Voting for Welfare of Russian children while turning backs on U.S. Children?

by Elizabeth Sharon Morris Late Tuesday night, January 1st, 2013, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed S. Res. 628, expressing disappointment over the Russian law banning adoption of children by American citizens.

Senator Inhofe, one of the two Senate Co-chairs of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, and a wonderful supporter of children and families, rightly stated, “It is extremely unfortunate and disheartening that the Russian Duma and President Putin would choose to deprive the children, the very children that they are entrusted to care for, the ability to find a safe and caring family that every child deserves…It is nothing more than a political play…that ultimately leads to greater hardships and more suffering for Russian children who will now be denied a loving family.”

In addition, earlier this month, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Members sent a bi-partisan letter to President Putin urging him to veto the legislation, stating,

“We fear that this overly broad law would have dire consequences for Russian children...Nothing is more important to the future of our world than doing our best to give as many children the chance to grow up in a family as we possibly can.”

The vote in support of Russian children was unanimous by the Senate. The CCA, Senator Inhofe and many others are correctly speaking up for these children and families. Many in the CCA are also correctly concerned – for the very same reasons - about children of native heritage here in the United States. However, while ALL the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs members voted for this resolution preventing adoption of Russian children - several members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs continue to uphold similar 'Putin-like' legislation preventing adoption of American children. Take the statements above and replace the word “Russian” with the word “Indian” and it fits our argument against the Indian Child Welfare Act exactly. Further - speaking as the birth mother of several enrollable children - I need to stress that while the argument against ICWA is important for adoption, it is also important to many birth families who don’t wish to have tribal jurisdiction and control over their own children. Children who had never been near a reservation nor involved in tribal customs, some with extremely minimal blood quantum - as well as some with maximum quantum - have been removed from homes they know and love and placed with strangers chosen by social services. Facts to note: 75% of U.S citizens with tribal heritage live OFF the reservation. This includes many of 100% heritage who choose not to be involved with the reservation system. Some have moved away purposely because many reservations are not safe places to raise children. Others have never lived on a reservation. MOST enrollable citizens have less than 50% tribal heritage and are connected to their non-native relatives, some not having been connected to the reservation system for a couple generations. Although it has been felt that the Indian Child Welfare Act has safeguards to prevent misuse, stories affecting multi-racial families abound across America. Letters from tribal and non-tribal birth parents, extended family, foster parents and pre-adoptive families can be read at http://caicw.org/family-advocacy/letters-from-families-2/ In the words of Dr. William B. Allen, Emeritus Professor, Political Science, MSU and former Chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights:

“... We are talking about our brothers and our sisters. We’re talking about what happens to people who share with us an extremely important identity. And that identity is the identity of free citizens in a Republic…"

Consider calling your Senators, and while thanking them for voting for S. Res. 628, ask them to support the rights of children and families of Native American heritage as well.  

FIND YOUR SENATOR'S CONTACT INFO

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REAL War on Women is from Cherokee Nation

NOT ONLY is the ‘INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT’ a weapon against the rights and best interests of many children – but it is an affront on the parental rights of ALL woman ~ The REAL War on Women comes in the form of the Cherokee Nation’s affirmation that single mothers of ALL heritages MUST fear tribal interference if they give a child up for adoption without knowing for certain that the birth father doesn’t have EVEN ONE DROP of Cherokee blood.

In the Thursday, October 18, 2012, segment of Dr. Phil show, Cherokee Nation Attorney Christi Nemmo refuses to admit Veronica had only a drop of Cherokee blood, but she also doesn't deny it. She doesn't answer the question because she knows people would be horrified. She tries to make the argument that it's not about how a child looks or how much blood the child has, but that they have a right to be part of the Cherokee tribe. Watch this 3 minute clip, then read more...

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She was sidestepping the fact that this "right" is being forced on not only this child, but many children and families all across the U.S. She is avoiding the fact that not all enrollable individuals WANT their children to be forced into the Cherokee Nation, not all enrollable parents want their children to be raised on or near the reservation, and some enrolled families have purposefully taken their children and moved away.

 For example: Enrolled mothers at a home for unwed mothers in Bismarck told State Representative Lee Kaldor that they had wanted to give their babies up for adoption, but were afraid that tribal government would interfere. So although they honestly didn't feel they were able to properly raise and nurture their babies, they felt that adoption wasn't an option. Instead, some of them contemplated abortion. ( Interestingly, tribal governments don't interfere in a mother's decision to abort.)

Nemmo is also ignoring the rights of the Latino birth mother in question - and ANY mother who chooses adoption for their child. The horrifying issue that is being ignored here is that while it's bad enough that enrolled mothers don't feel a freedom of choice in deciding what is best for their children, we also have a NON-Indian Mother, who was carrying a child with ONLY A TINY percentage of tribal heritage - and that mother and child's wishes were tromped on by tribal gov't. What a nightmare for any pregnant single mother contemplating adoption - that some minute amount of heritage could give a government the legal right to interfere.    

Beth Ward is the Author of the new book, "Dying in Indian Country." Purchase your copy at http://dyinginindiancountry.com/ and get it signed with a personal note, as well as $5 off the cover price ~

UPDATE: Child Forced by Tribe to live in Loveless Home Rescued

FRIDAY ONE YEAR AGO - A 3-year-old girl was taken from the only home she knew and loved and placed with strangers - extended family who had never bothered to visit her or get to know her. Her adoptive parents fought for her in court and experts said she would be traumatized by the forced move, but the court decided that was okay and moved her anyway.

After almost five months, on APRIL 13TH, the adoptive parents got a call to come and get their little girl right away. There was a problem, and she had to be moved from the home she had been placed in. They left immediately, driving a couple hours to get her. When she saw them, she ran into their arms and said she was ready to go "home" - "Can I go home?" she asked - Adoptive mom wept - but daughter held her tears until after they had left the building, then wept freely. The people she had been with had told her that her adoptive parents were wolves, and would eat her -

Fortunately, she wasn't physically hurt. But she was, indeed, emotionally traumatized. She was NOT okay. She had been told there were monsters in the closet who would come eat her if she cried, and she reported that she had been locked in a storage shed. She was only three so it's still hard to say what actually happened, but it is known that things were not well - as evidenced by the emergency request by social services for the adoptive parents to go after her.

TODAY - A YEAR TO THE DAY she was taken from them - the Adoption was finalized and no one can take her away again!

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION - Kids of tribal heritage need protection EQUAL to any other child in US - PLEASE sign this White House Petition. If we can get 25,000 signatures by mid-December, the White House has agreed to review the petition and give a response!

Children such as the child in this story have no voice - there are many advocating for ICWA, but no other national organization advocating for Children and families who, as US citizens, do NOT want to be under the jurisdiction of tribal government. Please help by bringing their needs to the attention of those in the federal Government.

It is a little complicated to sign this petition - it is on a White House Website and the Lord knows they can't make anything uncomplicated. But we need we need your help to do this - Please click the below link, register, and SIGN this petition and ask others to as well! - Thank you!

http://wh.gov/bvZ

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Event Took Place Friday, November 19, 2010

Dec. 9, 2010

CAICW Friends;

An adoptive mother made her first contact with CAICW on Facebook about 1am Saturday morning, November 20, 2010, only hours after she had lost her little girl...

"They just took my baby after 3 years...her sobbing is forever etched in my soul. She wanted us to save her and we couldn't..devastated."

She then wrote to friends:

"Please sign this petition..the despair on her face pushes me to help destroy this law. She didn't want to go and was looking for us to protect her and we couldn't...I can't remember ever feeling so worthless."

Saturday, November 20th, 2010, was National Adoption Day. On this day, a small girl, denied the right to be adopted by the only mother she'd ever known, spent the first day in her memory in foster care, frightened and alone amongst strangers. She was denied the right to be adopted solely because of her heritage. In America, having even a small bit of Indian heritage can mean not having the same rights and opportunities for adoption that other children receive.

Saturday, November 20th, was also her adoptive mother's birthday. Her mother wrote on Facebook, thanking her friends for their love and prayers, and said that the best gift was people signing the petition.

We will be taking the petition with us when visiting Congress in DC at the end of January. The purpose of the Petition is to show Congressmen that people are concerned about this law and want it changed to reflect the best interest of children, not government expediency. We want to the rights of parents and children respected. We encourage families that have been affected by ICWA to join us.

If you aren't able to join us in DC, I urge everyone to obtain the legislative drafts we have available and talk to as many of your US Senators and Representatives and you can, as well as you legislators on the State level. We need to be pushing our representatives on both the federal and state levels to pass protective legislation for these children. No more pretending that what they have decided to do with children of heritage is acceptable or even constitutionally legal.

Finally - CAICW needs financial support. Please help us to:

* Stay in Contact with Families,
* Publish the Newsletter,
* Research Case Law,
* Update & maintain the CAICW.org Website,
* Develop a legal Defense Fund,
* Continue to Educate Federal and State Officials,
* Educate the Community through Facebook and Twitter,
* Speak to and Connect with family-oriented Organizations

All Children need to feel safe. Help CAICW to Advocate, Educate, Assist, & Defend.

http://www.caicw.org/pleasedonate.html



- Please see these sites for more information, and please share these important links:

Read Letters from Families: http://www.caicw.org/familystories.html


How You Can Help: http://www.caicw.org/HowYouHelp.html

Follow CAICW on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/CAICW

Join CAICW on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fbCAICW.org

EMAIL: writeus@caicw.org

Thank you all for your prayers and support -

Lisa Morris
Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare (CAICW)
PO Box 253
Hillsboro, ND 58045

CAICW - Christian Evangelism and Ministry - Gal. 2:10, “All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do."

We Won!!!

It’s been a long and difficult two years, but God is good and faithful.  Thank you for your prayers and support. Also thank you for telling us about [the attorney]. We will forever be indebted.

Where do I start? As you probably remember our story started with a baby girl born out of wedlock to an Indian father and Caucasian mother. The mother chose us to adopt (non-native) and the father agreed at the time. Now to bring you up to speed since our last letter Nov ’09. We waited until the bio-father was out of jail in hopes to meet with him and his family about the adoption. It was our understanding that the only reason the tribe intervened in November ’09 was because they believed the paternal family wanted to adopt her and that the father changed his mind. We felt that waiting was our only option because our attorney at the time was not supportive of us. He felt that we would never win regardless of what we did. We wanted our attorney at the time to co-counsel with [the attorney], but our attorney was very negative, made it sound like it was going to cost us thousands and it would all be a waste of time anyways. We didn’t believe that so like I said we waited. Eight months later we met with the father and family. They all agreed to the adoption. After that conversation we believed we would be able to adopt without the tribe interfering (they had originally released us to adopt).  So we hired a new attorney to handle the adoption. We were talking with the father and hoping to finalize in Feb 2011. In Dec ’09 we had asked the father to come for a Christmas visit. He accepted. But the day arrived and he didn’t show up, no call or anything. The next thing we know our attorney receives a letter from the tribe that stated that the father came into the tribal attorney’s office refusing to agree to the adoption and the tribe was intervening. Unfortunately, our case was one of our attorney’s last cases because he was retiring. So needless to say we had to find a new attorney to take our now contested case. We were blessed to find ------------. She was willing to co-counsel with [the attorney] and they made an awesome team. Both of them fight for the child’s rights with honesty and dignity. They made our case bullet proof and we won... The tribe still has 42 days to appeal the decision, but ----- talked to the tribal attorney and he said that he is recommending that the tribe DOES NOT intervene. Like I said our attorneys made our case bullet proof so it would be unlikely for the tribe to win even in the Supreme Court. We will wait out the 42 days and finalize the adoption after [in] October…

[We] are still in a state of shock or disbelief. Maybe it will hit us when we sign the final papers.

Again, thank you for all of your support and prayers. We truly believe that we would not be holding our precious forever daughter without your guidance to the right attorney, your encouragement and your website to educate us. We have directed others to your website and have been able to educate others because of it. We were surprised how many people including Natives that are not aware of ICWA. 

 As I have promised in the past I will do what I can to help support you and the people you help as soon as this is over.

Many blessings,

CONGRATULATIONS for Successful Adoptions!!

TO FIVE WONDERFUL FAMILIES –

Who in the last two months have either successfully completed their adoptions or will be completing them shortly –

To the three awesome families in Texas, one in California, and the beautiful family in Idaho – CONGRATULATIONS!

Please also give a very special thanks to a wonderful attorney who ministered for most of these children in very wise and beneficial ways – as well as to Johnston Moore and Andy Reum, two board members who were willing and available to speak to and encourage a couple of the families.


AND a VERY SPECIAL THANKS – To all those who have been praying faithfully for these families as well as the many others who contact us!! God Bless all you awesome prayer warriors!

Together for Adoption's Nat'l Conference Oct. 21-22 Phoenix: http://ping.fm/Qna2h Mission living, gospel, and orphan care Adopt family

Lost database -Pls resend USPO addy's. Upcoming newsletter: DC trip, spoke to, what next. Send addy 2 writeus@caicw.org. Thx! family adopt