Sudden Fury: Infamous murder in Maryland involves adoptees!

Editor NOTE: This is one of our most popular posts so we are reblogging it.

If you do know where Michael Schwartz is, please leave a comment on this blog. Read this post to the end, as to his life in prison conviction.

(2011) You know everything happens for a reason. I just received the book “Sudden Fury” about an adoptee who killed his adoptive parents in Maryland. I opened to page 378 and saw this …"Early in 1989, Michael began searching for the natural parents and siblings he left behind when he was four. ‘I’d like to know where I’m from. All I know is I’m an Indian from somewhere.’” This book was published in 1989.

Michael’s adopted brother Larry confessed to murdering their parents alone and did not indict his adoptive brother Michael.

This is the news I found…

Cape St. Claire killer Larry Swartz dies at age 37

By ERIC HARTLEY, Staff Writer (2005)

Annapolis, Maryland - A man whose brutal slaying of his adoptive parents nearly 21 years ago became one of the county's most infamous murders, inspiring a book and a made-for-TV movie, died Wednesday night of an apparent heart attack, his former attorney said.

Larry Swartz, released in 1993 after serving nine years in prison, had moved to Florida, was married and had an 8-year-old child, said his longtime lawyer, Ronald A. Baradel. He was 37.

"It was like losing a son," Baradel said. "He and I had developed pretty much of a fondness. We'd been out of contact for a couple of years, but re-established contact a couple of weeks ago."
To protect the family's privacy, Baradel declined to say where in Florida Mr. Swartz was living.

On the night of Jan. 16, 1984, 17-year-old Larry Schwarz fatally stabbed his father Robert, a computer technician, in a downstairs clubroom. Kay Swartz, a teacher at Broadneck High School, was stabbed and bludgeoned with a splitting maul after being chased through the community. Her nude body was found next to the family's swimming pool.

County police arrested Larry, the oldest of the Swartzes' three adopted children, a week later after determining that his footprints were in the snow near his mother's body and a bloody handprint was his.

The police investigation found that Mr. Swartz suffered from a personality disorder and had suppressed his anger against his parents for years.

Robert and Kay Swartz were devout Catholics, and their household was described as one of strict discipline. Kay Swartz was unable to have children of her own, and her husband, an anti-abortion activist who picketed Planned Parenthood offices, was eager to adopt unwanted children.

Larry's sister Anne was at home during the murders, but his brother Michael had drug and behavior problems that had landed him Crownsville Hospital Center.

In 1990, Michael Swartz helped to murder a man for a jar of quarters. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. (note: this is the adoptee who is Native American or perhaps not)

Larry Swartz finally snapped one night after drinking in his bedroom. He first stabbed his mother, then attacked his father, who tried to stop him. After pleading guilty to second-degree murder, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was released Jan. 23, 1993.

The case inspired a book, "Sudden Fury: A True Story of Adoption and Murder" by reporter Leslie Walker. It became a New York Times best-seller. A 1993 television movie based on the murders, "A Family Torn Apart," starred Neil Patrick Harris of "Doogie Howser, M.D." as Larry Swartz.

Mr. Swartz died without any warning, Baradel said. An autopsy was planned and funeral arrangements weren't available. Baradel said he was always confident that Mr. Swartz could have a normal life if given the chance. He never thought the murders reflected Mr. Swartz's true character.

"It's not the kind of person he was," Baradel said.

[source: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi...5/01_01-03/TOP]

photos from book

Her Native American identity was omitted from her adoption records

  ...Now she wants it back.

Briana Bierschbach | Minnesota Public Radio | Aug 7th 2019 

Calonna Carlisle and her 12-year-old dog Pluto sit in the bedroom in the Lakeville home she shares with her adopted mother on July 26, 2019. Carlisle has spent years trying to get local and state officials to restore her Native American heritage in her adoption records. Evan Frost / MPR News

LAKEVILLE, Minn. ⁠— Calonna Carlisle’s bright blue bedroom in the Twin Cities suburb of Lakeville is draped in gymnastics medals and pageant sashes, including one from the time she was in the Miss Black Minnesota competition. On display is a porcelain Native American doll from a trip to South Dakota. At her high school graduation this spring, she wore her black honor society sash and tucked an eagle feather under her robe — a symbol of strength and power.

Carlisle’s mother is Native American and her late father was black. She has spent her life celebrating all of her heritage.
But as she heads into college, there’s a problem: She can’t get the government to acknowledge both parts of her identity.
Now 18, Carlisle was placed into the foster care system as an infant and adopted when she was a child, but one box checked on her foster care and adoptive records identify her as African-American. There’s no mention of her Native roots, meaning the state doesn’t legally recognize her status.
She’s spent the last two years ping-ponging between county and state officials to add her Native American heritage to her records, to no avail.

Her adoption records not only listed her race as African-American, they also stated specifically that she was not Native American. Sarah Carlson, her adoptive mother, was stunned. She had no idea they were incorrect.
Carlson was sent to Ramsey County, where the girl was first placed into foster care, to figure out what had happened. She provided the county documentation from child services at the time of adoption, including a family tree showing Carlisle’s biological mother and grandparents, all Native American and enrolled members of the Lower Sioux Community.

(This story originally appeared at: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/08/07/her-native-american-identity-was-omitted-from-her-adoption-records-now-she-wants-it-back)

GOOD READ

The Indian Child Welfare Act Clinic

July 31, 2019 |
University of Minnesota Law School

 

Shannon Smith ’99, executive director of the ICWA Law Center

The Indian Child Welfare Act Clinic (the “ICWA Clinic”) is a full academic year, four-credit program beginning in the fall semester. The casework focuses on litigation involving the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and Tribal Code. The clinic is led by two adjunct faculty members from the Minneapolis-based ICWA Law Center—Executive Director Shannon Smith ’99 and Litigation Director Andrea Braun. Smith recently took the time to answer a few questions about the clinic and how it impacts students, clients, and the community.

Please briefly describe the work of the ICWA Clinic.
The ICWA Clinic provides direct legal representation to American Indian families impacted by cases implicating the Indian Child Welfare Act. The mission of the ICWA Law Center is to strengthen, preserve, and reunite Indian families consistent with the mandates and spirit of the ICWA.
What legal experience do student participants get?
As certified student attorneys, students formulate arguments and present in court. Students work closely with the Law Center staff to create attorney-client relationships. Students have the opportunity to analyze complex legal situations in the context of pending litigation. They draft court documents including motions, petitions, responses, and briefs. 
How do students who plan to practice in legal areas outside the ICWA benefit from participation?
The ICWA Clinic provides an outstanding opportunity to spend time in the courtroom. I graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1999. As a 2L, I was approached to sign-up for the ICWA Clinic because the clinic I originally registered for was full. The decision to register for the ICWA Clinic opened up so many opportunities for me. Since starting with the ICWA Clinic in 1997, I have had the privilege to represent thousands of families. I love my work and am challenged every day. I have been the executive director at the ICWA Law Center for 16 years and I continue to love what I do.
What makes you passionate about this particular area of practice?
The ICWA Law Center is an amazing place. Advocating on behalf of Indian families, we collaborate with tribal representatives and community providers to identify the family’s strengths and needs. Throughout representation, we work to ensure families are protected and needs are appropriately assessed and best met. Through advocacy, we are committed to ensuring parents have a voice in the future of their children.
What would you say to a student considering this clinic as an experiential learning opportunity?
The ICWA Clinic provides an amazing opportunity to provide advocacy in the courtroom with the guidance of experienced attorneys passionate about their work.

For more information about the ICWA Clinic, visit its webpage.

Dr. Denise Lajimodiere - Indian Boarding Schools & Historical Trauma

Indian Country Today: 'Stringing Rosaries' focuses on Indian boarding schools
Thursday, July 25, 2019


By Mary Annette Pember

Stringing Rosaries is a labor of love. But like most books associated with the Native experience in the U.S. Denise Lajimodiere’s history of Indian boarding school survivors is studded with long-hidden painful thorns. Although the survivors interviewed for the book ultimately display a fierce spirit of resilience and even humor, Stringing Rosaries: The History, the Unforgivable, and the Healing of Northern Plains American Indian Boarding School Survivors, is a difficult read especially for former boarding school students and their families. According to Lajimodiere she offers a “trigger warning” during her public presentations about her work in researching the book. “I had to fight back tears when my editor handed me the finished book. I promised survivors I would tell the world what happened to them at boarding schools,” she said during an interview with Indian Country Today.

Lajimodiere has kept her promise with this sacred oath of a book. keep reading

Looking at Speeding up Adoptions? The attack on #ICWA continues

Darcy Olsen is the founder and president of Generation Justice, a new organization providing reform blueprints and public interest litigation services to extend the full umbrella of constitutional rights to children.

Olsen served as CEO of the Goldwater Institute for fifteen years.

Press releases: Speakers Taskforce on Adoption Membership 052919
Speakers Taskforce on Adoption 051419

Any tribal member and/or tribe can give testimony on this issue here:

Thursday, July 25, 2019
Unity School District Performing Arts Center
1908 150th St.
Balsam Lake, WI 54810
Start time: 12:00 noon
Please feel free to attend either session. If you would like time to speak please contact: Meagan Matthews at: 608-266-8551 or Meagan.Matthews@legis.wisconsin.gov

We would note that one outcome of the opioid epidemic is that some groups are pushing to terminate parental rights faster, particularly for children under the age of 3. A recent law passed in Arizona attempts to do just that, and was pushed by Generation Justice, a group founded by the recent past CEO of the Goldwater Institute.

Wisconsin Speakers Taskforce on Adoption Looking at Speeding up Adoptions by Kate Fort

Time Magazine on #ICWA

Here

The first four paragraphs of the story:

Each time Elisia Manuel sees her daughter Precious rehearsing traditional basket dancing and humming tribal songs around their home in Casa Grande, Arizona, she’s overwhelmed with emotion. “It’s beautiful to witness,” the mother of three says. “She’s part of the community.”

This wasn’t always guaranteed. Elisia and her husband Tecumseh, who is a member of the Gila River Indian Community, became foster parents in 2012 after learning about the great need for Native American foster families in Arizona. They couldn’t have biological children of their own and felt a deep calling to help other families, Elisia says.

Within two years, the couple had taken in two foster children and adopted three more. Their two adopted sons are biological brothers, and each came to the Manuels when they were just days old.

Their daughter, Precious, also needed to leave her home as a baby but was going to be placed with a non-Native family at first. “She wouldn’t have received any education about her culture,” Elisia says. She knows what that would be like. Elisia’s family is Hispanic and has Apache roots, but, her grandmother was adopted and raised away from her biological family, so Elisia did not grow up learning about Apache culture and is not an enrolled tribal member.

Time Magazine on ICWA by ilpc

Is It Time for Truth and Reconciliation in the U.S.? #BadHistory

Canada and South Africa both used similar commissions to grapple with their histories of racism and genocide. The U.S. could benefit from following suit.

GOOD READ: Is It Time for Truth and Reconciliation in the U.S.? by Yasmeen Wafai — YES! Magazine

YES, it is time for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the USA... We are still dealing with bad history...Trace 

 

The Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commissioners in 2016. Left to right Sandy White Hawk, Gail Werrbach, gkisedtanamoogk, Matthew Dunlap, and Carol Wishcamper. Photo from TRC.

Is It Time for Truth and Reconciliation in the U.S.?

For more than 100 years leading up to the late 1970s, Native children in the Wabanaki group of tribes of Maine were removed from their homes by state authorities and placed with White families in an attempt to erase their indigenous identity. To try to heal from this trauma, state and tribal child welfare workers collaborated to create the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission. “We were led by a real desire to make a difference in the child welfare system and native families, because playing nice wasn’t doing it,” said Esther Anne, a board member of the nonprofit Maine Wabanaki REACH. REACH, which stands for Restoration Engagement Advocacy Change Healing, is a cross-cultural collaborative organization with both Wabanaki people and non-Natives focused on restorative justice, education, and healing and wellness work, said Barbara Kates, a community organizer for the group. This system has been effective in other places. Canada completed a truth and reconciliation commission in 2015 to address the suffering of First Nations children in the residential school system. The report the Canadian commission produced detailed the abuse and subsequent trauma the children and families suffered. But every year since then, organizers in the village of Fort Langley, British Columbia, host a Walk in the Spirit of Reconciliation to honor the report’s release and to show solidarity with survivors.

The Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commissioners in 2016. Left to right Sandy White Hawk Gail Werrbach gkisedtanamoogk Matthew Dunlap and Carol Wishcamper. Photo from TRC.

Maine Wabanaki REACH conducted a 27-month investigation, which ended in 2015, into the family separations. Today, the group is continuing to stay focused on the self-determination of the Wabanaki people, said Anne, who is a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, one of the five in Maine and Quebec that make up the Wabanaki Confederacy. The commission’s work was the subject of the 2018 documentary, Dawnland. Kates also played a part in the commission, of which Anne was a co-founder. Kates worked in the Maine child welfare system and reached out to colleagues there to ask if they would be interested in coming forward and telling about their experience working with Native children who had been taken from their families. The truth and reconciliation commission was a grassroots effort, she said. “This came from the bottom up,” Kates said. This echoes a statement from Joshua Inwood, a geography professor at Pennsylvania State University, who said that truth and reconciliation commissions in the U.S. have typically taken a bottom-up approach. “Commissions that are successful in the United States are really grassroots driven,” he said. Inwood said how such commissions are run varies from case to case. For example, in an effort to heal from the 1979 attack on a unionization protest by members of the KKK in Greensboro, North Carolina, in which five demonstrators were killed, there was a public call for commissioners who researched archives, held a series of events to collect public testimony, and wrote a report that was then unveiled in a public ceremony. He also said several public meetings were held after the commission ran its course to keep that conversation going.

Tissues used by people who gave statements to the commission being burned in a sacred fire. Photo from TRC.

This is similar to the approach taken by the Maine-Wabanaki commission, which was modeled on the Greensboro commission, Anne said. Along with revealing the truth about family separations and promoting healing between Native and non-Native people, one of the goals for the commission was fostering change. The commission outlined 14 recommendations near the end of the report, released in 2015, that reflect the change it hoped to see, including some that touch on tribal sovereignty. Among the proposed changes for this are committing to state and tribal jurisdictions, supporting the healing and cultural resurgence of the Wabanaki people, and building cultural awareness. The commission also made recommendations pertaining to the U.S. Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, which was created to protect Indian children and promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families. The commission recommended funding the renewal of an ICWA work group and the regular monitoring of compliance with ICWA. There were also care-focused recommendations. One called for better and more consistent support for non-Native foster and adoptive families, while another recommended exploring the creation of more Native foster homes.

A still from Dawnland a documentary that focuses on the work of the TRC. Georgina Sappier-Richardson who was placed in foster care as a child sharing her story at a TRC community visit. Photo by Ben Pender-Cudlip/Upstander Project.

Different people had different experiences with the commission, but powerful change has been occurring in Indigenous and non-Native communities in Maine, Kates said. She explained that, because of the complicated nature of the issue, drawing absolute conclusions about what happened during the period of child separation is difficult, and as a non-Native, she said, she can’t make assumptions. But she has heard from others that people are connecting over their newfound understanding of the intergenerational trauma that occurred to the families and children. This included abuse and neglect, and suppressing the use of their Native language, according to the commissions’ report. Anne said one of the biggest changes she saw in tribal communities was that, after a long time of asking, “What is wrong with us?” they were talking about their trauma and trying to heal and understand, asking, “What happened to us?” However, not all truth commissions include a reconciliation portion. Bonny Ibhawoh, a professor of history and global human rights at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, said South Africa’s commission after the apartheid ended was the first example of an emphasis on reconciliation. For Ibhawoh, the attraction of a truth and reconciliation commission is the opportunity it provides to address human rights violations on a mass scale. It allows victims to speak their truths, something you cannot always get from a trial, he said.

Nelson Mandela left receives a five volumes of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report from Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Pretoria on October 29 1998. The report reveals human rights abuse by various political parties during the Nationalist Party rule. Photo by Walter Dhaladhla/AFP/Getty Images.

A general debate runs within transitional justice circles as to whether or not there should be a reconciliation portion to truth commissions established by the state, Ibhawoh said. Some people argue that the state has no business trying to impose reconciliation, and that some people are just not ready to reconcile with or even confront their abusers, which risks further victimization, he said. The Truth Commission of Ecuador established by the government to investigate human rights violations committed by the government over many years serves as an example of a truth commission influenced by this view, Ibhawoh said. In other cases, as in South Africa, leaders like Nelson Mandela thought the country could be healed through a reconciliation process. In the context of the commission in Maine, Anne said she thinks the word “reconciliation” can be problematic in how people understand it and what their perspective is. During the commission’s work, White people wanted to get right to the healing, but the tribes needed to tell their truth, she said. Ibahawoh said he thinks the U.S. should seriously consider a truth and reconciliation commission as a model to try to heal from injustices like slavery and persistent racism.

The final meeting between staff and advisors from REACH and the TRC. Photo from TRC.

However, for a truth and reconciliation commission to be successful anywhere, he said, the victims and the government must communicate to find the best way to go about healing, whether it be through reconciliation or reparations. “The government wants to put (out) a reconciliation narrative at the expense of victims,” Ibhawoh said. Anne said commissions are just one way of approaching truth. Depending on the goals, restorative practices and informed knowledge in communities can happen anywhere. There is value in different ways of truth-telling and healing that do not need to be formal or institutionalized, she said. It would take a lot of time and resources, but if people were invested, she said, she thinks a commission could work nationwide. “The truth-telling that happened since the commission has been impactful,” Anne said. Editor’s note: An earlier version referred to Esther Anne with the surname Attean. 

This article originally appeared in Yes! Magazine at https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2019/06/19/reparations-truth-and-reconciliation-united-states.

Yes! Magazine is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of ... . Learn more at Yes! Magazine

Follow up NY Times Article on ICWA

Follow up NY Times Article on ICWA

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Kate Fort

Here.

“I think it means a lot to our foster kids that we’re Cherokee,” said Carney Duncan, a gentle, soft-spoken man whose hair falls below his shoulders. “My mom and dad always helped people and took them in. I have an ‘Uncle Joe’ who is no kin but we took him in. And a ‘brother’ who lived with us who is no blood kin. We help our own. It’s a Cherokee value.”

Given the daily racism that Native people endure, Schon said, he thought it was important for Native children to grow up in Native families, to ground themselves.

Sad News: Frank LaMere Walks On

siouxcityjournal.com photo

Sad News: Frank LaMere Walks On

by Kate Fort
 

Here.

Few of yesterday's articles about his life mention just how much work he did on behalf of Native children, including the March for Lost Children. In this interview, he speaks about making people uncomfortable--"Nothing changes until someone feels uncomfortable."

If you worked on ICWA in any capacity, you knew Frank LaMere. Keep making people uncomfortable.

**

Winnebago activist Frank LaMere, far right, speaks to the family of Zachary Bear Heels outside the bus station in Omaha, Nebraska, where the Native man first arrived on June 5, 2017. He later died after being beaten by police officers. A prayer walk took place in his honor on December 8, 2018. Photo by Kevin Abourezk

excerpt

‘We’re going to keep it going’

Matt Ohman, executive director of Siouxland Human Investment Partnership, a nonprofit in Sioux City, Iowa, that LaMere had worked with for nearly a decade, said LaMere was pivotal in bringing together leaders from many nonprofit and government agencies to help improve the lives of Native people in Sioux City.
Among those he built relationships with were Iowa Department of Human Services leaders, whom LaMere had heavily criticized following the deaths of several Native children in non-Native foster homes over 16 years ago.
“There was a lot of anger,” Ohman said about the deaths of the Native children. “It’s a testament to Frank because he used that to really develop a relationship with the Department of Human Services here, and now they are some of the biggest allies to the Native people.”
LaMere’s latest effort involved seeking Indian Health Service funds to build a detox center or halfway house for Native men in Sioux City. He and Ohman had traveled several times to Washington, D.C., to try to convince Congressional leaders, including Rep. Steve King of Iowa, to support efforts to fund the project.
Ohman said language has been included in the Interior appropriations bill now being considered by Congress to provide funding for treatment programs for Native people in Sioux City.
Last Tuesday, Ohman and other representatives from his organization visited with LaMere in his hospital room in Omaha.“His body had been through so much, but he was in good spirits,” he said.
“His biggest concern was, ‘I’ve got so many things going on right now, there’s so much work to do and here I am.’”
“I just assured him, ‘Hey, we’re not going to let the momentum die on any of these things while you’re recuperating. We’re going to keep it going and make sure all of this stuff keeps moving forward.’”

READ
Republished with permission from Indianz.com.

Intercept Article on ICWA and the Brackeen Case #ProudtoProtectICWA

Here

Veronica Brown protest

“Babies don’t get born and run down to the citizenship office and file a petition,” said Matthew Fletcher, director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center at Michigan State University. When his own child was born, he and his partner took a year to register him as a tribal member, in part because he was eligible for more than one tribal nation. “To say that somehow this kid hasn’t been enrolled yet and therefore doesn’t have a political relationship is really quite disingenuous.”

***

Reflecting on the rhetoric used by ICWA opponents like Sandefur, Nicole Adams, a spokesperson for Partnership for Native Children, pointed to the institutions that pushed for the use of boarding schools and adoption for decades before ICWA’s passage. “They were led by very well-intentioned Christian coalitions purporting that Indian children needed to be saved, and they were just the ones to do it. If you look at the rhetoric being put out by some of ICWA’s most staunch opponents, it is eerily and frighteningly similar.”

Intercept Article on ICWA and the Brackeen Case by Kate Fort

Let’s tell the true story of the founding of America #TRC

Many believe that “the past is past,” and it’s time to move on. Such thinking ignores the traumatic impact of genocide on future generations and the continued oppression of indigenous Americans. I recently watched the film “Dawnland” at Amherst Cinema, which highlights the first U.S. truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the government of Maine’s removal of generations of indigenous American children from their families. In the 19th and 20th centuries, tens of thousands of children on reservations were severed from their families and sent to residential schools and foster homes in order to eradicate indigenous Americans through forcibly acculturating their children — another form of genocide.
The Indian Child Welfare Act was established in 1978 to end this century-long practice and to instead “... protect the best interests of Indian Children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families by the establishment of minimum Federal standards for the removal of Indian children and placement of such children in homes which will reflect the unique values of Indian culture.”
Critics of the ICWA argue that the law is race-based, ignoring the sovereignty of tribal nations. A Federal Appeals Court judge will soon be deciding the fate of this 41-year-old law based on a case heard in March. The consequences of overturning the ICWA would once again threaten the welfare of Indigenous American families. Today, indigenous American children are three times more likely to be removed from their homes than white children, according to “Dawnland.”

READ: Columnist Sara Weinberger: Let’s tell the true story of the founding of America

Readers on Adoption That Crosses Cultural Lines

[embed]https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/07/reader-center/adoption-cross-cultural.html[/embed]

'Although My Indian Identity Isn't Simple, It's Mine': Readers on Adoption That Crosses Cultural Lines

The New York Times

In the more than 700 comments posted on our site, we heard from adoptive parents and adoptees, Native Americans, foster parents, child welfare experts ...

Comments:

Alan Berkowitz

Mount Shasta, CA

 June 7

The stories from adoptive parents and children are touching and raise many important issues. Many (both adoptive parents and children) point out the advantages of being raised in a loving home that is safe and secure in which they are also able to pursue and celebrate their tribal/cultural identity. This is a strong argument which however does not apply to the case in question, in which the adoptive parents show no interest in affirming or celebrating their children's native ancestry and culture AND there is a healthy and loving family of relatives that wants to adopt the two siblings in a home with other biological siblings. Therefore, as much as the arguments provided in the NYT article may merit discussion, they do NOT apply to this case, which represents a modern form of the legalized kidnapping that the dominant culture has perpetuated on Native peoples, notwithstanding the the adoptive parents claims of 'love' and 'religiosity.

linda diane

vancouver, bc 

June 7

I was born in Canada to a Metis woman whose husband died just before the birth. I was adopted during the "Sixties Scoop" where thousands of indigenous children were taken from their home communities. An adoption to a white middle class family with an engineer father was seen as a big step up from the working class environment I came from. I had very conscientious adoptive parents, who were loving and did their best to help me be a part of a family of 6. They never lied to me. Unfortunately, that was not enough. I was taken from my mother. And my indigenous roots. Trauma. Period. This was never addressed, I muddled through life with an underlying sense of not being ok, faked alot and used various means of escaping. When I eventually found my birth mother, she had died two years previous. I have connected with cousins, but I have siblings i have not been able to locate. This kind of trauma and it's lifelong impact needs to be accounted for. It's a systemic issue. Not all, but many adoptive parents are entitled, short sighted, and will be dealing with the fallout when the children grow up and reject them outright for their hubris and folly. Children are not accessories to complete your magazine lifestyle. The cousins I have spoken to who knew my biological mother speak fondly of her; I think she must have hidden alot of pain, as she never spoke of children.

A Place Between – The Story of an Adoption #60sScoop

By Trace Hentz (blog editor)

I run across comments by adoptive parents and PAPS (potential adoptive parents) all the time on why is it wrong for non-Natives to adopt Native kids? Volumes have been written about this, on this blog, and in medical studies and published reports but we STILL have people who don't understand.

Here is an example on Adoption.com:

SupaModel

April 15, 2011

I'm watching this documentary right now on demand. Its about these two Native American boys (now adults) who were adopted from foster (care) in Canada to an American (CC) family in Redding, PA. They were adopted as young boys so they remembered being with the bmom and now one of the boys is making a film about being between both families. I thing that bothers me is the younger brother has basically at 18 yrs old left his adoptive family and went back to Canada to bio family and he hasn't talked to his AP's in 8 years. His issues are growing up without his NA identity and racism he dealt with being NA in a all CC environment. Actually both boys are living in Canada now. The older brother still has a relationship with his AP's. As an AP I would take it as a slap in the face if my kid just left and wouldn't talking to me for 8 yrs. Its like these boys bio mom was an alcoholic who had her kids taken away because she was neglecting them. She said herself she would be drunk for 6 weeks straight and have no idea what day or month it is. Also leaving these babies at home by themselves while she's out partying and they have to change each diapers etc... So you have this family come in and give you a stable home and love and yet because they are CC you just leave?? Im wondering if this something that happens more often with older kids adoption from foster care? Like I said earlier it really annoys me but a great watch anyways. LINK

A Place Between - The Story of an Adoption, Curtis Kaltenbaugh, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

 WATCH   

A Place Between – The Story of an Adoption is a 2007 documentary film dealing with cross-cultural adoption and aboriginal life in Canada. It was directed by First Nations adoptee Curtis Kaltenbaugh and produced by the National Film Board of Canada.

Curtis and Ashok Kaltenbaugh were born in Manitoba and are of First Nations ancestry. After the 1980 death of their younger brother, at ages of 7 and 4 respectively, they were removed from the custody of their birth mother and placed for adoption with a middle-class white family living in Pennsylvania.

The film chronicles their search for identity and the meeting of their adoptive and birth families.
The film won Best Public Service Award at the Annual American Indian Film Festival, held in San Francisco during November 2007.^[wiki]

"This is genocide": Full statement on MMIWG report

MMIWG inquiry's final report and its 'calls for justice' | CBC Power & Politics

Inquiry into MMIWG issues final report, sweeping calls for change

Canada Blamed for ‘Genocide’ Against Indigenous Women

An inquiry concluded that high rates of violence against indigenous women in Canada amount to a genocide fueled by government abuses

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL

Mr. Trudeau has said the relationship between the Canadian government and indigenous people needs to be rebuilt and the process will likely take decades.

Monday’s report isn’t the first time Canada’s treatment of indigenous people has been labeled a genocide. A separate inquiry released in 2015 found Canada’s centurylong practice of forcibly removing indigenous children from their homes and educating them at government-funded residential schools was a “cultural genocide.” (We call this the 60s Scoop but it was before and after the 1960s)

Matthew Fletcher, who directs the indigenous law and policy center at Michigan State University, said Native Americans have faced similar wrongs in the U.S., including the forced removal of children from Native American families. He said Canada has done more in recent years to recognize the problem publicly.


READ: Canada Blamed for ‘Genocide’ Against Indigenous Women - WSJ

Democracy Now on 6-4-19

The New Genocide #MMIWG #AMINext

National Inquiry Deems Missing, Murdered Indigenous Women Canadian Genocide; Leaked Report

by Red Power Media, Staff

The final report from the national inquiry into cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls across Canada has deemed the situation a genocide.

Read more of this post

WHAT IS HAPPENING in North America: I wrote an article in May HERE

PAGE #MMIWG 2019 (click on this)

When will tribes determine this to be urgent enough and assign bodyguards for these young women who are being hunted and murdered? 

Approximately 1,200 indigenous Canadian women have been murdered or gone missing since 1980. Holly Jarrett began the hashtag #AMINext to put more pressure on the Canadian government to investigate the high murder rate of First Nations women after her cousin, Loretta Saunders was found killed. 

The Truth Sharing Podcasts (Partage des vérités)

Monique Hurteau interviews people throughout British Columbia who are changing the narrative around MMIWG.

Original artwork by Monique Hurteau (@moniquehurteau)
The Truth Sharing Podcasts (Partage des vérités) is available now on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Play pic.twitter.com/oXmX4PkoH9

— Sacred MMIWG / FFADA sacrées (@sacredmmiwg) May 30, 2019

 LISTEN

about The Truth Sharing Podcasts

I added a page MMIWG in the reference section(above)...Trace

Our Sisters In Spirit (MMIWG Documentary)

Court Ruling Creates New Uncertainty for Adopted Native Children

Court Ruling Creates New Uncertainty for Adopted Native Children: “The crazy thing is that the Indian Child Welfare Act is forty years old, and it’s still one of the least well-understood pieces of federal legislation, even by judges, in the country.”

Sending Them Home #ICWA

“The prayers of the children are very powerful, and I believe the prayers of the children are what brought us here,” LaMere said during his opening remarks. “Our children feed the system, and all of us let it happen. We make it easy for them, but that time has to stop.”

Researchers in the 1960s had found that up to 35 percent of all Native children were being taken from their families and tribes and placed in white homes or institutions.  ICWA, passed in 1978, aimed to curtail that practice, and to preserve Native culture and tribes by placing children with Native families when their biological parents could not care for them. A few states – including Iowa and Nebraska, where American Indian children are removed from their families at higher rates than their white peers – have adopted their own versions of ICWA.

GOOD READ: Sending Them Home

ICWA case update

2018 ICWA Case Update PowerPoint

Posted on May 11, 2019 by Kate Fort

I get this request a lot, here so is a pdf of a PowerPoint with detailed citations and information for 2018/annual TICA update.

Seminole hold adoption ceremony

Participating in the Seminole Tribe’s first family adoption finalized on a Seminole reservation are, from left, Chief Justice Willie Johns, Associate Justice Moses “Bigg Shot” Jumper Jr., Loraine Marie Stewart Jumper, Joshua Jumper, Andrea Jumper, Circuit Court Judge Jose Izquierdo and Chief Judge Moses B. Osceola. The ceremony was held April 18 in the auditorium at Tribal headquarters in Hollywood. (Photo Damon Scott)

“This is a rare moment and occasion that we’ve been working for for almost 10 years,” Chief Justice Johns said. “That we would come collaboratively with the state and the Tribe to do the adoptions and to work with families and children through the [Florida Department of Children and Families]. This is our very first. It’s a moment that we’re going to all treasure.”
Chief Justice Johns congratulated the Jumpers on their latest addition to the family.

GREAT NEWS: Adoption ceremony marks a first at Tribal Court • The Seminole Tribune

OP-ED: Preserve the Indian Child Welfare Act

Preserve the Indian Child Welfare Act

By Darlene Byrne, For the Express-News

Published May 5, 2019

• 

  Photo: Courtesy Photo

  The adoption case of “Baby Veronica” in 2013 shone a light on the Indian Child Welfare Act. Another case is now threatening the ICWA — an act that is in the best interests of children and Native American communities.

Navigating the U.S. child welfare process can be a highly emotional venture. As a judge who works in child welfare I know this better than most. Our end goal will always be to protect children’s best interests and ensure they have the love and support of a family so they flourish as they grow to adulthood. But the process of trying to protect children can be as painful and difficult as it is rewarding.
Because child welfare cases are so complex, a number of laws and legal practices are specifically designed to ensure the best outcomes. Perhaps one of the most highly regarded among these laws has been the Indian Child Welfare Act, or ICWA, which at its core helps keep Native American children within their families, communities and heritage.

KEEP READING 

Take it from someone who sees the benefits of ICWA in her own court. Or take it from the Native American tribes, the people most invested in the well-being of their own children. Or take it from the history books. ICWA supports the best interests of children and our Native American communities, and losing this law would set our country back decades.

Darlene Byrne has served as presiding judge of the 126th Judicial District Court in Travis County since January 2001. She is a commissioner on the Texas Children’s Commission, a past president of the National Council for Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and a past Judge of the Year of National CASA, Texas CASA and CASA of Travis County.

National Day Of Awareness | INVISIBLE NO MORE #MMIWG - Vital Billboard Campaign VIDEO

National Day Of Awareness For Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women (& Girls) #MMIWG

Guest Commentary Published May 5, 2019

“I stand before you today, a full-blooded Native American woman, a Northern Arapaho/Hunkpapa Lakota. The statistics that hang over my head are these: I am among the most stalked, raped, murdered, sexually assaulted, and abused of any women in any ethnic group, and I am among those who suffer domestic violence 50 times higher than the national average.” 

I use that statement to open my presentations on the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis. I travel around Indian Country, as I have for years, to raise awareness and inform our people of the scale of the tragedy and, crucially, how to make a safer environment for their communities and families. I have done this work for over a decade, and when I committed to it the term “MMIW” had not been coined.

I am somebody who works with data, but Chairman Gerald Grey of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council (RMTLC) recently made a statement that should resonate with us all, that speaks to more than numbers: “I choose not to quote statistics because our women and girls are human beings not statistics. This is mom. Auntie. Sister. Niece. Daughter. Cousin. And sometimes, grandma. We know the names of some of the victims, but study after study shows that MMIWG cases are underreported, so there are many, many names we do not and may never know.” This is personal. When we learn of another victim near or far, in our reservations communities we can relate on a deep, emotional level. We may not know the victim or their family, but we know the socio-economic conditions; we know the struggle.
READ MORE


Visit: www.mmiw-gic.com

Lynette Grey Bull is Senior Vice President of Global Indigenous Council and the founder of Not Our Native Daughters. In 2017, Lynette provided statistics and research on missing and exploited Native women and children for the UN World Conference on Indigenous Peoples. She previously served as Chair of the Arizona Commission of Indian Affairs at the Governor’s office, and on the Arizona Governor’s Human Trafficking Task Force.