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Support Info: If you are a Survivor and need emotional support, a national crisis line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week: Residential School Survivor Support Line: 1-866-925-4419. Additional Health Support Information: Emotional, cultural, and professional support services are also available to Survivors and their families through the Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program. Services can be accessed on an individual, family, or group basis.” These & regional support phone numbers are found at https://nctr.ca/contact/survivors/ .
In Ojibwe our words for stolen children are gimoodinaan binojiinhyan. This week let’s learn to be gentle and patient with our students- their history has been difficult. Painting by Cree artist Kent Monkman. pic.twitter.com/KgWK5LuhhF
On Sept. 10, the Quinault Nation, under the leadership of President Guy Capoeman, amended their Constitution to eliminate fictional blood quantum as a metric of belonging. Instead "[a]ny person who has a biological parent or...grandparent who is currently enrolled," will belong. pic.twitter.com/jBBw8rjNqp
— Gabe Galanda, Indigenous Rights Lawyer (@NDNlawyer) September 26, 2022
American Indian and Alaska Native foster children’s health and well-being is best protected when they are placed with family or tribal members, physicians tell the U.S. Supreme Court. #ProtectICWAhttps://t.co/CPmQVLwZR6
— Ruth H. Robertson (Red Road Woman) (@Ruth_HHopkins) September 21, 2022
Allowing children from these communities to be placed through state
foster care when there are family or tribal members to take them in
dissociates children from their culture and perpetuates the harmful
effects of decades of state and federal policies that enabled removal of
Native children from their families and tribes.
Because evidence shows that children’s mental and physical health are
best served when placed with a family or tribal member, the Litigation Center of the American Medical Association and State Medical Societies
and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) are urging the U.S.
Supreme Court to uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978.
The law—passed in response to decades of laws that took children away
from their families and tribes and promoted forced assimilation—says
that a child’s extended family is the first preference for adoption,
followed by members of the child’s tribe. In the case before the U.S.
Supreme Court, Haaland et al. v. Brackeen et al., seven people,
along with Texas, Louisiana and Indiana are challenging the ICWA’s
provisions as race-based discrimination infringing on state sovereignty.
“Invalidating ICWA risks returning far too many children to the
assimilationist realities of the past. The historical trauma that so
many already suffer would be compounded and magnified with fresh loss.
Preserving ICWA, however, protects the critical familial and tribal
support networks” that American Indian and Alaska Native “children need
to thrive,” says the amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court (PDF) by the AAP and AMA Litigation Center.
PLEASE Support First Nations and Inuit Survivors that Survived these horrid schools. Post an Orange Shirt logo or even better, wear Orange Shirt. pic.twitter.com/hZln46WQ1d
TW: Suicide So back in 2015 there was a spirit going around all the reservations in SD by the name of Tall Man, and when he was around the suicide rates raised so much. Anyways, after awhile it seemed like he left, but on Thursday night he was spotted here in CRST.
I haven’t heard his name in a long time, but last Thursday my Lakota teacher says he was spotted in a small community on my rez. It’s called Tiospaye Topa, and that’s where Elora and I stay. 🥲 They had to smudge the students at school the next morning.
2021 BOOK: After One Hundred Winters confronts the harsh truth that the United States was founded on the violent dispossession of Indigenous people and asks what reconciliation might mean in light of this haunted history. In this timely and urgent book, settler historian Margaret Jacobs tells the stories of the individuals and communities who are working together to heal historical wounds--and reveals how much we have to gain by learning from our history instead of denying it.
Margaret D. Jacobs is professor of history and director of the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Her books include White Mother to a Dark Race: Settler Colonialism, Maternalism, and the Removal of Indigenous Children in the American West and Australia, 1880-1940.
Jacobs will be in conversation with Alaina E. Roberts, an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research focuses on the intersection of Black and Native American life from the nineteenth century to the modern day with particular attention to identity, settler colonialism, and anti-Blackness. In addition to her first book, I've Been Here All The While: Black Freedom on Native Land, and multiple academic articles, her writing has appeared in outlets like the Washington Post and TIME magazine and her work has been profiled by the likes of CNN and the Boston Globe. Find her on Twitter @allthewhile1.
A necessary reckoning with America's troubled history of injustice to Indigenous people
Jacobs traces the brutal legacy of
systemic racial injustice to Indigenous people that has endured since
the nation's founding. Explaining how early attempts at reconciliation
succeeded only in robbing tribal nations of their land and forcing their
children into abusive boarding schools, she shows that true
reconciliation must emerge through Indigenous leadership and sustained
relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people that are
rooted in specific places and histories.
In the absence of an official
apology and a federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission, ordinary
people are creating a movement for transformative reconciliation that
puts Indigenous land rights, sovereignty, and values at the forefront.
With historical sensitivity and an eye to the future, Jacobs urges us to
face our past and learn from it, and once we have done so, to redress
past abuses. Drawing on dozens of interviews, After One Hundred Winters
reveals how Indigenous people and settlers in America today, despite
their troubled history, are finding unexpected gifts in reconciliation.
Graphic Novel
Developed for a classroom audience, this graphic novel is available for download, print-on-demand, and for a limited time - free on request.
Jaya, a Native teen temporarily separated from her mom, accompanies her Grandmother and Aunt to a family reunion. Between chores and activities, the older women lead her through a story about Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, combining history and their own memories of attending the boarding school in northern Oklahoma. Their account arouses a range of emotions in the teen, from tears, to laughter, to anger, to compassion. The result: a new respect for her family and the resilience of Native peoples, along with insights into how Jaya might handle the changes in her own life.
This story, set in present-day Oklahoma, was compiled from the experiences of real students who attended Chilocco, and their recollections were shared through oral history interviews, photographs, letters, and other archival sources. It engages students and adults in an often overlooked part of U.S. history and pushes back against stereotypes of Native identity.
Get the free digital download of the graphic novel!
Want a physical printed copy of this book, you can order a printed copy from Literati Press for $5.
Want a library or classroom copy of the printed book, contact us.
Also see this related Project Based Learning module from Dr. Lisa Lynn Brooks.
Project support from Oklahoma Humanities.
Join
NABS as we screen the short film “Voices from Pezihutazizi Oyate:
Boarding School Histories” followed by a panel discussion. Over the past
few years NABS has partnered with the Upper Sioux Community on a
digitization and oral history project, one of the results of this
partnership was a short film looking at the unique experiences of the
Yellow Medicine Nation.
The panel will be moderated by NABS Creative Director Kenrick Escalanti and will feature community members and experts.
Documentary description: As hurtful truths come to light in the public eye regarding
historically operated Federal Indian boarding schools in the United
States, many Native Nations are reclaiming their voices regarding these
assimilative educational institutions. For the Upper Sioux Community
(“Yellow Medicine Nation”) living in Minnesota, these historical truths
are known to have cast profound ripples that effect their present. This
mini documentary explores community interpretations of this boarding
school past and offers hope for justice and healing.
Building better relationships with Vermont’s Abenaki tribes
Building
better relationships with Vermont’s Abenaki tribes-- that’s what the
Vermont Department for Children and Families is hoping to achieve with
the creation of their newest position. - File photo(FILE)
By Kiana Burks
Published: Sep. 4, 2022
MONTPELIER,
Vt. (WCAX) - Building better relationships with Vermont’s Abenaki
tribes-- that’s what the Vermont Department for Children and Families is
hoping to achieve with the creation of their newest position. The role
is called the Indian Child Welfare Act coordinator. The title references
the
federal law that aims to keep Native American children under the care of
relatives or tribe members whenever safe and possible. Because Abenaki tribes are recognized by the state but not by the federal government, that federal law doesn’t apply to them.
“Vermont
is one of the few states that does not have any federally recognized
tribes. But that doesn’t mean that we do not see these families,” said
Lindsay Barron, the policy and planning manager for the Department for
Children and Families.
When a child
could have tribal affiliation or heritage, the coordinator will be
responsible for verifying that information with the relevant tribes
before a child is placed in another home. Advocates like Jeff Bena,y the
director of Indian education for Franklin County public schools, say
that placing an emphasis on the child’s culture could be a game changer.
“It
breaks your heart when you see some of the stuff and some of the things
that these kids go through. And it really is a traumatic experience. If
we can reduce that level of trauma, for so many of the kids this would
be amazing… If the state of Vermont can finally say that we want to work
with you, and we understand that there’s a culture here and we
understand that there’s this distinct community, what can we do to
support kids? Well, this is going to go a long way,” said Benay.
Currently,
a paralegal with the Vermont attorney general’s office conducts these
tribal verifications after DCF workers speak with a child’s family
member.
“It’s rethinking where it’s
sitting within state government. And so, our intention first and
foremost of this position is to continue to maintain compliance with an
ICWA and all the notification work that we’re already doing that’s
already happening. It’s not just about federal compliance, and it’s not
just about the law, but it’s about doing what is right and doing what is
best practice,” said Barron.
The
Department for Children and Families hopes the coordinator will help
build collaborative relationships with Vermont’s Abenaki communities, as
well as strengthen existing partnerships.
Joanne Crawford, the chief of the Abenaki nation of Missisquoi, says she hopes the same.
“I
think this is a great opportunity for there to be more communication
and support and for us to work together and make sure that it’s
happening in a very sensitive way to all that are involved because this
is a very traumatic event for children and it’s traumatic for families. I
would love to see us be part of creating policy around this,” said
Crawford.
The application for the position has already closed and the person who is hired for the role is expected to begin in October.
September 8, 2022 | By Albert Bender People's World peoplesworld.org
“States have no criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country over crimes
by Indians against anyone or crimes by non-Indians against Indians.
Crimes by Indians are punishable either by the tribe or the federal
government, and crimes by non-Indians against Indians are punishable
exclusively by the federal government.” Williams v. United States
(1946)
The above passage is from the much-esteemed book, American Indian Law,
by William C. Canby Jr., Senior Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit. Canby was a former Director of the Office of Indian
Law of the Arizona State College of Law and a foremost authority on
Federal Indian law. The ruling cited by Judge Canby is quite clear— and
on point—in reference to states and criminal jurisdiction regarding
crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian Country.
On June 29 of this year, the Supreme Court issued a decision striking an
unprecedented body blow against the Tribal sovereignty of Indigenous
nations. The retrograde Court ruled in the case of Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, that states have concurrent jurisdiction with the federal government in crimes of non-Indians against Indians on Tribal lands.
The Court stated in its inflammatory
decision that Indian Country is part of state territory. This is
incredibly shocking and betrays an apparent complete ignorance of
Federal Indian law.
As an attorney whose specialty is federal Indian law, and having
practiced on a number of reservations, I shall review the recent Supreme
Court decision from the standpoint of its most basic egregious errors,
while also scrutinizing the ruling from the perspective of the scathing
dissent issued by Supreme Court Justice—and Indian law authority—Neil
Gorsuch.
The general foundational rule is that state jurisdiction is limited to
those crimes that do not concern Indians or Indian interests. Hence,
state jurisdiction is limited to crimes committed by non-Indians against
non-Indians in Indian Country. Otherwise, the state has no authority on
Tribal lands absent Congressional authorization. This is clear and
unambiguous.
But it must also be kept in mind that Federal Indian law is filled with
ambiguities, uncertainties, inconsistencies, and nuances, more so than
any other body of law in the entire United States. However, this
discourse addresses the more salient errors and lack of knowledge,
history, and law embodied in the Court’s latest excursion into
Indigenous jurisprudence.
The decision written by Justice Kavanaugh, who has no Indian law
background, is an engagement into the most labyrinthine twists and turns
of Byzantine sophistry in a sordid, awkward attempt to pull the
proverbial “rabbit out of the hat.” It is a clear violation of long
established Federal Indian law.
The granting of states the right to intrude on Native lands in this
respect has no basis in case law, or in the enshrined tenets of statutes
and case law, beginning with the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act of
1790, to the much heralded decision of Worcester v. Georgia
issued by the John Marshall Court in 1832. This set the standard of a
nation-to-nation relationship between the Tribal nations and the United
States. The Marshall Court stated that the “treaties and laws of the
United States contemplate the Indian territory as completely separated
from that of the states.”
The ruling rendered in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta purports to
give the states a foothold in Indian Country. The legal reasoning
asserted in this decision is stunningly faulty; indeed, one has to
strain to try to make sense of it, and still to no avail.
I shall begin with an issue that is a supporting core of Kavanaugh’s
ruling that is curiously not directly addressed by Justice Gorsuch.
Justice Kavanaugh asserts as one of the foundations of his errant
opinion, that Indian Country is part of and not separate from state
territory. That would be equivalent to saying that New York is part of
Pennsylvania, or Ohio is part of Indiana. Both are, of course, separate
political entities. A state is defined as a territory with its own
government and borders within a larger country.
Justice Kavanaugh’s assertion that a
reservation is part of state territory lowers Tribal land to a
subordinate status and takes away the nation-to-nation status vis-Ã -vis
the federal government proclaimed in Worcester. Federal Indian
law has held for over 200 years that reservations are separate from the
states. This is founded on treaties, statutes, and case law that the
Tribes are sovereign nations with only Congressional limitations.
In reference to the Worcester decision, that states have no
jurisdiction in Indian Country, Kavanaugh’s retort is that at the time
of the ruling territorial separation was the reason that state authority
did not extend to Tribal lands. He advances that in the early 1800s
Indian Country was separate from the states, therefore state law did not
apply. Kavanaugh has no idea of what he is talking about, as he has no
knowledge or grasp of history.
Georgia was already a state in the Worcester case of 1832 and
had been for decades. There was no territorial separation between it
and the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Nation was geographically within
the boundaries of the states of Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and
Alabama. Since there was no territory separating those states from the
Cherokee Nation, such an argument is absurd. There was a national
boundary between those states and the Cherokee Nation based upon
treaties with the federal government of the United States.
Keep in mind that Kavanaugh, throughout his bumbling opinion, never
explains what he means by “territorial separation.” We are left to draw
our own reasonable, logical conclusion.
Moreover, the case of Organized Village of Kake v. Egan
(1962)—which Kavanaugh professes as supporting his argument that
reservations are part of states—is inapplicable because the language in
regard to state authority is dicta and, therefore, non-binding.
Further, it is irrelevant because the land involved in that case was
neither a reservation nor under a treaty.
Kavanaugh further states that the Worcester ruling of Indian
Country as separate from the state was abandoned in the 1800s. He says
“that after that change, Indian Country in each state became part of the
state’s territory.” What change is he referring to? Again, Kavanaugh
provides no answer and makes no sense.
He continues to prattle on, throughout his opinion, that a reservation is part of a state while citing Kake, which again is pure dicta no matter how many times it is repeated, and cannot rise to the level of binding precedent.
In reference to legitimate state authority, a state has general criminal
jurisdiction over all persons including Indians, outside Indian
Country. Inside Indian Country, the state’s jurisdiction is generally
limited to those crimes that do not affect Indians or Indian interests.
That has been the long-standing rule. However, it can be clearly seen
that non-Indian crimes against Indians affect and concern Indians and
Indian interests. Hence, the long-standing prohibition against state
involvement, in accordance with Federal Indian law, has to be
maintained. It is also good to keep in mind another general rule: The
state has exclusive jurisdiction over crimes committed by non-Indians
against non-Indians in Indian Country, as these are the only crimes that
normally do not concern Indians or Indian interests. This is as simple
as it should get and as simple as it should stay.
Gorsuch points out in his dissent that the Castro-Huerta
decision is Oklahoma’s effort to exercise jurisdiction over crimes
involving Tribal members on Tribal lands in violation of the decision of
its own Court of Criminal Appeals. The Justice asserts that this has
been an attempt to portray reservations as “lawless dystopias.” He also
expounds that “the decision is unattached to any colorable legal
authority.”
His dissent maintains that the Court has committed “astonishing errors”’
that are violations of clear principles of precedent, and argues that
only Congress can make a change of the type and magnitude conferred on
Oklahoma by the errant ruling. The majority opinion, propounds Gorsuch,
is a ”string of carefully curated snippets—a clause here, a sentence
there—from six decisions from a galaxy of the Court’s Indian law cases.”
Gorsuch is unrelenting in his scorching criticism of this outlier
ruling. The Court’s reasoning is “mistaken root and branch” he
continued.
The Justice also delves into Oklahoma
Indian history. He cites the famous groundbreaking volume by famed
Oklahoma historian, Angie Debo, entitled And Still the Waters Run: The Betrayal of the Five Civilized Tribes,
to illustrate that state officials and state courts defrauded the
exiled Tribes of land and resources guaranteed by federal treaties.
Gorsuch also cites the “deadliest of enemies” description from United States v. Kagama (1886) to further indicate traditional state enmity toward Tribal nations.
The dissent notes that “in the decades following statehood, many
settlers engaged in schemes to seize Indian lands and mineral rights by
subterfuge.” Gorsuch explains that these schemes resulted in the bulk of
the landed wealth of the Indians ending up in the hands of the new
settlers, and that state officials and courts “were sometimes complicit
in the process.” I would add that this happened more than “sometimes”
considering that the vast amount of Oklahoma Indian land was taken in
stolen allotments.
For Kavanaugh to continue claiming that Indian Country is part of the
state is inflammatory and provocative language that will foster further
conflict and confrontation in Tribal-State relations. Some tribal
communities are already pondering whether the decision means that state
police will enter reservations patrolling and policing for non-Indian
law violators. Will the ruling foster state jurisdictional intrusions
into Indian land and interests?
Will the Court’s decision “that Indian Country is part of a state and
not separate from it” be tested by an overzealous state to further this
intrusion into Indigenous sovereignty?
Supreme Court decision is part of a conservative political agenda
The Supreme Court ruling has less to do with law, than with the
conservative majority’s pursuit of an energized right-wing political
agenda. Its anti-Indian sovereignty ruling will join a conservative
cavalcade of other regressive decisions seen previously with abortion
rights, the Environment Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to control
carbon emissions, the separation between church and state, and
restricting Miranda rights.
The potential ramifications are huge and far-reaching. It shall remain,
for the time being, a decision issued in infamy and best described by
Gorsuch as “an embarrassing new entry into the anticanon of Indian law.”
Tribal nations must be prepared to combat this judicial onslaught—and
any more to come—from this Court’s conservative anti-Native agenda.
As with all op-eds published by People’s World, this article reflects the opinions of its author.
U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta
U.S. Supreme Court Documents in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta
Questions Presented |
Docket Sheet: No. 21-429 |
Oral Argument Transcript |
Day CallAlbert Bender is a Cherokee activist, historian, political
columnist, and freelance reporter for Native and Non-Native
publications. He is currently writing a legal treatise on Native
American sovereignty and working on a book on the war crimes committed
by the U.S. against the Maya people in the Guatemalan civil war He is a
consulting attorney on Indigenous sovereignty, land restoration, and
Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) issues and a former staff attorney with
Legal Services of Eastern Oklahoma (LSEO) in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
This article originally appeared on People's
World. It is published under a Creative
Commons license.
For many Indigenous people across Canada, the death of Queen Elizabeth
II isn’t an occasion to mourn, but a chance to re-examine the monarchy’s
legacy of subjugation as colonizers, with leaders calling on the new
King to denounce the Doctrine of Discovery.
Queen Elizabeth II, the U.K.’s longest serving monarch, passed away at
the age of 96 on Thursday, sparking off official mourning periods in
both the U.K. and Canada.
But reflecting on her 70 year legacy can bring up painful memories and
anger for those who had their land and culture stolen from them in the
name of the Crown.
For
many Indigenous peoples across Canada, the death of Queen Elizabeth II
was not an occasion to mourn, but an opportunity to re-examine the
colonial monarchy’s legacy of conquest, and leaders encouraged the new
king to share the doctrines of discovery.
Aaron GreyCloud hopes to raise awareness about the challenge of seeking status after being placed in care decades ago.
Aaron GreyCloud II holds a black and white photo of his grandparents,
Barbara and David Flamming, and declares they are Cree First Nations
people from Saskatchewan.
He can see it in their faces. But that’s not what the federal government says.
Three years after his father, Aaron GreyCloud, died in 2016, Aaron II
applied for compensation on his behalf from the $875-million Sixties Scoop Settlement agreement.
A group of survivors filed a class-action lawsuit for the loss of
cultural identities, and the government settled in 2018 agreeing to pay
eligible survivors $25,000 each, and put up $50 million for a ’60s Scoop
healing foundation.
Aaron GreyCloud II holds a photo of his paternal grandparents. Photo: Lee Wilson/APTN News
“I was looking at the lawsuit they had – the ’60s scoop lawsuit – and
I was like, ‘Man, my dad wanted that, but he died before he got that,’
so I was like, ‘I’m going to do that for him’,” Aaron II said.
But Aaron II said the application was rejected because his father was
not registered with the government as a First Nations person, also
known as being recognized as having status under the Indian Act.
The rejection letter gave Aaron II, who lives in Kitimat, B.C., 45 days to provide more information.
“It was so easy for them to write him down as Caucasian and whitewash
him,” Aaron II said, “yet it is difficult to undo what they have done.”
Grandparents Barbara and David Flamming in an undated family photo. Courtesy Aaron GreyCloud II
Aaron II said he filed a Freedom of Information request for his
father’s adoption records in the province of B.C. The records he shared
with APTN News show his father listed as “Indian” and “caucasian”.
The son sent the documents to Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) in Ottawa.
The department confirmed it is working on the file, but it’s not looking good.
Based on a search using the records provided, ISC said it was not
possible to identify his father as a person who had ever been registered
as an Indian.
Aaron was placed in foster care in Vancouver in the mid-1950s, his son said.
Aaron
GreyCloud died in 2016, before he could prove he was a status First
Nations person in the eyes of the government. Photo courtesy Aaron
GreyCloud II
But it was another policy that eliminated Aaron’s lack of status.
His mother lost her status rights when she married someone without status.
It wasn’t until 2017 when that inequality was corrected in the Indian Act through Bill S-3.
But Barbara Flamming had already died.
Then Bill C31 in 2019 allowed women who had previously lost their status to regain it, as well as their children’s status.
Aaron GreyCloud holds his son, Aaron GreyCloud II, in this undated family photo. Courtesy Aaron GreyCloud II
ISC said restored status applies to everyone, including those in foster care in Canada.
“Bill S-3 addresses the known sex-based inequities in the
registration provisions of the Indian Act and it applies to individuals
in every province, regardless of whether they are in care,” ISC said in a
statement.
“Bill S-3 also addressed cases of unknown or unstated paternity,
allowing the Registrar to assess all forms of evidence for a child’s
ancestry and to make every reasonable inference in favour of the
applicant.”
Aaron II said the fight was a significant frustration for his father before he passed away.
He said it will be sad to see his father regain his status without being here to witness it.
“Even if they do accept his application, I regret he is not here to
accept it, to be able to revel in it a bit, to be able to feel the
victory.”
Aaron II said he is just hoping to get justice for his father and other ’60 Scoop survivors facing similar circumstances.
“He didn’t want revenge; he wanted justice, you know,” the son said. “That echoed through my life.
“At times, I was so frustrated with this process at having my history
taken from me. As a young man, I do remember wanting revenge and my dad
sitting me down and telling me that’s not the path. ‘You know that’s
not going to bring the change we need’.”
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for ISC said the department is working
with the settlement claims administrator to improve the process.
“Canada worked closely with the third-party administrator Collectiva
to support the administration of the Sixties Scoop Settlement
Agreement,” said an emailed statement.
“A key part of this support was to update protocols, processes and
systems related to the registration process, with the understanding that
these improvements would benefit all individuals seeking registration
under the Indian Act, including those impacted by the Sixties Scoop.”
The spokesperson encouraged anyone who thinks they are eligible for status to apply.
I love to see families working together. Nicole Dyer and Diana Elder
are a lovely mother-daughter genealogy team and hostesses of Research Like a Pro, a podcast through their genealogy research company, Family Locket. Their Research Like a Pro podcasts help genealogists “take your research to the next level.”
For those of you who don’t normally listen to podcasts and don’t have a podcast app, you don’t need one. You can just click
to listen online, or they have kindly transcribed the session. The
transcription is automated, so not exact, but still a great tool.
Interviews are interesting because the back and forth is so revealing
and includes information not found in the book. As it turns out, their
family had a Native American story too – and it was very similar to
mine. That oral history which was accepted as fact in my family is what
launched my search many years ago.
They “cheated” and opened by asking me about what drives and inspires
me. I’m not interviewed live very often, and don’t think I’ve ever been
asked this question before. If you’d like to hear me talk about what
motivates me and gets me out of bed every morning, aka, “life’s
pennies,” click here.
Of course, most of the hour was spent discussing Native American
records and resources, including DNA evidence. We discussed ethnicity
and how to actually USE it (yes, you can), vendors, their products and
resources, Y and mitochondrial DNA, third-party tools, and how to
integrate these resources successfully.
Also, as an aside, in some cases, DNA testing has proven using Y or
mitochondrial DNA that the declined enrollment was in error and the
family did, in fact, have Native ancestors. That’s both heartbreaking
and validating.
This was such a fun and informative hour. I swear, we talked about
everything. While this podcast is focused on finding Native American
ancestors, the DNA tools, tips, and research techniques are certainly
relevant and useful for everyone, so please join us and enjoy!
If you don’t have my book yet, you can purchase it here:
DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
Hi everyone. Huge thanks for visiting this blog and reading this blog.
In case you don't know, I started this blog back in Dec. 2009. I didn't
know what I was doing but I had the notion to find more adoptees like
me. Well, well, well... it worked.
Even in 2005 when I was writing and doing research for my memoir ONE
SMALL SACRIFICE, I had no idea how many adoptees there are or were...
not exactly easy to find out. There could be up to 7 million in the US
right now, maybe even more. That's not counting our relatives in
Canada.
Along the way I found others who were blogging their experiences, like
Von Coates in Australia. She educated me, and helped me become a better
adoptee-activist-blogger. We became friends and Von and I emailed, and
both of us contributed our writing to the LOST DAUGHTERS blog.
From her blog: In the world of adoption, there are many phrases and words for
describing adoption, the process of adoption or parts of it, adoptees
and other characters appearing with regularity. So called experts write
books about acceptable adoption language and there are regularly
arguments in various venues around social medias sites on correct
useage, offensiveness, unacceptability and who is
right/wrong/indifferent....
Von had her Blogger blog that was
taken down. Someone complained about her posts and Google shut her
down. But she is a warrior and didn't stop. She moved her writing over
to Wordpress.
After time and so much experience, the activism and blogging changed us. We may not write as often. We see the same battles, the same ignorance and we see the same
propaganda. We see over and over how the billion dollar adoption
industry silences the adoptee. In many ways we are seen as the
commodity - the one they made their money on... today adoptees are still
in the SILENT MAJORITY.
In many states in the United States, adoptees still cannot request their
original birth certificate (OBC) or their sealed adoption files. See
what states have access in 2016 HERE.
For the past 7+ years doing this blog, I saw that other adoptee blogs
were firing up fighting this, as more and more adoptees found their voice.
And they voiced their anger. And their disappointment.
And they told their stories of reunions with their first families, or if
they were not able to meet their mom or dad, because they were too
late, because their parent had already died.
Why? These adoption laws are archaic and ridiculous. They were written to protect the people who adopted us.
I have talked to adoptees about the anguish of not knowing who they are.
And some tell me about reunions that started great and went silent.
(If you don't live close to your relatives, travel and jobs can make
reunions very difficult to keep going.)
Adoptees know we have two families to find, our mother and our
father's people. We may find one side and go into reunion, after we open
our adoption records. The other side of our family might wait years to
be found.
I was telling my friend Maggie yesterday (February 6, 2017) that I have not met my two half-sisters on my mother's side. (2022 - still have not met them)
So I am still an adoption warrior but not as vocal as I had been when I
started this blog. It's time for others to FIND THEIR VOICE and write
their truths and BLOG too.
If you are an adoptee and you have a blog and you are writing about
adoption, please leave a comment here (below.) Tell us the blog address
so we can read you and support you.
We have a long way to go... The Indian Adoption Projects took thousands
of us... and many adoptees still need to find our way home.
White
Earth Nation citizens gather wild rice on a Minnesota lake. Treaty
rights, for things like gathering rice and hunting, are part of
membership to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. Tribal members will be asked
next month whether a blood requirement for membership should remain in
their Constitution.
DULUTH, Minnesota — Should Native American blood continue to be a tribal citizenship requirement?
That's
the question facing the 34,000 adult citizens of the Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe (MCT) who are being asked whether to amend a critical piece of
the tribe's controversial Constitution. It's a document that dictates
its citizenship, rights, elections and governing body that was forced
upon them by the federal government more than 60 years ago.
The
vote is decades in the making as tribal leaders studied the issue.
Ballots are set to be mailed for what's known as a blood quantum vote on
June 14. (see update below)
Since 1961, membership in the six-nation tribe
requires a minimum of 25% Minnesota Chippewa Indian blood, or blood
quantum, stemming back to 1941 membership rolls kept by the federal
government. The requirement has had the effect of shrinking the tribe's
enrollment, with many children not considered members despite parents
who are.
"We
need to do something soon, as the end of the line is very near," said
Wayne Dupuis, a member of the Fond du Lac band who has worked on
Constitution reform for more than 40 years. Dupuis' three children were
denied Fond du Lac citizenship nearly two decades ago because of the
blood quantum rule. Dupuis said membership to the tribe should reflect
its values and customs, not a calculation "determined by a law of
diminishing returns.
Not
everyone agrees. Some worry already limited federal funds will have to
be spread thinner or that more people taking advantage of treaty rights
for wild ricing or hunting will make resources scarce.
When
the blood rule was adopted in 1961, the Bureau of Indian Affairs
equated Native Americans with "horses and dogs," said Melanie Benjamin,
chief executive and chair of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
"We
as tribal leaders have to make sure we correct all of these terrible
policies that were intended to wipe us out as American Indian people,"
Benjamin said.
Today,
just 15% of MCT membership — about 40,000 people — is under age 18, a
low figure directly related to the blood quantum rule.
Talk of removing the blood
quantum criteria, as the Cherokee, Seminole and many other tribes have
done, has swirled for decades. In recent years Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
leaders, comprised of those from its six reservations, convened a group
of delegates to study constitutional reform. The group recommended an
initial vote meant to guide tribal leaders in the reform members want
related to blood quantum, its biggest issue. A binding vote could
follow.
Another question is on the ballot: Should the six reservations be allowed to determine their own citizenship requirements?
For
some, the questions are complicated and wrapped in a history of the
federal government's quest to shrink the number of Native Americans
while eradicating their cultures, issues of identity and inclusion, and
practical matters like services and funding.
The
vote signifies reclaiming control of what was "imposed on tribes by the
federal government," said Karen Diver, former chair of the Fond du Lac
Band of Lake Superior Chippewa who also worked for the Obama
administration on Native American issues.
"The ultimate exercise in tribal sovereignty is how you determine citizenship," she said.
Members of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe have voted in a historic
advisory referendum to eliminate a requirement that enrolled members
must have 25% tribal blood.
Out of nearly 7,800 ballots cast, 64% of voters said the “blood
quantum” requirement should be removed from the tribe’s constitution,
which was adopted under pressure from the federal Bureau of Indian
Affairs in the early 1960s.
In a second referendum question, 57% said individual bands or
reservations should be able to determine their own membership
requirements. The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe is made up of six Ojibwe or
Chippewa bands in northern Minnesota, the Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, Grand
Portage, Leech Lake, Mille Lacs and White Earth reservations. Red Lake
Nation is not part of the MCT. More👇
The religious organizations that operated the schools — the Anglican Church of Canada, Presbyterian Church in Canada, United Church of Canada, Jesuits of English Canada and some Catholic groups — in 2015 expressed regret for the “well-documented” abuses. The Catholic Church has never offered an official apology, something that Trudeau and others have repeatedly called for.
no arrests?
Almost 7000 bodies found and not one member of the church has been arrested. The names are out there. The church must be held accountable. #NeverForget#EveryChildMatters
— Wambli Ska Wicasa 🦅🪶 (@LakotaWambli) August 30, 2021
Crime Scene
The Justice Department is protecting the names of many perpetrators of abuse of Indigenous children. We need a special independent prosecutor who can force the government and church to turn over the documents. There can be no reconciliation without justice.@MumilaaqQaqqaqpic.twitter.com/5TL6OxKM5O
— Charlie Angus NDP (@CharlieAngusNDP) July 8, 2021
This is a map of every residential "school" site in Canada.
Veronica, we adult adoptees are thinking of you today and every day. We will be here when you need us. Your journey in the adopted life has begun, nothing can revoke that now, the damage cannot be undone. Be courageous, you have what no adoptee before you has had; a strong group of adult adoptees who know your story, who are behind you and will always be so.
Did you know?
lakota.cc/16I9p4D
Did you know?
New York’s 4o-year battle for OBC access ended when on January 15 2020, OBCs were opened to all New York adoptees upon request without restriction. In only three days, over 3,600 adoptees filed for their record of birth. The bill that unsealed records was passed 196-12.
Diane Tells His Name
Lost Birds on Al Jazeera Fault Lines
click to read and listen about Trace, Diane, Julie and Suzie
ADOPTION TRUTH
As the single largest unregulated industry in the United States, adoption is viewed as a benevolent action that results in the formation of “forever families.” The truth is that it is a very lucrative business with a known sales pitch. With profits last estimated at over $1.44 billion dollars a year, mothers who consider adoption for their babies need to be very aware that all of this promotion clouds the facts and only though independent research can they get an accurate account of what life might be like for both them and their child after signing the adoption paperwork.
Original Birth Certificate Map in the USA
Why tribes do not recommend the DNA swab
Rebecca Tallbear entitled: “DNA, Blood, and Racializing the Tribe”, bearing out what I only inferred:
Detailed discussion of the Bering Strait theory and other scientific theories about the population of the modern-day Americas is beyond the scope of this essay. However, it should be noted that Indian people have expressed suspicion that DNA analysis is a tool that scientists will use to support theories about the origins of tribal people that contradict tribal oral histories and origin stories. Perhaps more important,the alternative origin stories of scientists are seen as intending to weaken tribal land and other legal claims (and even diminish a history of colonialism?) that are supported in U.S. federal and tribal law. As genetic evidence has already been used to resolve land conflicts in Asian and Eastern European countries, this is not an unfounded fear.
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