NONFICTION: Rez Life #NDN

NONFICTION: "Rez Life," by David Treuer StarTribune.com
At the book's heart is the reservation, "the paradoxically least and most American place in the 21st century," the land and communities that endure as places of Indian control and identity. "Most often rez life is associated with tragedy," he writes, yet "what one finds on reservations is more than scars, tears, blood, and noble sentiment. There is beauty in Indian life. ... We love our reservations."
Treuer embeds these ideas within stories about modern Indians. Among those he portrays: Dan and Dennis Jones -- forced to go to a Canadian boarding school where they were raped by an Indian man hired as a "role model" -- now strong, healed men who are helping others rise above trauma. Helen Bryan Johnson, whose refusal to pay $147 in taxes on her reservation trailer home led to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed casinos to flourish. Brooke Mosay Amman, an Ojibwe educator cut out of tribal membership by "blood quantum" rules that Treuer sees as the worst way to define an Indian. And, most personally and painfully, his 83-year-old grandfather, Eugene Seelye, a D-day veteran who killed himself in 2007.
"Rez Life" is not just about Indians, but about America. "You can tell a lot about America, about its sins and ideals, by looking at ... a kind of American who was supposed to have died out a long time ago," Treuer writes.In the end, he concludes: "We might just make it." This impassioned, important book may well help make it so.
Pamela Miller is a Star Tribune night metro editor.

One Small Sacrifice now available on Create Space (Amazon)

One Small Sacrifice: A Memoir
Lost Children of the Indian Adoption Projects

 

List Price: $15.99

6" x 9" (15.24 x 22.86 cm)
Black & White on White paper
284 pages

Blue Hand Books
ISBN-13: 978-0615582153 (Custom)
ISBN-10: 061558215X
BISAC: Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs

Book Description: Award-winning journalist Trace A. DeMeyer's second edition has even more of her remarkable story and the disturbing history of closed adoption used as a weapon to destroy tribal culture and break up families.
It's an unforgettable memoir...What is known about the Indian Adoption Projects and the aftermath has been pretty much secret . . . Until now.
A reader praised her book: The journey, the courage and openness of your work. It's very inspiring. The way 'Small Sacrifice' shares itself . . . it's as if the book were speaking . . . holding a talking stick with us all gathered in a circle . . . we come together through your sacrifice. 

 

CreateSpace eStore: https://www.createspace.com/3753031

 

I've added more of my memoir and a new design - you will LOVE it!

Buy direct from me (paypal or personal check) and I'll sign it for you! Email me for more info: tracedemeyer@yahoo.com

Cherokee Nation maintaining Sequoyah orphan cemetery

Read here: CN maintaining Sequoyah orphan cemetery

Video

By TESINA JACKSON, Reporter
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Across from Sequoyah High School along Highway 62 in the Southgate Business Park is a small, bordered area where the Cherokee Nation has placed 32 stones to represent a cemetery that went forgotten for decades.
The cemetery, commonly called the Sequoyah orphan cemetery, began for children who attended Sequoyah during its days as an orphanage.
After the Civil War, Cherokee children were orphaned because of fighting between Cherokees. In 1871, the Cherokee National Council authorized the orphanage’s construction about four miles southwest of Tahlequah.
“All of the stones that are over at the cemetery are actually stones that were salvaged from the third floor of the Cherokee Nation jail facility,” CN Natural Resources Group Leader Pat Gwin said. The jail no longer stands, and its material is stored at the Cherokee Heritage Center. “We used that to make the rock walkways and the rock headstones.”
The orphanage also housed as an institution for the handicapped, and Sequoyah teacher Don Franklin believes that patients who died at the institution are buried in the cemetery.

tesina-jackson@cherokee.org
 

Case argues systematic discrimination against First Nations children

Case argues systematic discrimination against First Nations children
 
OTTAWA — (Feb 13, 2012) Sweet-smelling smoke from a smudging ceremony filled an Ottawa courtroom Monday as a controversial case began that could open the door for First Nations residents to argue they are being discriminated against en masse by the federal government.  An elder named Flying Eagle Woman lit a sprig of sweetgrass at the Federal Court hearing. She urged the court to stand with the creator when it makes its decision and prayed that everyone present would "come together with one mind and one body.
"With the ceremony aside, the legal wrangling began. Facts that could prove the federal government is discriminating against aboriginal children by underfunding child-welfare services on reserves need to be heard in court, said lawyers for the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
The commission is one of several groups appealing a 2011 ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal — which the commission oversees. In that ruling, the tribunal dismissed a discrimination case brought by the Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada. The complaint argued the consistent underfunding of child-welfare services on reserves leads to poverty, poor housing, substance abuse and a vast over-representation of aboriginal children in state care. 
However, the federal government is arguing that because it merely sends funds to band managers — who themselves administer the services — the government cannot be held responsible for the services delivered. The government also says the question itself is invalid because it funds services on reserves, while provincial governments are responsible for services to the rest of Canadians, and that comparing two governments is both "unreasonable" and nonsensical. 
The "comparator" argument was used in the Human Rights Tribunal's initial decision to dismiss the case in 2011 before any of the main evidence had been heard.But First Nations Child and Family Caring Society lawyer Nicholas McHaffie told the court that comparing services to another group is only one "evidentiary tool."
"It is not the only way to show discrimination," he said. "There may be different pieces of the evidentiary puzzle needed to prove discrimination — they all need to be heard."
Human Rights Commission lawyer Philippe Dufresne told the hearing Monday that "the court must look at the facts, examine the services and determine if there is suffering."Currently, five per cent of aboriginal children living on reserve reside in care, away from their families. That's eight times more than other Canadian children, according to testimony by former auditor general Sheila Fraser at a parliamentary committee hearing in 2010.
In 1990, the federal government adopted a policy requiring child welfare services provided to First Nations children on reserves to meet provincial standards, be reasonably comparable with services for children off reserves and be culturally appropriate. But Fraser's audits consistently found the federal government "had not sufficiently taken into account provincial standards and other policy requirements when it established levels of funding for First Nations agencies to operate child welfare services on reserve."
"You must keep in mind the individual families who are affected by the dismissal of this complaint," McHaffie said.
Jonathan Thompson, the director of health and social development at the Assembly of First Nations, said he wasn't surprised when the government "decided to argue this on a technicality.""We've done report after report — both with the government and on our own — and they have all come out with overwhelming evidence of inequity, and yet nothing gets done," he said during an intermission in proceedings. Thompson said the government is trying to prevent the facts from being placed on the record because it knows the evidence against it will show that discrimination exists.
Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, who has been a driving force behind this case, has said if the government is allowed to use the comparator argument, "that would basically immunize the government from any discrimination or human rights claim relating to its funding policies and procedures on reserve." Blackstock has been gathering support for this cause since 2007. More than 9,000 people worldwide are participating in the I am a Witness campaign, pledging to watch the proceedings — in person if they can, or on the Aboriginal People's Television Network, which will be televising the review.
One of over 100 witnesses who attended the hearing Monday is Madeleine Keshen, a 12-year-old student at Featherston Drive Public School in Ottawa. She's part of a grades 5 to 6 class that came to the court to "stand up against injustices."
"It's not fair that they get less than we do," said the blond, blue-eyed little girl. "It's just because of who they are, and it's not right."
"People are watching," said Blackstock. "We've never been this organized before."
The case will continue Tuesday and Wednesday when the court will hear from lawyers for the Assembly of First Nations, the Chiefs of Ontario and the Attorney General, on behalf of the federal government.
tesmith(at)postmedia.com
Twitter.com/teresasmithpn
Read more: http://www.canada.com/life/Case+argues+systematic+discrimination+against+First+Nations+children/6145359/story.html#ixzz1mTXCAeJd

First Nations' Child Welfare broken

First nations' child welfare broken

Excerpt: According to former auditor-general Sheila Fraser, first nations children are being placed in care at six to eight times the rate of other Canadian children. Most of us are probably familiar with that uncomfortable feeling of staying in a stranger's home, perhaps being billeted for a sports event or while on vacation. We don't know the rules, the expectations, or the way things work there.
Now imagine how that feeling must be magnified for children who have just been ripped away from their family. Worse still for first nations children placed in non-aboriginal homes, adding culture shock to the mix.
"We know that children in care are more likely [than those who stay with their families] to have substance misuse issues, more likely to have involvement with the criminal justice system, more likely to have mental and physical health concerns and are less likely to succeed at school," said Blackstock, who worked for 13 years on the front lines of child welfare and is now executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada.
There are situations where removing a child from their home is absolutely necessary, such as cases of sexual abuse where the child cannot be protected by a non-offending adult. Blackstock argues in many more cases, however, children are taken because of neglect resulting from poor housing and nutrition, substance abuse or the inability of impoverished families to meet the needs of a child with special needs.
Many of these problems could be solved in the home, allowing children to stay with their families, if the resources were made available. But for first nations families on reserves, the resources aren't there.
According to a study cited by first nations groups, children on reserves receive 22 per cent less funding per child for child welfare than other Canadian children, particularly for services that would help them stay with their families.
Blackstock says social workers dealing with first nations children are under-trained on the factors driving them into foster care, under-resourced, over-worked and overwhelmed.
Children on reserves are caught between governments.

The Thick Dark Fog movie trailer

Read more here: http://www.thickdarkfog.com/?page_id=120

Thick Dark Fog" Official Trailer
http://vimeo.com/user9741689/trailer

Award winning documentary - The Thick Dark Fog.

Walter Littlemoon attended a federal Indian boarding school in South Dakota sixty years ago. The mission of many of these schools in 1950, was still to “kill the Indian and save the man.” The children were not allowed to be Indians – to speak their language or express their culture or native identity in any way at the risk of being severely beaten, humiliated or abused. What effects did these actions cause?

Many Indians, like Walter, lived with this unresolved trauma into adulthood, acting it out through alcoholism and domestic violence. At age 58, Walter decided to write and publish his memoirs as a way to explain his past abusive behaviors to his estranged children. But dealing with the memories of his boarding school days nearly put an end to it.

“The Thick Dark Fog” tells the story of how Walter confronted the “thick dark fog” of his past so that he could renew himself and his community.

For more information visit: thickdarkfog.com

NEW Book Cover!

My new paperback will be available in a few weeks on Amazon. The 2nd Edition is already on Kindle! Cover by Barb Burke.

Colonization is an Act of Genocide

The following appplies in North America but since it is not taught in schools, apparently Native People are not considered to be the colonized. I beg to differ... Trace

Maori and Indigenous Analysis Ltd

Colonisation is an act of Genocide

Màori researcher Dr Leonie Pihama says the use of the term holocaust is an
appropriate and valid description of the impact of colonial genocide on Màori. A
Radio New Zealand panel featured Taranaki Màori academic Keri Opai using the
word holocaust to describe colonisation for Màori. The NZ Jewish Council said
his use of the term was "diminishing and trivialising of the Jewish Holocaust
experience". Dr Pihama says the NZ Jewish council are "basically incorrect" in
their response. She states "The term holocaust refers to deliberate acts of
genocide and ethnocide against groups of people, and that is exactly what
occurred here in Aotearoa. There was a deliberate and planned process of
colonisation that sought the extermination of our people. That is clear and well
documented".

United Nations conventions define genocide as "any of the following acts
committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical,
racial or religious group , as such: as killing members of the group;

(i) killing members of the group;

(ii) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(ii) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to
bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(iii) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(iv) forcibly transferring children of this group to another group

The definition of genocide by the United Nations is clearly one that reflects
the experience of Màori people and there needs to be a greater awareness of the
reality of the history of this country and of other Indigenous Nations. "There
is clear historical evidence of acts of genocide that were undertaken by
successive white settler Presidents in America. Hitler modelled many of his
oppressive acts on the forced removal and murder of Native Amerian people and
the imprisonment of thousands in concentration camps" states Dr Pihama.

Dr Pihama notes that Màori use of the term 'holocaust' should not be viewed
as in any way diminishing the experience of Jewish people and others that were
targeted by Hitler and Nazi Germany. She says clearly that Maori have always
actively acknowledged that history and the impact of it. Dr Pihama explains
"This is not about comparing experiences. The reference by Mr Opai is directed
to the historical trauma and post traumatic stress experienced by our tupuna and
generations of our people who continue to live with that impact on our own
land".

http://www.scoop. co.nz/stories/ PO1202/S00076/ colonisation- is-an-act- of-genocide. htm

Closed adoptions are a form of cultural genocide... Trace

Looking for guest bloggers...

I am taking a hiatus to handle some personal issues that need my time and undivided attention. This blog will still be up and you can read earlier blog posts from the archive. There is plenty to read since I started posting way back in 2009.
If anyone wants to write a guest column, email me: tracedemeyer@yahoo.com.
Keep good thoughts for me... your prayers are appreciated...
Mitakuye oyasin...
Trace

Jennifer Lauck on how her birth mother's sexual history affected her own

This incredible interview with Jennifer Lauck, author of FOUND, struck a chord with me. Please read it:
http://www.examiner.com/open-adoption-in-national/jennifer-lauck-on-how-her-birth-mother-s-sexual-history-affected-her-own

Excerpt:
There has been a belief that the moment a child is taken from her original mother she ceases being that woman's child. This is one of the reasons many want to adopt a baby rather than an older child. They believe they are getting a "blank slate." Many people will go as far as to adopt from far away lands--as far away as possible -- so that they get the "blank slate" and as a bonus eliminate the chance that the original mother will reappear and take away what supposedly belongs to the adoptive parent -- the child, the relationship, the connection, the concept of family and so on. There is great ignorance in this thinking--similar to the thinking years ago that babies don't feel pain and thus were operated on without the mercy of anesthesia or pain blockers. Of course, science has now shown us otherwise. Babies feel pain. And you cannot stop a child from being connected to the original mother. Yes, you can take legal measures, you can take geographic measures, but you cannot change the fact of the biological link.
To further expand on this, consider this remarkable passage from Meredith Hall, author of Without a Map: "women carry fetal cells from all the babies they have carried. Crossing the defensive boundaries of our immune system and mixing with our own cells, the fetal cells circulate in the mother's bloodstream for decades after each birth. The body does not tolerate foreign cells, which trigger illness and rejection. But a mother's body incorporates into her own the cells of her children as if they recognize each other. This fantastic melding of two selves, mother and child is called microchimerism....the mother's cells are also carried in the child. During gestation, maternal cells slip through the barriers of defense and join her child's cells as they pulse through his veins...of course the implications are stunning. Mother and child do not fully separate at birth. We do not lose each other at that moment of severance."

As I wrote in my memoir One Small Sacrifice, the new science of birth psychology will forever change the way the world views adoption and its impact.
There are follow-up interviews with Jennifer at that website, a virtual blog tour - so please read them, too... Trace

Toronto Birthmother story

I had to share this. A birthmother wrote in response to this: http://splitfeathers.blogspot.com/2011/04/red-road-documentary-from-canada-60s_11.html

I am so happy that this lost spirit has found his roots after living a life of not knowing where he fit in! I have never given up the hope that one day my son who was taken from me at birth will somehow find his true family. I just hope that it isn't too late for us to join each other. I have always believed that my son is out there someplace and he will come home soon. He was taken from me on October 17,1976 from Toronto General Hospital. I was told that he died at birth. I never was asked if I wanted to see or hold him. To tell him how much his mommy loves him. I was just a young mother with a child of 11 months at home and a baby that I so wanted to bring home. I never was told where or when he was buried never laid eyes on him ever. I felt that something wasn't right but I was to with drawn from the loss that I just couldn't bare the loss. To this day the thoughts of it burns at my insides. I never knew about the 60's or 70's scoop until just with-in the last few years. That is when I got my answers to what happen. I believed that my baby boy was more then likely one of the native children that was scooped that day. I hope that this man isn't bitter towards his true Mom for what he went through. May the Creator bless him with true happiness in his life now that he has found his true identity as a Proud Native Man. From this story of this man it gives me the added hope that my son to will find me some day.
Signed BM (which means birthmom)

Remember this adoptees - closed adoption was used as a weapon! First Nations Families, please start your search now...If you need my help, email me... Trace (tracedemeyer@yahoo.com)

 

Interview: Buffy Sainte-Marie

Buffy is not only a world famous Native American music legend but she's also an adoptee. I mention her and many others in my memoir One Small Sacrifice.
As I wrote in the Talking Stick article "Generation after Generation We are Coming Home": Being creative is an effective outlet for grief this enormous... (meaning our loss of identity and tribal family as adoptees/Lost Birds is healed with creativity and using our gifts.)
Like Buffy, we all have gifts...
Read the interview here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ragogna/better-late-than-never-a_b_1172096.html

One Small Sacrifice on Facebook



One Small Sacrifice: A Memoir, on Kindle now, www.amazon.com

One Small Sacrifice: A Memoir has its own Facebook Page!
https://www.facebook.com/Splitfeathers
Please click and join many other adoptees and supporters who share news, advice and information on my book page.
The brand new 2nd Edition of my memoir is on Kindle now and will be published in paperback in early February! This new edition has more discoveries about my opening my adoption.
Thanks, Migwetch and Pilamaye for your kindness, support and much-appreciated comments on this blog...
Trace

Celebrity Adopter Sheryl Crow (not one word about privacy and trauma)

My thoughts? What is classic news coverage when a celebrity adopts?
Bravo for Madonna, Brad and Angelina, Elton John, Ms. Sheryl Crow, and all the others.
We know it's not possible to hide anything when you're the celebrity and you adopt.
Public Relations is for us to think how great and wonderful the adopter is and how lucky the adoptee is, right?

Let's take Sheryl Crow and all the news last year when she adopted again.
Had Ms. Crow considered how the news would affect her sons Levi and Wyatt when they're adult men? They did not choose to be abandoned or adopted. They had no privacy. How will they feel being called the adopted sons of Sheryl Crow forever? Did Entertainment Tonight consider the boys rights before they showed their photos?

Does Madonna or Crow have a clue how adoptees are treated by their peers and bio-siblings in the real world?
How will Crow shield them from the cruel bastard label and the embarrassment they were abandoned by their own mothers? Will Levi and Wyatt be expected to show their gratitude to her and be silent around her about everything else?

Or were these open adoptions so the boys will know their natural mother's identity, their ancestry and their medical history? We can only hope, right?

Did Ms. Crow hire a surrogate? That's never mentioned but it won't change the boys emotional trauma.

What horrible thing happened that her sons were not able to be raised by their own mothers? That's carefully omitted in adoption propaganda and celebrity stories. They'll direct our attention to the famous rich person and have us forget the birth mothers and her loss entirely. The adoptee is considered lucky and now rich.

Do celebrities ever wonder how an adoptee feels after adoption? 
Crow is rich and famous, but her boys will still require truth, reality and plenty of emotional support! Makes you wonder if Crow has a clue about birth psychology, their severe narcissistic injury, PTSD and an adoptee's primal wound (read Nancy Verrier). There's trouble ahead if Crow denies it exists.

Publicity fills the ego of the celebrity narcissist and the hungry public eats it up.

We are supposed to believe Crow SAVED these boys, right? That's one of the adoption industry's clever ways to keep its business running smooth and encourage more women to abandon their children for adoption to the rich, better-off and famous. Forget those pesky rumors about reactive attachment disorders in adoptees!
Sappy stories about MS. CROW ahd her two adopted sons is great publicity for her obviously- but not for the two boys who will have to deal with their adopee label and adoption trauma their entire life... Trace

Adoptee Rights Coalition - the Fight to obtain our Original Birth Certificates: Register to Attend the 2012 Adoptee Rights Demonst...

Adoptee Rights Coalition - the Fight to obtain our Original Birth Certificates: Register to Attend the 2012 Adoptee Rights Demonst...: August 6th, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois Chicago...it's our kind of town!  

I am going to try and attend this one!

Altar of Unknown

River, Blood, And Corn: Altar of Unknown: By Lisa Marie Rollins... I have two rituals before I unpack the first box to set up in a new house. I start at my front door, light a stick...

This beautiful commentary reminds me of friends and the rituals we create for our missing families....
May 2012 be the year when Adoption is no longer a weapon and its secrecy finally exposed, uprooted and destroyed for its harm to us, the adoptees... Trace

Time before birth is important: ORIGINS

Ted Talk – Author of “Origins”

30NOV

Shit People Say to Adoptees (R-rating)

http://bitchyouleftme.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/shit-people-say-to-adoptees/

This will make you growl and smile! I promise!
Trace

Resolution: Michigan Indian Family Preservation Act

MICHIGAN JUDGES ASSOCIATION Resolution in support of Michigan Indian Family Preservation Act
WHEREAS, the Michigan Judges Association is committed to the

improvement of the process and outcomes of child protection cases throughout

the State of Michigan; and

WHEREAS, the Conference of Chief Justices through Resolution 5, 2011 and

the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges through separate

resolutions, recognize that tribal courts serve the children and families of

sovereign nations with the same authority and responsibility as state courts; and

WHEREAS, the Conference of Chief Justices encourages each state court

judge to communicate and collaborate with their tribal court counterparts when a

Native American child or family may be involved in a case, and the National

Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges is committed to complying with the

letter and spirit of the Indian Child Welfare Act; and

WHEREAS, the Michigan Judges Association has a history of working to

improve state-tribal court relations through Michigan’s Court Improvement

Program including: the creation of an ICWA Court Resource Guide; statewide

ICWA training for state and tribal justice systems; ICWA training for new state and

tribal judges; ICWA amendments to the Michigan Court Rules; and proposed state

ICWA legislation to encourage and reinforce compliance with the letter and spirit

of the law by state court justice systems.

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, that the Michigan Judges Association supports

the adoption and enactment of the proposed Indian Family Preservation Act by

the Michigan legislature, in recognition of its ongoing commitment to improve the

process and outcomes of child protection cases throughout the State of Michigan.

http://turtletalk.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/resolution-in-support-mifpa-2.pdf


[The Judges passed this unanimously! If every state did this, we could celebrate!...Trace]

About the First Nations Repatriation Institute

My Conversation With Sandy White Hawk, Sicangu Lakota Adoptee 
By kostvollmers | September 13, 2011 

URL: http://wp.me/p1Alq6-rV 

The following chat with Sandy is lengthy and so I’ll keep my comments
brief.  We here at Land of Gazillion Adoptees are huge fans of the
Adoptees Have Answers (AHA) Advisory Group.  Sandy and the advisory
group’s other members are certified rockstars, and I would strongly
suggest all adoptive parents and adoption agencies in MN to take a
close look at what the group and its members are doing for the
adoption community. 

Enjoy.
____________________ 

Land of Gazillion Adoptees: Parents love talking about their kids.
Would you mind talking about yours? What do they do? What do they
like? 

Sandy: I have two children. My daughter, who is 34, just graduated
with her MFA from the University of Madison, WI. She and her fiancé
have a 9-year-old daughter. Right after she graduated they moved from
WI and are now going to make their home in Minnesota. My son, who is
28, graduated with his BA in American Studies from the University of
Minnesota. He also lives here in the state. He has worked in community
development and is currently looking for work in the nonprofit sector. 

I started using when I was 14 years old and became an addict. I got
clean when I was 28; my daughter was 5. It took five years sobriety
for me to begin to heal enough to parent in a healthy way. 

I am proud of my children for many reasons. What I am thinking about
today is how both  of my children have accomplished more than I had
when I was their age. They both are confident and living drug and
alcohol free lives. They have chosen to live our Lakota way of life --
a life of balance and drug and alcohol free. They made this decision
when they were in college. I think this amazes me so much because I am
a recovering addict. I have been sober for 30 years. The cycle of
addiction and abuse stopped with me, and now I can grow old knowing my
grandchildren live in balanced and loving homes. 

watch?v=ZH-BHvACYiw 

Land of Gazillion Adoptees: Thanks for sharing that, Sandy. For
readers who don't know you, would you mind giving an overview of your
work with the First Nations Orphans Association and the Truth Healing
and Reconciliation community forums? 

Sandy: First Nations Orphan Association is now First Nations
Repatriation Institute. It’s basically the same with some additions.
The term First Nations people is used when referring to American
Indians or Native Americans.  An elder advised us that we were a
people of Nationhood pre-Columbian contact; we had governments. We
were the First Nations of this land. And the term repatriation comes
from the Latin word repatriatre – to go home again, to restore or
return to the country of origin, allegiance or citizenship. 

The overall purpose of First Nations Repatriation Institute is to
create a resource for First Nations people impacted by foster care or
adoption to return home, reconnect and reclaim their identity. The
Institute also serves as a resource to enhance the knowledge and
skills of practitioners who serve First Nations people. The First
Nations Repatriation Institute will eventually fill a significant gap
in resources available for First Nations people. There is currently no
organized effort at a local, state, national or international level to
address the needs of people separated from their culture by foster
care or adoption. 

Specifically, the First Nations Repatriation: 

Connects First Nations Adoptees with other First Nations Adoptees;
Supports First Nations people in searches for relatives during family
reunification;
Assists First Nations Adoptees with tribal enrollment;
Supports emotional, physical and spiritual health of all adoptees/
fostered individuals, their families and communities in accordance
with First Nations peoples’ traditional spiritual heritage;
Provides consultation and education to social service providers and
mental healthcare providers and the legal system in the cultural
traditions and values of First Nations people.
As for Truth Healing and Reconciliation Community Forums, they are day
long events that bring together First Nations adoptees and fostered
individuals with other adoptees, professionals and community and
spiritual leaders to strategize ways to address post adoption issues
and ultimately lower the rate of child removal. 

Truth: At the forums, we have adoptees, fostered individuals and birth
relatives share their stories. Social workers, Guardian ad Litems,
adoption professionals, judges, lawyers and others hear first hand the
long-term effects of being raised outside of culture and away from
family. For many adoptees/fostered individuals and other family
members, their life stories for the first time have a purpose. The
many years they spent wondering why they had to go through years of
isolation, anxiety and often depression are used to educate those who
work with Indian families. 

Healing: At the forums, we do not to blame and attack those who
represent the child welfare system. This brings about great results,
as demonstrated by the following response from a participant: 

“Another circle I was in was powerful as two small brothers told their
stories of being taken from their families and who were still in
placement. Their story of abusive foster homes and what they went
through was painful to hear. A white lady social worker was there and
she broke down. She cried so hard her shoulders shook. She apologized
to the boys, although she had not worked with them. She apologized to
the ones she had taken from their families. She apologized for not
understanding and not listening and just following those policies of
her organization. I cried when one of the little boys got up, went to
her, put his hand on her shoulder and said, ‘It’s ok. It isn’t your
fault.’ He allowed her to hug him. The strength of spirit that little
one possessed amazed me. He was so small in physical form, but mighty
and pure in spiritual form. As she held him she said she would do
things differently (I hope she did and is still doing it).”
Reconciliation: At the forums, the recognition is made that
Reconciliation begins with the individual in a process of sharing. It
is not an event. It is a process that begins after Truth and Healing.
Truth Healing and Reconciliation Community Forums provide a space and
time to establish new relationships, evaluate and reflect for change. 

Land of Gazillion Adoptees: Wow. That’s some fantastic stuff... Based
upon your experience, what do you think is the biggest need for
adoptees here in Minnesota? 

Sandy: The biggest need for Minnesota adoptees is access to their
original birth certificates. I would take it a step further and say
that we should also have access to our social work case files. Why
not? It is our history, no one else’s. We have no idea how many birth
mothers and fathers would welcome the release of guilt and shame
through meeting their relinquished children. Access to records could
be a first step in the healing process. 

Land of Gazillion Adoptees: Word to that... 

One Small Sacrifice

One Small Sacrifice
Trace reading her book

 

Music by Bryan James Gatten

From the CD "Northscapes" copyright 2009 Two Jeez productions
Available on iTunes.

ICWA law at center of adoption controversy

ICWA law at center of adoption controversy
fox23.com
OKLAHOMA - The Indian Child Welfare Act went into effect 34 years ago, and supporters of the family of Veronica, a girl who was in the process of being adopted by a South Carolina couple, say it was improperly applied to this case.

The horrific comments after this story are very telling about the actual understanding of the sovereignty of tribes and their members...Trace

SD Governor critical of NPR reporting

No useful data in NPR report on Indian children?

Gov. Dennis Daugaard said he didn’t gain any useful information from a controversial 2011 public radio series on American Indian foster children in South Dakota.

Read story here: http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/event/article/id/61208/

Excerpt:  Laura Sullivan, a National Public Radio investigative correspondent, produced a three-part series titled “Native Foster Care: Lost Children, Shattered Families” that was heard on NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered” in October 2011.

The series said South Dakota was one of 32 states that did not comply with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act and other laws. It said state social workers had entered Indian reservations with which the state has no agreement and removed tribal children from their homes.

Writing My Wrongs

Writing My Wrongs

Opinion versus Defamation in Adoption Blogging

What is libel and what is violation of privacy? Suz answers these questions.