"Bringing Lakota Children Home"

While not a Cherokee specific topic, it is one that weighs heavy on my heart. The Veronica Brown case gained a lot of media attention, and when our tribe lost her, it was devastating to us.  It is important to remember that Veronica is not the only child that's been taken from her tribal family. It happens over and over and in some states, it occurs at alarmingly high rates. I've read about the things that happen in South Dakota and I think it is important we talk about it and do something. Things like this must stop.

For more information, click on the following link - "Bringing Lakota Children Home"
 
Please help spread the word.


Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

copyright 2014, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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Arrival at the Courthouse - Brown v Capabianco

Below are two videos from a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. I think they express the feelings of many Cherokees.

Here's Herb Wolfe, 'reporting on the scene' of the courthouse Friday, August 16, 2013, in the case of Veronica Brown. He captures both Dusten Brown and Matt & Melanie Capobianco as they arrive for the hearing.





Thank you for sharing your videos, Herb, and thank you for asking the same questions and saying the same things many of us Cherokees are asking and saying.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

copyright 2013, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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It's Our Turn to Save Veronica

As many of you know, the South Carolina Supreme Court has ordered that "Baby Veronica" be taken from her Cherokee father and her tribal nation, the Cherokee Nation, and returned to the non-Indian couple who wanted to adopt her. (The adoption was NEVER allowed, though the media has misreported this and misrepresented this many many times.) The South Carolina Supreme Court did not allow due process or take into consideration the best interest of the child.

This issue is far reaching and not just a Cherokee issue. It can and will affect ALL tribal nations.

The Brown family is asking people to contact their legislators and ask them to step in to keep Veronica with her Indian family and nation.

To contact your US Senators -
United States Senate

To contact your US Representatives -
United States House

Please get involved; make calls; and send emails. If we don't join together to do this now, we will lose more of our children in the future.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

copyright 2013, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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ICWA-Baby Veronica: It's not about race

Yesterday, in arguments made to the Supreme Court of the United States, Washington lawyer, Lisa S. Blatt, attorney representing Matt and Melanie Capobianco (the couple who was denied approval to adopt Baby Veronica) stated, "This case is going to affect any interracial adoption of children."

That statement is not true. Though Blatt, the Capobiancos, and many others have a difficult time understanding it, the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is not about race. It is about the special political status of members of Indian tribes. 

In her blog, American Indians in Children's Literature, on a page titled, "We are Not People of Color", Debbie Reese explains,

"Very few people know that American Indians in the United States have a status that marks us as distinct from minority or underrepresented populations (such as African Americans). That status is that we are sovereign tribal nations."

To expand on that, from the Bureau of Indian Affairs FAQ page,

"What is the relationship between the tribes and the United States?
The relationship between federally recognized tribes and the United States is one between sovereigns, i.e., between a government and a government. This “government-to-government” principle, which is grounded in the United States Constitution, has helped to shape the long history of relations between the federal government and these tribal nations."

and

"Who is an American Indian or Alaska Native?
The rights, protections, and services provided by the United States to individual American Indians and Alaska Natives flow not from a person's identity as such in an ethnological sense, but because he or she is a member of a federally recognized tribe.  That is, a tribe that has a government-to-government relationship and a special trust relationship with the United States. These special trust and government-to-government relationships entail certain legally enforceable obligations and responsibilities on the part of the United States to persons who are enrolled members of such tribes."

Notice the BIA clearly states rights and protections to American Indians do not come from a person's identity as an Indian in an ethnological sense, but because he or she is a member of a federally recognized tribe. 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary says "ethnology" means,

"a science that deals with the division of human beings into races and their origin, distribution, relations, and characteristics".

Now that we have the definition of ethnology, we could restate the above information from the BIA to say the rights and protections provided by the United States to individual American Indians do not come from a person's identity as such in a racial sense, but instead because he or she is a member of a federally recognized tribe. 

Children who are tribal members, or the offspring of tribal members, are the ONLY children covered under the ICWA. A decision in favor of the Cherokee Nation and the Brown family in the Baby Veronica case will ONLY apply to these children, and has no bearing on children of any minority group who does not meet the criteria to be considered an "Indian child." This case will not affect interracial adoptions of children, but it could very well undermine tribal sovereignty and undo years of progress we have made in protecting our Indian children from being placed in non-Indian homes where they lose their culture, history, language and traditions - in essence, their very identity as a tribal citizen. The ICWA was enacted to prevent this very thing, but now because non-Indians (once again) want our children, the law is under attack from people, like Blatt, who fail to acknowledge our sovereign rights and the importance of our identity as tribal citizens.

 
Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

copyright 2013, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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SCOTUS hears arguments in the Baby Veronica case

If you haven't heard, the Supreme Court of the US heard arguments in the "Baby Veronica" in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) today.

You can read the arguments by clicking on this link - Baby Veronica SCOTUS arguments

Some of the Justices's thoughts and questions were concerning, while other Justices seemed to be on the ball and fully aware of the rights of Indian parents under the law and why those rights needed to be established under the law.

For background information on this case, please see the links and information posted by the National Indian Child Welfare Association on "Baby Veronica."  The South Carolina Decision sheds some light on the case that the media did not address. Because it seems the couple who tried to adopt Baby Veronica wants to win the the case in court of public opinion, there are many details they haven't shared in their many media interviews, including the fact they were never allowed to adopt the child, nor did the father actually surrender his parental rights.

After reading the arguments, please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

copyright 2013, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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