The
Indian Child Interest
 -of the-
Indian Child Welfare Act

ᎣᏏᏲ (Hello!)

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What a decade in the life and work of the Indian Child Welfare Act!  The days from Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, 570 U.S. 637 (2013) to Haaland v. Brackeen, No. 21-376 (U.S., 2023) have been a path through a soul-wrenching silence of waiting for the right of justice to come to the aid of our Tribal children, our Tribal families, and our Tribal Nations.  The same wait began long before the founding of the United States of America and has continued for Tribal peoples every day since.  As I try to explain the feeling of the journey from my experience, especially this last decade, I often share the quote of Chief John Ross (Cherokee).  He wrote, 

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“We are overwhelmed! Our hearts are sickened, our utterance is paralyzed, when we reflect on the condition in which we are placed, by the audacious practices of unprincipled men, who have managed their stratagems with so much dexterity as to impose on the Government of the United States, in the face of our earnest, solemn and reiterated protestations." ( Letter of Chief John Ross) 

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Simply put, the last decade had the most profound anguish for me as one so vested in advocating the rights, voices, life experiences, and life stories of our Tribal children.  I am only one of one Tribal family,  one Tribal community, and one Tribal Nation.  Think of that!  Only one of the whole of Indian Country, where we have felt the depth of such anguish for so long together that our combined voices were silenced at times in history.  At some moments in history, we were not allowed to use our voices.  At others, our silence was the harsh reality of forced extinction.  In some moments, the silence was the grief of exhaustion and the shock of loss.  Losses were as great as the very lives of our own loved ones to as precious as the sounds of our everyday life.  One morning, we wake to the subtle shuffles of our family members, that particular bird singing from a certain tree, and the known sound of our blankets shifting as we rise for the day.   At day end, we close our eyes to the sound of the sleep breaths of our family, a chatty nightingale waiting for a reply, and the rustle of the night breeze in nearby familiar trees. All the nuances of life there one morning, then lost to us one night. We were gone forever.

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Of course(!),  anguish paralyzed our utterances at times in history!  Of course(!) there are moments of overwhelm for us today.   Of course.   For centuries, our collective silence was the very intention of others and forced upon us.   Yet, if those before us had done nothing, we would have become only memories as individuals, families, and Tribal Nations.

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The outcome for us?  TODAY.  

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We, as Tribal peoples, never sit in silence long.  We ARE still here.   Our Indian children - then and now - are the center of our families and nations. Our children are the very life of us.   We are opening the path ahead of our children on their journey as citizen members of our Tribal nations.  History has taught us that the protection and well-being of our minor tribal citizens is the duty of our nations and each elder Tribal citizen. Likewise, today, the duty and stated policy of our own United States of America is the protection of Indian children, including recognition of the Indian child's right to connection with the child's tribe.  

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The last decade has been the equivalent of a “bloody knuckle” legal fight against continued attacks on our existence within the ICWA arena and beyond.  It is the fight that has crossed throughout the centuries.  Giving voice to our Tribal children is my personal life endeavor.  Protecting, advocating, and raising awareness of the legal and fundamental rights of our Tribal children- as encapsulated in the Indian Child Interest of the Indian Child Welfare Act- is my specific intent for the coming years.  The Indian Child Interest is one of the least understood or legally articulated positions in the ICWA arena.  It is time the full-force Indian Child Interest is understood.  It is time to advocate the Indian Child Interest to its full extent.  Yet, even beyond the ICWA, it is our duty to make clear that the life experience and story of each Tribal child truly spans centuries and generations of their own families and nations. It is more than my honor to join you as we create the means and ways across all of Indin Country- in the ICWA arena and beyond- for our children of all generations to be heard and to ᎧᏅᏬᏗ (heal).

 

May the Creator continue to bless our endeavors.

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                                                                                                                ᎠᏂᏓᏪᎯ (Angel)

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