The State Department of Fish and Wildlife is asking for the public’s help in finding who killed at least three bald eagles in Snohomish County.
Officials said four eagles were found floating in a small lake near Granite Falls last week. Investigators confirmed that three of them had been shot with a small-caliber rifle. It’s unclear how the fourth bald eagle died. The species is protected under both state and federal law. A nearly $4,000 reward is being offered for information about the person responsible for killing the eagles.
The department sent KIRO 7 Eyewitness News pictures of the slaughtered birds. Warning; graphic images.
SEATTLE – The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is lifting the air quality burn ban in King County, effective 1 p.m., January 16, 2013. A Stage 1 burn ban remains in effect for Pierce, and Snohomish counties until further notice.
“We’re lifting the ban in King County because air pollution levels there have improved,” said Dr. Phil Swartzendruber, agency forecaster. “Based on historic patterns, it’s unlikely they’ll reach trigger levels in the next few days.”
Dr. Swartzendruber added, “Pollution levels in Pierce and Snohomish counties remain MODERATE, and the forecast suggests they would worsen in the next few days without a burn ban. The Stage 1 burn ban needs to remain in place for these counties.”
“Looking ahead, calm, cold, and clear weather conditions will likely continue through the weekend, so ongoing cooperation with the burn ban will help keep our air healthy,” he said. “We encourage everyone who doesn’t rely on wood heat to use instead their home’s cleaner source of heat until weather conditions change.”
The Clean Air Agency will continue to closely monitor the air quality and weather situation.
During a Stage 1 burn ban:
No burning is allowed in fireplaces or uncertified wood stoves. Residents should rely instead on their home’s other, cleaner source of heat (such as their furnace or electric baseboard heaters) for a few days until air quality improves, the public health risk diminishes and the ban is cancelled.
No outdoor fires are allowed. This includes recreational fires such as bonfires, campfires and the use of fire pits and chimineas.
Burn ban violations are subject to a $1,000 penalty.
It is OK to use natural gas, propane, pellet and EPA-certified wood stoves or inserts during a Stage 1 burn ban.
The Washington State Department of Health recommends that people who are sensitive to air pollution limit time spent outdoors, especially when exercising. Air pollution can trigger asthma attacks, cause difficulty breathing, and make lung and heart problems worse. Air pollution is especially harmful to people with lung and heart problems, people with diabetes, children, and older adults (over age 65).
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is an air quality management agency serving King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties. Created as a result of the 1967 Washington Clean Air Act, the agency protects public health by adopting and enforcing air quality regulations, educating individuals and businesses about clean-air choices and sponsoring voluntary initiatives to improve air quality.
Lately, Native people have taken to the streets malls in demonstrations of Public Indian-ness (“PI”) that surpasses the sheer volume of activism of even Alcatraz and the Longest Walk. There’s a heapum big amount of PI going on right now! Many people, non-Native and Native alike, are wondering what the heck is going with their local Native population and how this so-called #IdleNoMore Movement managed to get the usually muffled Natives restless enough to be Indian in public. I mean, like Chris Rock said, he hasn’t ever even met two Indians at the same time. He’s seen “polar bears riding a tricycle” but he’s “never seen an Indian family just chillin’ out at Red Lobster.”
Yet, now people can’t seem to get away from us.
And that’s cool—but isn’t that what pow-wows and November is for? People (non-Native and Native alike) can only take so much PI, right? Is that what the Idle No More Movement is—an extended Native American Heritage Month, where non-Natives have to act like they’re fascinated by Native culture?
In a word, no. It is much more. Please consider this a fairly exhaustive explanation of the Idle No More Movement, what it is not and what it is. If for some reason you cannot read the next 1000 or so brilliant words, I can be summed up thusly: the Idle No More Movement is not a new movement. Instead, it is the latest incarnation of the sustained Indigenous Resistance to the rape, pillage and exploitation of this continent and its women that has existed since 1492. It is not the Occupy Movement, although there are some similarities. It is not only about Canada and it is not only about Native people. Finally, and probably most importantly, it (and we) are not going away anytime soon. So get used to it (and us).
“The ground on which we stand is sacred ground. It is the blood of our ancestors.”
Chief Plenty Coups, Apsaalooke
“…you have come here; you are taking my land from me; you are killing off our game, so it is hard for us to live.”
Tasunke Witko (Crazy Horse), Oglala Lakota
As the above quotes display, the Indigenous Resistance to the raping and pillaging of the Earth is not new. Likewise, Indigenous peoples’ efforts to protect the mothers of our Nations—the women—are not new either. The Idle No More Movement is simply the latest chapter in that resistance.
It’s About: PROTECTING THE EARTH. Idle No More is an inherently grassroots and localized movement, informed by the founders, but with local flair.
Photo art by Steven Paul Judd
First and foremost, the Idle No More Movement is about protecting the Earth for all people from the carnivorous and capitalistic spirit that wants to exploit and extract every last bit of resources from the land. Therefore, anybody who cares about this Earth should be interested in the Idle No More Movement. The engineers were Nina Wilson, Sheelah Mclean, Sylvia McAdam and Jessica Gordon. It was a response to Canada’s Bill C-45, which overhauled the Navigable Waters Protection Act and removed protections for many waters that go through First Nations. Changing the Act literally moves the emphasis of the protection—it morphs from protecting the waterways to protecting the navigation on those waterways. Now, instead of 30-some thousand lakes being protected under the old Act, only 97 lakes will be protected. As Canadian Parliament Member Kirsty Duncan eloquently states, “The days when Canadians take an endless abundance of fresh water for granted are numbered…”
These mobilized Native people wanted to ensure that children two, three and twelve generations from now would have clean water. The children who will benefit from the Native mobilization are notjust Native children—it’s for all children. Lakes and rivers tend to be either clean or dirty for Native and non-Native children alike.
It’s not a Native thing or a white thing, it’s an Indigenous worldview thing. It’s a “protect the Earth” thing. For those transfixed on race, you’re missing the point. The Idle No More Movement simply wants kids of all colors and ethnicities to have clean drinking water. It’s also not a “Canada” or “United States” thing. Multinational corporations do not care about borders and neither should we. Despite legislation to intended to prevent pollution, corporations pollute freely with almost complete impunity and our children are the ones who suffer. We likewise should not care about borders—we are mobilizing on both sides because we understand that what we do affects one another.
We will continue to aggressively organize and be Idle No More about the attempts to destroy our sacred lands, whether its Keystone XL Pipeline or Tar Sands Mining in Canada. We will be Idle No More on SSA Marine’s attempts to create a deep-water shipping terminal for water and air poisoning dirty coal in the Lummi waters near Puget Sound, WA or any disrespect to our lands.
We’re not going anywhere, we’re not going to be silent, we’re Idle No More !
It’s About: PROTECTING WOMEN. Similar to the sustained, capitalistic effort to exploit and pillage the Earth, the carnivorous, capitalistic nature has also exploited and abused women since the founding of both America & Canada. That is something else about which Indigenous people have vowed to be Idle No More. America’s first marriage and property laws, or ‘coverture,’ stipulated that married women did not have separate legal existences from their husbands. Indeed, a married woman was a dependent and could not generally own her own property or control her own earnings. “…once she married she became a legal nonentity. Her husband not only assumed her legal privileges and duties but certain rights to her property as well.” (Women, Family, and Community in Colonial America: Two Perspectives, Linda E. Speth, Alison Duncan Hirsch, Pg. 8.)
And that was for privileged white women. Obviously for Native women, Black women and any women of any other color who were unfortunate enough to live in the United States, it was much worse.
Deborah Parker speaking about Violence Against Women Act at Seattle Idle No More rally. Image courtesy Alex Garland Photography
That pattern of condescension and indeed hatred for women has continued until the present. From the case Bradley v. State which affirmed a man’s “right” to “moderately” beat his wife to the Indian Health Service’s pattern of forced tubal ligations of Native women, the United States has shown a consistent trajectory of hatred and destruction for Native women.
Congress’s recent failure to pass the Violence Against Women Act—specifically because Republicans did not want tribal law enforcement to be able to prosecute non-Native sexual deviants—is a continuation of that exploitation of our women. Similar to the “clean water” discussion, above, the protections afforded by the Violence Against Women Act protected women of all colors—not just Native women. Conversely, Congress’s failure to act on the Violence Against Women Act hurts all women. Strong Native women leaders like Deborah Parker and others are advocating for safety and reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act for all women, not just a few.
It’s not a Native thing.
It’s a “NO women, of ANY color, should have to worry about getting raped” thing.
It’s a “NO women, of ANY color, should get beaten and battered” thing.
Those who are transfixed by race, again, are missing the point.
And we will continue to organize and be Idle No More about this attack on the women within our communities, as well as all communities. That is not new and it’s also not just about Native people.
We’re not going anywhere, we’re not going to be silent, we’re #IdleNoMore !
It’s Not an OCCUPY MOVEMENT. The Occupy Movement was powerful and necessary—yet the foundation was frankly not strong enough to sustain. Occupy was about a slowed-down economy and a lot of folks who were, unfortunately, out of work from that slowdown. As the economy began to improve in 2012 and also, significantly, the weather got colder, the Occupy Movement got noticeably weaker. As the economy got stronger, the sheer amounts at the Occupy events got smaller. Now, it looms very strong in everyone’s psyche, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not; Occupy emboldened the Idle No More Movement, just like Syria, Egypt and Libya emboldened the Idle No More Movement. Absolutely. Still, Idle No More is NOT Occupy for these reasons:
The Primary Reason #IdleNoMore is Not Occupy—Native economies are NOT getting any better. In many of our communities, there is 70% PLUS unemployment—more than a simple “boom and bust” economic upturn can fix. There are structural problems that will prevent a quick-fix, and therefore most Indigenous Idle No More will not have an economic incentive to stop their activism.
#2 Reason #IdleNoMore is Not Occupy—We’re Native… Hello? You’re not going to scare us off with the cold weather. My friends have literally texted me pictures of sisters and brothers in Alberta and Saskatchewan standing outside with #IdleNoMore signs in -35 degree weather; I have spoken at events where it is freezing and brothers and sisters are outside in t-shirts.
If we’re mobilizing 2,000, 2,500 people at an event in the freezing cold in January, just imagine how that number is going to multiply when it’s 65, 70 degrees outside.
#3 Reason #IdleNoMore is Not Occupy—Occupy was snapshot response to a 3 year economic downturn. #IdleNoMore is a continued response to more than 500 years of destroying the Earth and exploiting women. The foundation on which we’re building is literally centuries of resistance.
Finally, it’s not Occupy because we are surrounding our advocacy around the specific substantive areas that were discussed earlier—protecting the environment and protecting Native women via the Violence Against Women Act. Yes, like Occupy, this is grassroots—the people are fluid and definitely can change. Indeed, the specific subjects that we choose to organize around certainly could change in the future—whatever we need to be Idle No More about. Still, for now fighting against gratuitous exploitation of our lands and fighting against violence against women are areas where good organization can make a difference.
CONCLUSION
This has nothing to do with race or ethnicity. Native people did begin this movement—energized by Chief Spence’s sacrifice and sparked by the Four Founders’ initiative. Yet this movement belongs to anybodywho wants to stand up for the Earth and women and also make a positive change in the community. That means that non-Natives are certainly welcome. We need non-Natives involved to save this Earth, to give our children and grandchildren the same quality of life that we have enjoyed. It’s about clean water. It’s about clean air. It’s about safety for all women. It’s about making a positive change in our communities. Critics seem to be so caught up on race; yet even racists want their children to have clean water just like non-racists. Right? Well, we want racists (and NON-racists, of course) to have kids with clean water too. Oh, and we don’t want them to get raped or beaten either.
Not too unreasonable, is it?
Here’s a little music and video to close this piece. It’s a project that we (Rock Paper Jet Productions, LLC) did with rapper and producer Brother Ali. Coincidentally, it doesn’t mention race—it mentions wanting to make the world slightly better. And when it comes down to it, that what the Idle No More Movement is about.
“I want to pass this planet to my son
A little better than it was when they handed it to me…”
Richard Walker, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com – January 16, 2013
John McCoy, a citizen of the Tulalip Tribes in Tulalip, Washington, was elected November 6 to a sixth term in the Washington state House of Representatives. A Democrat, he represents the 38th District, which includes the Tulalip Tribes reservation, 40 miles north of Seattle.
He’s an important voice and a builder of bridges of understanding about the state’s First Peoples. The hallmark of his fifth term was a bill that establishes a procedure for states to cede jurisdiction over criminal and civil matters on tribal lands to federal and tribal governments. This year, he’s chairman of the Community Development, Housing and Tribal Affairs Committee; vice chairman of the Environment Committee; and member of the Education Committee.
He also is chairman of the executive committee of the National Caucus of Native American State Legislators; there are 79 Native legislators in 18 states. He is the former general manager of the Tulalip Tribes’ Quil Ceda Village.
McCoy, who along with Jeff Morris [D-Anacortes] are the only two self-identified American Indians in the state legislature, recently talked to Indian Country Today Media Network about his expectations for 2013.
Sales tax revenues are up, but overall revenues are nowhere near where we need them to be. Where’s the money going to come from to fully fund education and meet the state’s other needs without implementing a state income tax?
Everything is on the table. We’re discussing, right now, what can we accomplish as a legislative body and what items are we going to need to take to the voters of Washington. You know, the voters, they’ve sent a mixed message. They keep voting for the supermajority vote of two-thirds [of the Legislature] to pass any tax issue, but they turn around and tell them that they want all these services. Well, those services have to be paid for. So their message is we want all these services, but we don’t want to have to pay for it. There needs to be some reality set in with the voters, that if they want all these things they’ve got to pay for it because we can’t print money.
Will the Legislature be proposing some funding measures?
More than likely, I don’t know. Because of the makeup of the Senate now, we’re going to have to step back and review what we’ve been working on for the last year to figure out what we can and can’t do.
There are some brilliant young leaders in Indian country in Washington state. How do we get more Native people to run for state office and the Legislature?
I struggle with that almost every day. We need more bright young leaders. Because of the lack of resources, they in essence have had to stay home and take care of the community at home. But now that a majority of the tribes have resources, that they’re taking care of their own, now they need to understand that if they’re to be more successful, they’re going to have to start working with surrounding communities to accomplish things that they need to. In essence, we can’t live in a vacuum anymore, the vacuum of the reservation. You have to expand because you might say you’re outgrowing the reservation. If you’re going to outgrow it, then you have to work with surrounding communities. Standing around and thumping your chest over sovereignty – no, it’s the art of negotiation now: What is it that we can do to co-exist that is a win-win situation for everybody in the community. Tulalip’s done a pretty good job of that, but like everything else, it needs constant nurturing.
It seems too that if there were more Native people in the Legislature and mainstream politics, it probably would do a lot to improve the understanding of the culture and people as well. Wouldn’t it help build relationships?
Yes, I strongly believe that.
Was there anything that came out of the last session that gives you hope for the future, either in bipartisanship or the Legislature’s ability to work things out?
As horrible as last session was, I was able to get the retrocession process revamped. The previous process, which I used to take Tulalip through in ’96, that process was cumbersome. It was difficult to get through … I streamlined it. The first session of the biennium, there were all kinds of crazy things happening to that bill. I talked to the speaker, the majority leader, the governor. … The governor appointed a task force, which I chaired, and I convinced the Legislature to apply for and get that process qualified as a [Continuing Legal Education course], and they did.
We went through the education process, of what retrocession really is. We only needed three sessions [and] when we reintroduced the legislation, it sailed right on through. Again, it was about education, getting everyone to understand what retrocession really is – It’s Indians having jurisdiction over Indians within the boundaries of the reservation. Don’t read anything into it, that’s all it means.
What legislation of import do you see coming up in the next session?
I’m introducing a heavy lift bill to allow tribes to compact for their own tribal schools in the state. A heavy lift bill is a bill that is going to generate a lot of controversy. Once again, I have a lot of education to do.
How did that issue evolve?
A few tribes came to me and said they wanted it. They actually got excited about the charter school initiative, because they wanted their own schools. Well, the charter school process is cumbersome for tribes, not that it couldn’t work, it was just going to be cumbersome, and I had this bill in the works before the language for the initiative was done. The reason for the bill is that some tribes were successful in negotiating with their local school districts to create their own school which is actually in current law. The problem is, unilateral action can be taken and a couple tribes had their school districts tear up the memorandums unilaterally, so it undid everything that they had been working so hard on. So they wanted certainty. So, in working with the tribes and a couple of national organizations, we think we have a bill the tribes and the state can agree to. Another bill I’m working on which almost got passed in last session – it got caught up in the budget morass – is having the state recognize the fourth Friday of the month of November as Native American Day.
The event began today with and opening prayer and is scheduled to run until 3:30 p.m. Breakfast was served with the intention to inform about healthy options for people either with diabetes or wanting to ward off diabetes. Tribal member Hank Gobin gave a informative speech about diabetic care.
Lunch will be served from noon to 1:30pm. Clinic staff will be offering comprehensive Diabetic Services for all Tulalip Tribal members and authorized patients of the Karen I Fryberg Tulalip Health Clinic.
Hank Gobin speaks at Diabetes Day.Breakfast for Diabetes Day, fresh fruit, otameal, greek yogurt, eggs and tea.Diabetes Day at Tulalip Health Clinic today
Source: Arlington Times
January 15, 2013 · 1:36 PM
Snohomish County is one of three counties in which the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has lowered the air quality burn ban to Stage 1 until further notice.
“Air pollution levels throughout the region have dropped, likely due to clouds and warmer temperatures,” said Dr. Phil Swartzendruber, forecaster for the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. “The drop in pollution could also be due to the help of our communities following the burn ban. Calm, cold and clear weather conditions are likely to continue over the next few days, so ongoing cooperation with the burn ban will help keep our air healthy.”
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency will continue to closely monitor the air quality and weather situation.
During a Stage 1 burn ban:
• No burning is allowed in fireplaces or uncertified wood stoves. Residents should rely instead on their homes’ other, cleaner sources of heat, such as their furnaces or electric baseboard heaters, for a few days until air quality improves, the public health risk diminishes and the ban is cancelled.
• No outdoor fires are allowed. This includes recreational fires such as bonfires, campfires, and the use of fire pits and chimineas.
• Burn ban violations are subject to a $1,000 penalty.
• It is okay to use natural gas, propane, pellet and EPA-certified wood stoves or inserts during a Stage 1 burn ban.
The Washington State Department of Health recommends that people who are sensitive to air pollution limit their time spent outdoors, especially when exercising. Air pollution can trigger asthma attacks, cause difficulty breathing, and make lung and heart problems worse. Air pollution is especially harmful to people with lung and heart problems, people with diabetes, children and adults older than 65 years.
The Tulalip and Stillaguamish tribes are likewise among the six Native American reservations on which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 will continue a burn ban on all outdoor burning until further notice, due to stagnant air conditions that are forecast to prevail over the next few days.
This burn ban applies to all outdoor and agricultural burning, including camping and recreational fires within reservation boundaries. Ceremonial and traditional fires are exempt from the outdoor burn ban.
The EPA also requests that reservation residents reduce all sources of air pollution, including excess driving and idling of vehicles, and the use of wood stoves and fireplaces, unless it is their only source of heat.
Air pollution can have significant health impacts. Cooperation from the community will help people who are at risk during this period. Those most at risk are children, the elderly, pregnant women, and those with difficulty breathing, and with heart and lung problems. Those at risk should avoid outdoor exercise and minimize their exposure to outdoor pollution as much as possible.
Please call 1-800-424-4EPA and ask for the Federal Air Rules for Reservations Hotline, or visit the FARR website for the current burn status at www.epa.gov/region10/farr/burnbans.html.
Do you know a senior who will be home alone this Valentine’s Day? You are invited to nominate him or her to receive a free Valentine’s dinner at home with gifts and companionship. This contest is the brainchild of Emeritus Senior Living, the nation’s largest assisted living and memory care provider. One local senior from every city where an Emeritus community is located (See below for list of cities within WA) will be chosen as the recipient from among those nominated by the public.
“At the time of year, it’s important to extend caring and friendship to the senior generation,” said Jayne Sallerson, Executive Vice President at Emeritus. “For those who have lost spouses, Valentine’s Day can be a sad occasion that contributes to feelings of loneliness. Family and friends may live far away, and perhaps physical challenges limit their ability to get out into the greater community. We hope to brighten the day for one of these seniors through festivities and friendship.”
Bringing Valentine’s Day festivities to a local senior is part of the philosophy of Emeritus’ assurance that seniors are living “safely somewhere.”
“What that means is we believe it is crucial for seniors to live in environments that enhance their well-being, whether they reside with us or somewhere else. That is why we would like to offer this special occasion on Valentine’s Day,” explains Sallerson.
Stillaguamish to Invest $5 Million to Enhance MicroGREEN Polymers’ Strategic Growth Plans. MicroGREEN to Provide Stillaguamish with Environmentally Responsible Packaging
ARLINGTON, Wash., Jan. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ —
MicroGREEN Polymers, Inc. (MicroGREEN) today announced that the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians has made a strategic investment of $5 million in MicroGREEN. This round of funding, the first closing in a $20 million round, will enable MicroGREEN to expand its commercial production capabilities to produce a wide range of environmentally responsible cups and trays for consumer use. The Stillaguamish Tribe will also use MicroGREEN’s cups in their Angel of the Winds Casino and other businesses.
“We are very excited to have the Stillaguamish Tribe as both an investor and customer,” said Tom Malone , president and chief executive officer of MicroGREEN Polymers, Inc. “Our sustainability ethos resonated with the Stillaguamish Tribe, and while we have investment from venture capital and corporate strategic funds, including Waste Management and WRF Capital, we have refocused our funding efforts toward other like-minded Tribes.”
Koran Andrews , CEO of the Stillaguamish Tribal Enterprise Corporation commented, “We first approached MicroGREEN about purchasing their InCycleTM cup for use in our casino but immediately recognized how the InCycle products could be a strategic fit in our sustainability and economic diversification goals. We are committed to a strategy of diversifying our investment portfolio into enterprises whose goals, values and products align with those of our people, protecting our planet for generations to come while also contributing to the economic health of the Tribe.”
“There’s a convergence of sustainability and economic return at MicroGREEN,” Malone said. “Our technology allows us to use less plastic to produce high quality products. The recycled content and recyclability of InCycle products, coupled with their lightweight nature means that we are creating some of the greenest packaging products available, while having the advantage of being a low cost producer. Our investors are excited to see us developing products for airlines, food processors and quick serve restaurants which address a $25 billion market.”
“MicroGREEN has a breakthrough technology with fantastic traction across a number of packaging applications,” said Andrews. “They are truly an innovative player in packaging; reducing waste while lowering cost and improving product performance. We see a huge opportunity for growth both in supplying Native American owned casinos and convenience stores as well as broadly across the economy.
MicroGREEN is an innovative plastics company that uses its patented Ad-air® technology to create its own InCycle brand of insulating and temperature resistant cups, trays and other items are made from expanded, recycled PET (recycled water bottles). The production process makes PET lightweight without using chemical blowing agents, and because the plastic is not chemically altered, it can be recycled at the end of its life. The technology lowers the raw material cost and reduces the weight of plastic products while improving functionality. By using recycled content and insuring that InCycle products are recyclable, MicroGREEN is contributing to the groundswell of support for #1 PET resin, the most widely recycled plastic in the world.
MicroGREEN’s commercial production facility in Arlington, Washington has the design capacity to convert at least 20 million pounds of PET per year. Arlington Mayor Barbara Tolbert commented, “MicroGREEN currently employs 45 people and expects to significantly expand its workforce to handle demand over the next 12 months. Arlington is thrilled to be home to MicroGREEN.”
Recently MicroGREEN was awarded a Silver prize by prestigious DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation as well as a Silver prize for manufacturing by the Green Washington Award. The company was also named to the 2012 Washington Green 50 list. MicroGREEN has also been recognized by the Wall Street Journal’s Innovation Awards as well as awards from Green Washington and Washington Manufacturing in previous years.
The biological father: Dusten Brown claimed the right to his daughter under the Indian child Welfare Act, which claims to preserve parental rights and tribal sanctity.
When Matt and Melanie Capobianco watched the birth of their adoptive daughter in 2009, they had no idea their love for this little girl would put them at the center of a decades-old national debate with racial, cultural and political overtones.
But that’s exactly where the James Island couple have found themselves after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed this month to take up their long-running custody battle with 3-year-old Veronica’s biological father, Dusten Brown, a Cherokee Indian.
The decision, which surprised many legal scholars, marks the first time in more than two decades that the high court has taken up a case involving the Indian Child Welfare Act, a 1978 federal law aimed at preserving American Indian families, tribes and their heritage.
Among other things, the act gives American Indian parents preference in custody disputes involving Native American children.
South Carolina courts cited the act in forcing the Capobiancos in late 2011 to turn over Veronica to Brown, who was a stranger to the child.
He returned home to Oklahoma with Veronica, and the Capobiancos haven’t seen her since.
Oral arguments are expected as soon as April, and the case is being closely watched by a variety of groups with a stake in its outcome — tribal groups, adoption agencies and attorneys, Indian law and constitutional-rights experts. It has the potential to affect the way thousands of adoptions are handled each year and alter the playing field for Native American groups from coast-to-coast.
Predicting the way the high court will rule is always a dicey proposition. But the speed with which the court grabbed the case leads many observers to suspect that the justices intend to make a bold statement on this contentious subject. After all, the high court hears only about 1 percent of the roughly 10,000 cases submitted for its consideration each year.
But the justices’ aim remains a mystery.
“I’m a little bit perplexed by this,” said Lorie M. Graham, a professor and Indian law scholar at Suffolk University Law School in Boston. “You would really have to look long and hard to find ambiguity in this legislation. There is not a lot of room for interpretation here.”
Marcia Zug, an associate professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law and an expert in American Indian law, agreed. But that doesn’t mean the court isn’t looking toward change, she said.
“The Supreme Court doesn’t take up cases just to affirm them,” she said.
Zug said she believes South Carolina courts ruled correctly, and she can find no legal basis for the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case. She fears the high court is looking to dismantle the Indian Child Welfare Act, which she said many consider to be the most important piece of American Indian legislation ever passed.
“It strikes me that the Supreme Court is looking for a way to overthrow (the act), and I really don’t see how they can do that,” she said.
Tribal groups have similar fears, and they worry that the court is preparing to roll back protections put into place to keep outsiders from legally stealing children from their tribes through coercive adoptions and deceit.
The law aims to preserve parental rights and tribal sanctity, placing a child first with blood relatives and, in their absence, with a tribe member.
“We are very concerned,” said Terry Cross, executive director of the Oregon-based National Indian Child Welfare Association. “We don’t want to go back to those times when those deceptive practices were the norm and people felt like they could take our children away in this manner.”
Others say the law is complicated, confusing and applied differently from state to state and from tribe to tribe. They argue that a Supreme Court review is much needed and would likely result in clearer guidelines for all to follow, potentially avoiding the heartache and drama surrounding Veronica’s case.
“What we are looking for is some clarity, not necessarily a dismantling of the act,” said Washington state attorney Mark Demaray, immediate past president of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, which has submitted briefs in the Veronica case. “We need to know what the rules of the game are.”
Divisive decisions
Before Veronica was born in September 2009 in Oklahoma, her biological parents canceled their engagement and went separate ways. Brown, an Army soldier, acknowledged paternity in text messages to the mother, but did not give her financial support.
The Capobiancos, who had been through seven failed attempts at in vitro fertilization, met Veronica’s mother through an adoption agency, developed a close relationship with her and adopted the baby at birth. The mother is not an American Indian.
Brown filed for paternity and custody after learning of the adoption four months later, and, as an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, argued his case under the Indian Child Welfare Act.
A Charleston County family court judge sided with Brown, and the Capobiancos were forced to surrender the girl to him on New Year’s Eve 2011. The couple then appealed that decision, but failed to win over the state Supreme Court, which upheld the family court ruling by a 3-2 vote in July.
The justices said they ruled with “a heavy heart,” but they were bound by law to give Brown an edge. Though Brown did not support the girl’s mother during pregnancy, his rights as a parent should not be stripped, the court confirmed.
The rulings have fueled strong feelings on both sides.
The Capobiancos’ supporters argue that the courts overlooked Veronica’s best interests, split a loving family and ignored the wishes of Veronica’s birth mother just because Brown is an Indian.
Johnston Moore, a founding member of the Coalition for the Protection of Indian Children & Families, had this to say in an opinion piece published in The Oklahoman, “It was the unfair exploitation of the law’s loopholes that gave rights to a biological father who would have had no rights under state law, resulting in an innocent little girl’s world being turned upside down in an instant.”
Brown’s supporters say the law was fairly applied, helping to reunite Veronica — dubbed “Little Star” by the Cherokee — with her loving father and preserve their culture. They are hoping the high court will do nothing to change that.
“Cherokee Nation believes that ICWA is one of the most important federal laws for the continued existence of tribes,” said Chrissi Nimmo Ross, assistant attorney general for the Cherokee Nation. “The Cherokee Nation is hopeful that the Supreme Court has accepted this case to confirm the lower court decisions and reaffirm the importance of ICWA at the federal level.”
Wide interest
The case and its emotional underpinnings have attracted widespread national attention as it moves through the courts.
The Capobiancos have appeared on the Dr. Phil show, and their story has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and other publications. They also reportedly have fielded offers from Oprah Winfrey’s network, CNN and People magazine to chronicle their legal journey.
For now, however, the couple is keeping a low profile and declining interviews on the advice of their attorneys before the Supreme Court hearing.
Family spokeswoman Jessica Munday would say only that “they are hopeful, and it lies in the hands of the court now.”
The couple has some heavy legal hitters on their side, including Washington, D.C., attorney Lisa Blatt. Blatt has won 29 of the 30 cases she has argued before the Supreme Court. Washingtonian Magazine named Blatt a “superstar” lawyer and one of the “100 Most Powerful Women in Washington.”
Paul Clement, U.S. solicitor general from 2005-08, is working on behalf of the guardian ad litem in the case and has filed a brief in support of returning Veronica to the Capobiancos.
On the other side, Washington, D.C., lawyer Charles Rothfeld is representing Brown and the Cherokee Nation. Rothfeld has worked on more than 200 cases that have gone before the high court, and the National Law Journal last year named him “one of the leading members of the Supreme Court bar.”
Charleston lawyer Shannon Jones, Brown’s local counsel, said Rothfeld also has law students from Yale University working on the case. He is founder and co-director of the Yale Law School’s Supreme Court Clinic, among the largest appellate advocacy programs in the nation.
A tough call
Zug, the USC law professor, said the case should have never reached this point. Had Veronica’s Indian heritage been properly considered from the start, the adoption likely never would have gotten to the point it did, she said.
“There shouldn’t have been this emotional heartbreak,” Zug said.
Yet here we are.
The Capobiancos have said they have been emotionally devastated by the loss of the daughter that became the center of their world.
Brown’s lawyer has said he too has been victimized, vilified for asserting his parental rights and rattled by the venom directed at him.
The Indian Child Welfare Act has been reviewed only once at the highest level. In 1989, Justice William Brennan’s ruling sided with Mississippi’s Choctaw tribe, which challenged an adoption of twins.
In a recent television interview with Charlie Rose, Justice Antonin Scalia, who joined with the majority in 1989, described the case as among the toughest of his career.
Now, Scalia will get another opportunity to weigh in on the law with a court that has a different makeup and, perhaps, a different perspective, said William B. Allen, emeritus professor of political science philosophy at Michigan State University and former chairman of U.S. Commission on Civil Rights under President Ronald Reagan.
Allen, who has been critical of the Indian Child Welfare Act, said the case carries the potential for the court to weigh the constitutional implications of the law and manner in which it is applied. But he is not surprised that the justices have sidestepped the issue for so long.
“I appreciate and understand the court’s reluctance to open this area because federal Indian law is an ugly morass and a big black hole in our law,” he said. “The court has probably wisely decided to stay away from it before now.”
STAGE 1 BURN BAN IN EFFECT FOR KING, PIERCE & SNOHOMISH COUNTIES
Please rely on your home’s cleaner source of heat until air quality improves.
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is lowering the air quality burn ban to a Stage 1 in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties effective at 1 PM on January 15, 2013. The ban remains in effect until further notice.
“Air pollution levels throughout the region have dropped, likely due to clouds and warmer temperatures,” said Dr. Phil Swartzendruber, agency forecaster. “The drop in pollution could also be due to the help of our communities following the burn ban.”
Dr. Swartzendruber added, “Calm, cold, and clear weather conditions are likely to continue over the next few days, so ongoing cooperation with the burn ban will help keep our air healthy.”
The Clean Air Agency will continue to closely monitor the air quality and weather situation.
During a Stage 1 burn ban:
No burning is allowed in fireplaces or uncertified wood stoves. Residents should rely instead on their home’s other, cleaner source of heat (such as their furnace or electric baseboard heaters) for a few days until air quality improves, the public health risk diminishes and the ban is cancelled.
No outdoor fires are allowed. This includes recreational fires such as bonfires, campfires and the use of fire pits and chimineas.
Burn ban violations are subject to a $1,000 penalty.
It is OK to use natural gas, propane, pellet and EPA-certified wood stoves or inserts during a Stage 1 burn ban.
The Washington State Department of Health recommends that people who are sensitive to air pollution limit time spent outdoors, especially when exercising. Air pollution can trigger asthma attacks, cause difficulty breathing, and make lung and heart problems worse. Air pollution is especially harmful to people with lung and heart problems, people with diabetes, children, and older adults (over age 65).
