ defense, arguing that ICWA discriminates against
Native children by prioritizing potential caretakers’ Native heritage
over their overall ability to provide for a child. Yet critics see that
argument as merely the latest chapter in Christians’ long history of
removing Native children from their communities to win more converts—a
kind of a modern spin on the famous words of Richard H. Pratt, the
Christian founder of the first residential school for Native children in
the United States. “All the Indian there is in the race should be
dead,” he wrote in 1892. “Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.”
Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare
Founded in 2004, this group advocates on behalf of non-Indian
families who are trying to adopt children of Native descent. The group’s
founder is Elizabeth Morris, author of a 2006 book called Dying in Indian Country,
which she describes as “the true story of a father who realized
reservation life and welfare policies were destroying his family.” In an
amicus brief
filed in 2021, an anti-ICWA group called the Christian Alliance for
Indian Child Welfare wrote, “For nearly fifty years, ICWA has imposed
race-based classifications on Indian children and their families—a clear
violation of Equal Protection—and has caused horrendous individual
suffering as a result.” CAICW’s public Facebook page, with 2,700
followers, regularly shares stories about what they see as the
depravities of Native culture; a recent post
cast doubt on recent finding of remains of Native children on the
grounds of Canadian boarding schools despite abundant evidence that they
are legitimate.
Nightlight Christian Adoptions
Since 1959,
this evangelical adoption agency has advocated for adoption as an
alternative to abortion and a boon to Christianity. Nightlight waded
into an ICWA battle in 2013, when the agency facilitated the adoption of
a Cherokee girl into a White Christian family. After a highly publicized custody battle between the adoptive parents and tribal leaders ensued, with evangelical activists staging rallies and circulating petitions to “Save Baby Veronica” from being removed from her Christian adoptive family. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in the adoptive parents’ favor. In a current brochure
about its faith-based mission, Nightlight states, “Adoption is one of
the most effective ways to make disciples of all nations.”
Allie Beth Stuckey and Naomi Schaefer Riley
Stuckey, a Christian influencer with 441,000 followers on Instagram, devoted a recent episode
of her podcast, “Relatable,” to the Indian Child Welfare Act. Her guest
was Naomi Schaefer Riley, a fellow of the libertarian think tank
American Enterprise Institute and author of the and the 2016 book The New Trail of Tears: How Washington Is Destroying American Indians.
On Stuckey’s podcast, Riley argued that the US government’s history of
abuse and exploitation of Native people is no longer relevant. “I don’t
really believe in historical trauma,” she said. Instead, she blamed
Natives’ poverty and suffering on modern moral failings. “Maybe it’s the
substance abuse,” she said. “Maybe it’s the high crime rates. Maybe it
has nothing to do with the fact that your grandfather was forced to go
to a boarding school by the American government.” She claims that what
“left-wing activists” really hope to achieve is “an Indian Child Welfare
Act for Black children.”
That wasn’t Riley’s first appearance on Stuckey’s podcast; in an episode from last year called “CPS Has A Deadly Wokeness Problem” Riley discussed her most recent book, No Way to Treat a Child: How the Foster Care System, Family Courts, and Racial Activists Are Wrecking Young Lives,
published in 2021. Riley held forth about her belief that law-and-order
conservatives should think of child protective services as a branch of
law enforcement. She told Stuckey, “We don’t think it’s a good idea as
conservatives to abolish the police because we understand…the important
role the police play in protecting our most vulnerable citizens, and we
need to understand the important role that CPS plays in protecting
children.” Stuckey urges her listeners to reject the notion that race
and culture should play a role in custody decisions. “The world doesn’t
care about children,” she says. Her listeners can help, she says, by
“carrying on the legacy of Christianity.”
"Native foster care is a very emotional
subject. ... The fact is that Native children need Native families and
thriving Native communities."
Opinion byWinona LaDuke
March 15, 2023
Minnesota is poised to be the first state to protect the rights
of tribal nations and Native children. That’s the right thing to do and
it has broad bipartisan support, thanks to the leadership of
Minnesota’s Native legislators.
At stake is The Minnesota Indian
Family Preservation Act, which intends to shore up the ability of Native
families to keep Native children, instead of seeing them turned over to
non-Native homes for long-term foster care or adoption. That’s how a
people can continue, given that history has not been good to Native
children.
The bill is also moving forward now because the U.S.
Supreme Court may strike down the protections afforded to Native
children through the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Minnesota is
stepping up to keep protection for Native children intact. But we must
also tackle the bigger question of what sends Native kids to foster
care, and how we restore healthy Native communities and protect the
ecosystems which support a way of life.
Native foster care is a
very emotional subject. Losing children to another culture is damaging.
Lost to the next generation is the ability to transfer lessons, cultural
values, teachings and even places — where to harvest wild rice or pick
berries, for instance. Those are essential parts of being Anishinaabe.
We want to keep the children, and we want to keep the ecosystems, the
wild rice, the fish and good life for them.
The United Nations
defines one component of genocide as removal of children from the
community. But historically both the Canadian and U.S. governments have
forcibly removed thousands of Native children from their homes. The
federal Indian Child Welfare Act was intended to protect Native
children, but last fall the Supreme Court took up challenges to the ICWA
in the case of Haaland v. Brackeen.
This is primarily a Texas case, where the child was eventually
kept by the non-Native couple who now wants the child’s sibling. But
there’s also a Minnesota connection. A Minnesota couple, Danielle and
Jason Clifford, argued in court that they could better provide for the
child, but the White Earth Nation and the grandmother fought back and
the grandmother won custody because of ICWA.
The fact is that most
things have been stolen from our people. Land is the most obvious proof
of that. But Christian churches similarly outlawed our religions and
took children to residential schools where they were often heavily
abused. Many Native people then and now lose their lives to the American
system whether in courts, jails or extreme poverty. Children are the
future, and that’s why Native families and our communities are fighting
to keep minimal protections in Minnesota.
As state Sen. Mary
Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton, explained recently, “At one time in Minnesota,
the state took Indian children from their families to be placed into
foster care or for permanent adoption at five times the rate they did
non-Indian children. Some Indian children spent years trying to recover
their Indian identities and reconnect with their tribal communities.
Many others never made it home to see their families or communities
again.”
That’s why Kunesh and Reps. Heather Keeler, Alicia
Kozolwski, Jamie Finn and other Native legislators led this work. They
were joined by many other state representatives who said this was the
right thing to do. These representatives are working to protect
Minnesota Native families, making Minnesota the first state in the
country to shore up the foundations of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Nearly
every tribe in the nation and in Minnesota, including the White Earth
Band of Ojibwe, delivered “friend of the court” briefs to the Supreme
Court: “The challenges to ICWA in this litigation seek to diminish
ICWA’s protections and undermine the unique trust responsibilities the
United States owes to Indian children and Indian Tribes,” says a brief
filed by 180 Indian tribes and 35 tribal organizations.
Now, I’m
going to ask the uncomfortable question: How do we improve the quality
of life in our own tribal communities, so that there is no need for
foster care or adoption? Health and housing situations in our community
remain dire. The water in villages such as Pine Point and Rice Lake is
really a serious problem. Years have gone by without upgrades. Pipes are
laid only for Canadian corporations but not for Native people.
When
do we secure adequate funding for housing, heat and basic necessities
for our communities, so that our children are less at risk? Food
security is likewise an ongoing problem for Native families and is
further compromised by criminalizing Native harvests, or destruction of
Native foods. Wild rice and maple stands are laid to waste by a flick of
a pen at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, while
destabilizing and clear cutting our world continues.
The fact is
that Native children need Native families and thriving Native
communities. Let’s be courageous Minnesota and make sure Native kids are
in our communities, and that our communities are able to thrive, and
our Akiing — the land to which we belong — remains intact.
And thank you to the Minnesota legislators for doing the right thing.
Winona
LaDuke is executive director, Honor the Earth, and an Ojibwe writer and
economist on Minnesota’s White Earth Reservation. She is also owner of
Winona's Hemp and a regular contributor to Forum News Service.
Episode 2: John Derek Mills is a ‘60s Scoop survivor from Waterhen Lake
First Nation with a long juvenile record and a lifetime of crime that
culminated in a botched armed robbery in 1996. Originally sentenced to
seven years in prison, Mills is still behind bars nearly three decades
later. In this episode, reporter Rob Smith talks to Mills to uncover why
he has fallen through every crack in the justice system.
The
Spanish Indian Residential School for Boys was managed by the Jesuits,
while the girls school was managed by a Roman Catholic teaching order,
the Daughters of the Heart of Mary. (Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, Algoma University)
Over a third of the Jesuits who are "credibly accused" of sexually
abusing minors worked in First Nations or at the Spanish Indian
Residential School in Spanish, Ont.
The religious order released a list of names, along with the places they were assigned to work, on Monday as part of an attempt to be more transparent and accountable.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said the revelations bring about mixed feelings.
"Largely, the Jesuit fathers identified there have passed, I think robs people of an opportunity to get accountability," he said.
"I
do understand that just seeing people's names on this list can be quite
triggering for a number of people but I think at the end of the day
that in the spirit of better late than never, it is nice to see the
Jesuits taking some accountability and transparency in this."
He
said from a government perspective, there is a continued need to
support communities with wellbeing, language, and culture as they
grapple with the "pattern of predation on Indigenous communities."
"We know that a lot of the harm that has occurred has harmed communities as a whole," said Miller.
"We
are not dealing with acts of individuals in isolated circumstances. I
think that is an important truth that we have to keep at the top of our
mind because it goes to the institutional nature of this for which there
needs to continue to be accountability."
EDITOR NOTE: Open our records and give us our papers, including our adoption file and original birth certificate! Then we won't be accused of fraud or an undetermined identity... Trace
OPINION:
Fraudulent claims of Indigenous identity are risking community for the rest of us
"By the late 1950s, more Indigenous kids in the south were finally living
at home. This concerned the mostly white folks who were social workers,
and they ‘scooped’ kids, or stole kids out of Indigenous communities
because the houses didn’t have perfect picket fences, the stay-at-home
moms and working dads, or the kitchens with chrome-plated
tables. Blatant racism in social work called Indigenous parents ‘bad’
and their kids were adopted or sold to white families—good
families. Hopefully those kids would lose that pesky Indigenous
identity. The ’60s Scoop kids were separated from families, and adopted
out across Canada, the United States, and around the world. It’s
estimated that 22,500 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children were
removed from the homes in the ’60 Scoop. Any connection to culture and
belonging was severed completely."
Action 71 calls upon chief coroners and provincial vital statistics
agencies to make their records on the deaths of Indigenous children in
care of residential school authorities available to the National Centre
for Truth and Reconciliation.
As
the organization entrusted to receive, hold and archive the
commission’s records, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
will add the newly acquired documents to the permanent record of what
happened in the residential school system.
The agreement will have
a positive impact on survivors and their families who are searching for
more information as a means to heal, Debbie Huntinghawk told the Sun on
Monday morning.
“That’s a beautiful game changer for a lot of people,” she said.
Did you know you can use ICWA to open your adoption?
How hard is it to open your adoption?
How hard is it to find help, or know how to start?
MY Answers:
👉In
the book CALLED HOME: The Roadmap (Book 2) - we devote an entire
chapter on how to use ICWA to open your adoption records to contact the
tribe, and how to use DNA results. You will need legal help. Don't let
that stop you.
***Some
of us are told that records burned - that is usually a lie. The
Catholic Charities and others will claim your parent is dead - that
often turns out to be a lie. In some families, as many as 10 children
were sold and trafficked into adoption, especially if you were a Native
mother. Read the book series Lost Children of the Indian Adoption Projects for examples.
Under 1917,
an "Indian individual who has reached the age eighteen and who was the
subject of an adoptive placement" may apply to the court that rendered
the final decree, while 1951(b)
allows the "adopted child over the age of eighteen, the adoptive or
foster parents of an Indian child, or an Indian tribe" to request the
adoption information.
If you are an adoptee, call the BIA today... then call again and again - flood their phones and request help! Talk about ICWA. They kept many many records on adoptees. They can tell you your tribe. DO NOT GIVE UP...
What role does the Secretary of the
Interior have regarding an Indian adoptees access to his or her adoption records?
Supposedly, under 1951(a)
the Secretary of the Interior serves as a central registry for adoption
records of Indian children since November 8, 1978. However, the
registry in most cases is extremely limited and often times is
unhelpful. Although, state courts entering adoption decrees involving
Indian children are required to provide to the Secretary of the Interior
the Indian child's adoption records, it is routinely overlooked. In
any event the registry, in accordance with 1951, should include
information that shows:
(1) The name and tribal affiliation of the child;
(2) The names and addresses of the biological parents;
(3) The names and addresses of the adoptive parents; and
(4) The identity of any agency having files or information relating to such adoptive placement.
Should the registry contain pertinent records and upon a request by
an adult Indian adoptee, adoptive parent(s) or Indian tribe, the
Secretary is required to disclose the information necessary to establish
tribal membership. 25 U.S.C. 1951(b).
If the biological parent(s) indicate by affidavit to remain anonymous,
the Secretary shall insure that the confidentiality of such information
is maintained and such information is not subject to the Freedom of
Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 522
(2000). 25 U.S.C. 1951(a). To accommodate the confidentiality
request, the Secretary can then certify the child's parentage or other
information necessary to satisfy a tribe's enrollment requirements and
establish the Indian adoptee's membership in that tribe. 25 U.S.C.
1951(b).
ALSO: Make your voice heard! Be proud to protect ICWA for future generations!
Call or write:
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
MS-4606
Washington, D.C. 20240
Telephone: (202) 208-5116
To request a meeting with the Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, please use the Meeting Request Form
**
The Bureau of Indian Affairs will issue a Certificate degree of
Indian Blood (CDIB) that shows your blood quantum and tribal
affiliation. You will want to contact the BIA agency that provides
services to the tribe you’re claiming heritage from in order to obtain
the CDIB card, that information can be found in the Tribal Leaders
Directory.
Red
Road Institute is proud to announce two new initiatives protecting our
people and saving lives. We do need your help to see these through.
As
you might know, tribes are rarely able to prosecute non-tribal citizens
for crimes they commit on our reservations. As a result, our
reservations are breeding grounds for wicked people to rape, murder, and
assault our people.
Because
the local police are rarely allowed to prosecute crimes outside their
jurisdiction, the FBI is the only department able to investigate crimes
committed by non-Natives on tribal land.
In
2016, the last year these stats were kept, there were 5,712 known cases
of missing or murdered indigenous women. However, only 116 were logged
into the DOJ database. For over 90% of the crimes, a real investigation
never happens.
So we're putting together these programs to help our people because the government will not.
Red Road Alert:
On July 1st, we will roll out the Red Road Alert in South and North
Dakota. This system will allow tribal police departments and police in
cities surrounding reservations to send a text alert to people who have
subscribed to our service when one of our relatives is missing.
This is similar to an Amber Alert and will help our people be on the lookout for our relatives and share information.
We
plan to expand this to other states as funds and grants become
available. However, we need $19k more to ensure this is financed for an
entire year.
Red Road TV is the premier TV station for all of your Native American
and First Nations content. We are the largest indigenous TV station in
the world. We’re all Indigenous, All the Time!
MMIW: Unsolved Cases: Have you heard about Red Road TV?
This is our 100% free indigenous programming available on Roku and
other smart TVs. Since we don’t charge for our programming, we must
raise money for anything we produce.
We’re currently
working on the first five episodes of a show that will highlight
unsolved MMIW cases. We’re hiring private investigators to go where the
federal government will not.
On April 15th, we will
release a new website that will allow us to share information and
hopefully bring some of our stolen sisters home. Our budget is tight,
and we are short $11k for advertising and equipment if you want to
donate money or equipment.
We want you to know
that 100% of all Red Road Institute’s donations return to our
communities. Not one person on our staff receives compensation.
:format(webp)/https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/content/dam/localcommunities/peterborough_this_week/news/2023/02/10/after-gravesite-was-flooded-out-trent-student-wanted-to-do-right-for-60s-scoop-great-grandma/10850266_commanda.JPG)
