Tulalip News

Tribal Journeys: Canoe Trips to Our Native Past, and Future

Gyasi Ross, Indian Country Today Media Network

Television, Edward Curtis photographs and romance novel covers have collectively painted the accepted images of Native people.

As a result of these images, a lot of peoples’ image of a Native person is that of a person who rides horses, comes from one of the Dakotas or Montana, and dances with wolves at pow-wows. Heck, even many Native people have the Dances With Wolves image embedded in our own heads (thus why the Hollywood Indian-complex consists of guys walking around LA and Santa Fe with their hair flying about, John Redcorn-style, because presumably that’s what casting agents/hippie chicks are looking for. NOTE: Skins on the Plains do not wear their hair like that!! It’s too damn windy!), and so the default “Native” image is that of a pow-wow dancer, Plains Indian-style.

I grew up at pow-wows; they are beautiful, important and fun (oh the stories I could tell!).

Yet, if you don’t have that look or participate in those pow-wows, folks question your credibility as a Native person. And pow-wow dancing/Plains-style phenotype is definitely a very valid expression of pan-Native culture (I submit that almost every Skin who was raised in a Native family has been to a pow-wow at some point!), yet it is not the only expression of pan-Native culture.

Random White Guy At Pow-wow to His Wife: “Gee honey, that doesn’t look like any Indian I’ve ever seen.”

Random White Guy’s Wife: *thinking* Yes, you’re right. Because if he looked like any of the ones that I’ve seen on my romance novels, he would be big and brown and muscular and on a big ol’ horse…and he’d pull me away and hold me captive! “No, he doesn’t honey.”

One such pan-Native event that has been growing in popularity and is redefining what it means to be, look, and celebrate being Native is something called “Tribal Journeys” on the Pacific Northwest Coast. Like pow-wows, Tribal Journeys blends many Northwest coastal, New Zealand, Canadian and Alaska Native tribes, tribal practices, songs, dances and foods into a pretty amazing stew and makes something beautiful out of it. The Journey began in 1989 as equal parts political protest, but also an attempt to recapture parts of the Coastal Native way of life that have been overlooked and/or forgotten for a long time. Also, like pow-wows, Tribal Journeys had very modest beginnings, and has steadily gotten bigger and more structured every single year; the host Tribe incurs a lot of expense putting this huge event together that attracts over 15,000 people a day to the host community. Whereas the original “Paddle to Seattle” had 18 canoes, now there are over 100 canoes that make the trek.

It’s grown. And is growing.

Like most truly unique events, words don’t do Tribal Journeys justice. Yet, here’s the basic idea behind it: Tribal Journeys retraces the paths, practices, and protocols of those that went before us, seeing through the eyes of our ancestors. As Chief Si’ahl (commonly referred to as “Seattle”) said, “Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors.” This happens by individual families canoeing from one Native homeland to the next, asking permission to enter those homelands. Historically, it was very important to ask permission and to state whether you were friend or foe—if not, there could be very serious consequences. There are many canoe families on Tribal Journeys—this is historically correct since one tribe could have many different canoe families, since many Native communities were not simply one community. Instead, most “tribes” had many villages and smaller sub-groups that usually spoke a common language.

There are many stops during this Journey. The travelling time of the journey is anywhere from a week to two-and-a-half weeks. Every single tribal homeland you pass, you ask permission and come ashore. Once ashore, that particular Native community takes care of you, feeds you and gives you someplace to sleep (camping style!!). That night, there’s an exchange of songs, dances and stories in a time called “protocol.” Of course, this isn’t the traditional name for this time or practice, yet this English name is appropriate because it implies a time of order, to pay attention and give thanks. While the Tribal Journeys itself was created in 1989, the protocol portion of the event is a variation of the ancient coastal tradition of potlatching.

There is a goal, a final destination. Ultimately, all the canoe families will gather at a place (the host Tribe) where a whole bunch of Natives gather together and party (in a safe, respectful and drug and alcohol free way) for a week or so…exchange songs, dances, speeches, and generally have a good time. During the immediately past Tribal Journey, the host Tribe—the Quinault—took the Journey back to its potlatch roots and let the protocol go around the clock. Also, like the ancient potlatches, the Quinault gifted individuals with some pretty spectacular gifts—tons of stuff, but they also gave away ten hand-carved canoes, which took about 9 months to carve.

Pretty powerful stuff.

Speaking for myself, honestly after two weeks of camping, I’m pretty darn happy to get back to the conveniences of home and watch some River Monsters or Ancient Aliens. Our ancestors lived a life with a lot less distractions. Still, it’s a beautiful event…and not only because of the songs and the dances and the opportunity to see through the eyes of our ancestors. While those reasons are certainly important and are surely enough to attend Tribal Journeys all by themselves, there is more to it than that. That is, I think it’s also important for folks—non-Natives AND Natives alike—to understand that not all Natives look alike, or have the same stories or practices.

That’s only in Hollywood.

Please check out this link for information on the next Tribal Journey, the Paddle to Bella Bella (Canada): thecnsc.org/CNSC_Site/Bella_Bella.html

Photo by Miranda Belarde-Lewis

‘Early fall’ is Walmart date for Marysville store opening

Christina Harper / Special to The HeraldGwyn Porras (left) and Roderick Brogan stock shelves at the new Walmart store on Highway 9 at Highway 528 in Marysville. — Christina Harper / Special to The Herald
Gwyn Porras (left) and Roderick Brogan stock shelves at the new Walmart store on Highway 9 at Highway 528 in Marysville.

Christina Harper, Herald Business Journal

MARYSVILLE — Walmart staff members insist that there is no fixed date for the grand opening of the new 147,000-square-foot Marysville store. Judging by the huge Halloween section overflowing with scary monsters and black-and-orange garb, shoppers can safely bet that the one-stop shopping experience on the corner of Highways 9 and 528 will be ready to roll back prices in the next few weeks.

“Early fall,” said Sonia Smith, manager at the new store.

With 270 full- and part-time workers on board, the store now is being set up. Staff are stocking baby formula is on the shelves, setting up electronics and emptying dozens of cardboard boxes.

Kayla Corley of Marysville will switch to part-time work from full-time once the store opens.

“This is my second day,” Corley said.

Corley previously worked at the Tulalip Quil Ceda Village Walmart then took time off to have her children. After an eight-year break, she is back and happy to be employed in sporting goods.

“It’s a good company to work for,” Corley said. “Good benefits.”

Rumors abound that the Tulalip Quil Ceda Village Walmart will close once the Marysville store is up and running. The Quil Ceda store is not closing, Smith said.

The Marysville store took eight months to build and includes a garden center, food, pharmacy and firearms. The store also has a sewing and craft section with bolts of fabric that can be measured and cut.

“Customers are asking for it,” Smith said.

Freezers light up as shoppers approach pizza and other frozen food displays adding to Walmart’s commitment to energy saving and sustainability, Smith said.

There is no tire and lube section, but inside the store, shoppers can stop for a sandwich at Subway or a trim at the Smart Style hair salon.

Walmart has long been criticized for stocking shelves with goods from China. This long-term relationship could mean that company’s recent commitment to “Made In America” goods, which Walmart hopes will bring more manufacturing jobs to the United States, might be met with skepticism.

But Smith is one of many Walmart employees involved with a local vendor program where people who have ideas for locally made goods they want to see on shelves can contact her at the Marysville store. Local goods including “Big Foot” mugs and caps are likely to prove popular with shoppers, Smith said.

For Roderick Brogan, of Everett, and Gwyn Porras, of Marysville, Walmart is a new venture. The two will be working in the store on Walmart.com, checking for website orders and getting them ready for customer pick-up.

As the men sorted socks from boxes and hung them on wire hangers, they each said they were excited about opening day. Whenever that is.

“It might be crazy,” Porras said. “But I am looking forward to it.”

Southeastern Michigan Indians Receive Gifts Chrysler’s Mopar Group

Pietro Gorlier, CEO and President Mopar, delivered hundreds of baby supplies and a cash donation to Sue Franklin of Southeastern Michigan Indians Inc. that were collected and then unloaded by employees from Chrysler's Mopar. — Pietro Gorlier, CEO and President Mopar, delivered hundreds of baby supplies and a cash donation to Sue Franklin of Southeastern Michigan Indians Inc. that were collected and then unloaded by employees from Chrysler’s Mopar.

Source: Native News Network

CENTERLINE, MICHIGAN – It was like Christmas in the summer as hundreds of baby supplies were delivered to Southeastern Michigan Indians Inc. (SEMII).

The items, donated by Chrysler Group LLC employees, were collected and delivered by employees from Mopar, Chrysler Group’s service parts and customer care brand. Donated supplies included baby clothes, books, toys, strollers, diapers, and bottles. The Chrysler Foundation, the charitable arm of Chrysler Group, also provided a $7,500 grant to assist SEMII with the purchase of additional items for infants.

“All of these items will be put to good use by families in our community,”

said Sue Franklin, Executive Director of SEMII.

“We are grateful to all of the people at Chrysler and Mopar for their time, effort and donations.”

As part of a company wide effort with United Way, Mopar continues its work with SEMII, which is located two blocks from Mopar’s main parts distribution facility in Center Line, Michigan. The organization provides social services to Native Americans and Macomb County, Michigan residents.

Last year, Mopar volunteers repainted the organization’s cultural center and sponsored a “Dress for Success” clothing drive to provide professional attire to those in need.

“At Mopar, our mission is to fully support our customers and our brands,”

said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO, Mopar.

“With that same passion, we want to support people in our community and make a difference.”

“It’s always very heartwarming to lend a hand to our neighbors, especially when they’re young children with a world of possibilities ahead of them,”

said Jody Trapasso, President, The Chrysler Foundation.

Former Inter-Tribal Council execs indicted on theft charges

August 26, 2013 Anchorage Daily News

By ZAZ HOLLANDER — zhollander@adn.com

A federal grand jury has indicted two former top staffers at the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council on charges they stole nearly $236,000 from the nonprofit that advocates for tribal governments across the state.

Former executive director Steven D. Osborne is accused of taking the lion’s share of that sum — $213,380 between January 2008 and February 2009 when he resigned, according to the indictment, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. It says Osborne spent some of the money on a motorcycle, three boats and other personal items.

Thomas R. Purcell, the council’s former finance director, is accused of taking about $22,720, according to the indictment. He’s also accused of funneling nearly $70,000 to Osborne to pay off a council-issued credit card without ensuring the director spent the money in accordance with council policy and procedures.

Purcell served as acting executive director after Osborne resigned but was terminated only a month later, in March 2009, by the group’s Executive Council.

Given the amount of money involved, a federal prosecutor on Monday called the case “certainly significant” and in line with several other federal cases filed against top officials of groups working on behalf of Alaska Native people. In the most recent, two former officials of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission stand accused of stealing more than $575,000 from the organization.

Osborne and Purcell could not be reached for comment Monday. Prosecutors say Osborne lives in Fairbanks and Purcell lives in Anchorage. As of Monday afternoon, an arraignment had yet to be scheduled.

Founded in 1992, the council has weighed in on behalf of Alaska’s tribes on high-profile issues ranging from salmon bycatch and climate change to affordable energy and land rights. During the time the alleged theft took place, the group’s annual budget swelled as it distributed fuel vouchers from the Venezuelan government’s CITGO Petroleum Corp. to heat thousands of rural homes around Alaska.

Then the council’s work stumbled, a staffer said.

The stolen money and resulting investigation “really hurt us,” said Delice Calcote, the council’s current executive director. Calcote, originally hired as an office manager in 2007, has worked without pay for the last two years, she said. The office is largely run by volunteers these days.

She said she couldn’t comment on the indictment until it plays out in court.

“It’s been a long road, nerve-wracking,” Calcote said. “Now the path begins.”

Getting to an indictment took years. Suspected problems with the council’s books first came to light internally in 2009 when a federal grant administrator raised red flags, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Bottini. Once the suspicion of wrongdoing got the attention of law enforcement, investigators began the painstaking process of forensic accounting.

“It literally involved gathering a large volume of material in the form of bank accounts and information from AITC itself and crunching the numbers,” Bottini said. “It was a long, drawn-out process to get all that done. We had to recreate thousands of documents.”

The indictment specifically references two pools of council funding. An EPA grant paid for the executive director position. Between January 2008 and December 2010, the council got nearly $1.1 million from the agency. The council also received more than $8 million from the Venezuelan government for the home heating program, according to previous reports.

Osborne started work with the council in December 2007. According to the indictment, he stole money five different ways: by issuing himself $99,221 in checks without approval; by double-billing the council for Web and database development for $5,843; by making cash withdrawals totalling $31,500 for personal use; by issuing and cashing checks to himself in the amount of $24,595; and by misusing AITC credit and debit cards to buy personal items worth $52,703.

Purcell started as the council’s finance director in January 2008. According to the indictment, he made 16 separate payment transactions for about $69,475 from AITC accounts to pay off the balance of Osborne’s AITC credit card. He also submitted false time sheets for $19,200 charged to the CITGO account and upped his bi-weekly compensation by $3,520 without Executive Council permission, the indictment states.

Iditarod musher Mike Williams served as AITC chairman until the end of 2008 when he lost a re-election bid. Williams, an Akiak tribal council member, said he had no idea that much money was being stolen during the time he served as chair. He called the whole situation unfortunate.

“What needs to happen is to move forward from here,” Williams said. “Really the tribal leadership in Alaska must move forward and get this behind us.”

Reach Zaz Hollander at zhollander@adn.com or 257-4317.

Historic pact: Feds to notify Yakamas of warrant activity

AUGUST 27, 2013

By Phil Ferolito / Yakima Herald-Republic

pferolito@yakimaherald.com

In a historic move, the U.S. Department of Justice has agreed to notify Yakama tribal police before executing search and arrest warrants against tribal members on tribal land.

The move could help widen the path for the Yakama Nation, a sovereign nation, to have its full civil and criminal authority over its people returned.

“It’s historical from the standpoint that there is not another agreement like this with any other tribe and the U.S. Department of Justice,” Tribal Council Chairman Harry Smiskin said Monday during a telephone interview.

For decades, the lack of procedures involving search and arrest warrants between tribal and nontribal authorities on the 1.2-million-acre reservation have sparked disputes, including the Feb. 16, 2011, federal raid on King Mountain Tobacco, which is owned and operated by Yakama tribal member Delbert Wheeler in White Swan.

Federal authorities took computers, records and other documents from Wheeler’s business without informing tribal leaders and even blocked tribal police from entering the property during the raid.

In response, the tribe sued the U.S. Department of Justice in March 2011 for allowing the FBI to execute the raid without notifying tribal authorities. Also named in the lawsuit were Yakima and Benton county sheriff’s offices and government agencies in Virginia and Mississippi for their involvement in the raid. Wheeler is accused of avoiding state cigarette taxes in those states.

Similar agreements have been reached with Yakima and Benton counties and Virginia and Mississippi authorities, and the case subsequently has been dismissed.

Smiskin said the agreements reaffirm the tribe’s ability to govern itself and clearly establish procedures for outside agencies seeking to arrest tribal members on tribal land.

Benton and Yakima counties have agreed to not only allow a tribal police officer to be present when executing such warrants, but also to book tribal suspects into the tribe’s jail and go through an extradition process.

However, those arresting procedures may not apply to federal authorities who often have jurisdiction over serious cases on the reservation, Smiskin said.

Those cases usually are forwarded to the FBI from tribal police.

Smiskin said he’s seen improved communication between federal and tribal authorities since discussions about the agreement began not long after the lawsuit was filed.

“They have been very cooperative in that regard, in alerting us before coming on to the reservation to issue any warrants,” he said.

FBI spokeswoman Ayn Sandalo in Seattle said she couldn’t comment on the agreement because it was part of litigation, but said the FBI has always worked well with tribes.

“The FBI has always valued its partnerships with tribal authorities,” she said. “So for decades now, we’re continuing to build on that foundation and looking for ways to improve our working relations.”

For more than half a century, civil and criminal authority over tribal members on tribal lands has been confusing at best.

In 1855, the Yakamas signed a treaty with the federal government that allowed the now-10,000-member tribe to govern itself. It has its own police department and jail.

But in 1953, Congress enacted Public Law 280, which allowed several states to take over criminal and much civil authority over tribal members on their own reservations.

Yakama tribal authorities have retained much criminal authority over its members, but are now petitioning the state in a process called “retrocession” to have the rest, including civil authority, over its people returned.

Smiskin said the agreement could strengthen the tribe’s petition.

“I assume it would add to the petition for retrocession,” he said.

Oneida Indian Nation Student Enjoys Exploring All that Stanford Has to Offer

Source: ICTMN

Stanford University freshman Mark Berger isn’t exactly sure what he wants to major in just yet, but that’s ok. The university doesn’t require that he make that decision until the end of his sophomore year.

“I don’t know what I want my career to be but I’m interested in science, technology, engineering, and math [STEM] education for Native and other minority students,” he told Indian Country Today Media Network.

Right now, Mark is enjoying exploring his many options, both in the classroom and out, at the university in Stanford, California.

The 19-year-old Oneida Indian Nation member is looking into joining Stanford’s chapter of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society as well as the Model United Nations program. He’s also interested in a program where university students travel to San Jose to tutor Native grade school students.

“There is a tremendous amount of opportunities at Stanford and I am going to explore as much as possible until I find what interests me the most,” Mark said.

He’s not new to Model United Nations programs either. While a sophomore at Manlius Pebble Hill School in Dewitt, New York he won an international award for delegate excellence while in Montreal, Canada for a Model U.N. event. He traveled all over North America with the program as well and served as undersecretary general for his school’s Model U.N. conference during his senior year.

“I helped coordinate and plan a conference attended by over 300 delegates from upstate New York,” he said.

And upstate New York is where his heart is and where he plans on coming back to, regardless of what career he ends up pursuing.

He has always been involved with his tribe and doesn’t plan on stopping just because he decided to move across the country to attend college.

Mark has been involved with the Oneida Nation’s Youth Work Learn Program since he was 13 and has spent the last three summers working at Four Directions Productions as an intern.

“Working at Four Directions has been an amazing opportunity that has allowed me to work with many talented people on a variety of projects,” Mark said. “As an intern I worked closely with the cinematography department where I helped film footage of the PGA Tour, the Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge, and a variety of documentary pieces for the Oneida Indian Nation. I was also able to learn a little bit about computer animation from the animation department at Four Directions Productions, which works on turning Oneida legends into short animated films. It ultimately sparked my interest in how technology can be used in education and cultural preservation.”

His advice to other Native American students is to “take school seriously and give one hundred percent in everything you pursue,” he said. “Also go to the library and read a lot of books about whatever you’re interested in. The ability to teach yourself, no matter what the subject, is an incredibly valuable skill and being a strong reader is the keystone to that skill.”

Former Oakland Raiders CEO says Redskins’ name must go

Source: ICTMN

Amy Trask, CBS analyst and former CEO of the Oakland Raiders, told Sportsillustrated.com she thinks it is time to say goodbye to the Washington Redskins’ offensive logo.

“It is unacceptable to use a derogatory term when referring to any person or any group of people,” Trask said in a follow up interview with Peter King on Si.com.

Trask’s remarks were also featured on Ten Things I Think I Think with Greg A. Bedard.

“If we wish to inspire people to consider one another without regard to skin color, then it is antithetical to refer to any person or any group of people by skin color,” she told Bedard. “The Washington Redskins have an opportunity to do something meaningful.”

Trask said that she understands the costs associated with changing a business name, but elaborated: “sometimes there are costs associated with doing something important.”

In a separate interview on Si.com with Peter King, Trask said that she does not speak for the Native American community, but for herself.

“My belief is premised on the following: we should not consider skin color when interacting with any person or group of people,” she said.

Trask added that the Redskins have an opportunity to make a powerful statement and changing the team name is the way to go.

Freezing Your Asterisk Off: Farmers’ Almanac Predicts Cold, Cold Winter

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

With yet another heat wave set to descend before summer releases its grip, the last things we may want to think about are puffy coats and long johns.

But that is what’s in store for winter 2013–14, according to predictions from the Farmers’ Almanac released officially on Monday August 26.

“The ‘Days of Shivery’ are back!” proclaimed a statement from the Farmers’ Almanac (not to be confused with The Old Farmer’s Almanac). “For 2013–2014, we are forecasting a winter that will experience below average temperatures for about two-thirds of the nation. A large area of below-normal temperatures will predominate from roughly east of the Continental Divide to the Appalachians, north and east through New England. Coldest temperatures will be over the Northern Plains on east into the Great Lakes. Only for the Far West and the Southeast will there be a semblance of winter temperatures averaging close to normal, but only a few areas will enjoy many days where temperatures will average above normal.”

Further, the Southern Plains, Midwest and Southeast will have more precipitation than normal, the Almanac’s prognosticators said. This means a plethora of snow for the Midwest, Great Lakes and parts of New England. There will be mixes of rain and/or snow just south of that, in southern New England, southeastern New York, New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic region, the statement said. Uncharacteristically, the Pacific Northwest may be drier than usual.

“Significant snowfalls are forecast for parts of every zone,” the Almanac said, predicting especially heavy winter weather during the first 10 days of February 2014—meaning that the Superbowl, scheduled to be played outdoors at the MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands in New Jersey, may be more of a “Storm Bowl,” as Almanac managing editor Sandi Duncan told the Associated Press.

“This particular part of the winter season will be particularly volatile and especially turbulent,” the statement said.

As it has since 1818, the Almanac makes predictions by triangulating the positions of the planets, sunspot activity and cycles of the moon.

Trafficking Native Children: The Seamy Underbelly of U.S. Adoption Industry

Suzette BrewerTulsa attorney Don Mason, a member of the Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma — Suzette Brewer
Tulsa attorney Don Mason, a member of the Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma

By Suzette Brewer, ICTMN

Jeremy Simmons was heartbroken, baffled and confused. He had been living with his girlfriend, Crystal Tarbox, in Mannford, Oklahoma, when she became pregnant in August, 2012. But in March of this year, he says she moved out when she was seven months pregnant. Without a trace, she was gone.

For the next two months, Simmons, 27, searched for Tarbox, who was 23 at the time and already the mother of two small children. Worried about her and their unborn baby, he says he asked everyone he knew about her condition and whereabouts, and tried every possible means to find her. Her relatives, who are members of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, were also unaware of what was about to happen.

But Tarbox, like Christy Maldonado, the birth mother of Baby Veronica, had disappeared, refusing any contact or financial help from Simmons. As Baby Veronica’s case, Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, was being discussed at the U.S. Supreme Court, Simmons was driving around northern Oklahoma looking for his pregnant girlfriend, completely unaware of what was transpiring without his knowledge or consent.

RELATED: The Fight for Baby Veronica: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and all Baby Veronica coverage.

Baby Veronica Case: Capobianco Expert Recants Damning Report on Father

It was not until two days after his daughter, Deseray, was born in May that Simmons, who is non-Indian, learned the truth from the baby’s maternal grandmother. Janet Snake called Simmons to alert him that his daughter had been put up for adoption and pleaded with him to find a lawyer to put a stop to it.

Simmons contacted Tulsa attorney Don Mason, who is not only a battle-hardened veteran family law practitioner, but also a member of the Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma. He serves as chief judge in their the Delaware Tribal Court in Bartlesville and is also chief public defender in Pawnee Nation Tribal Court in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Mason is an expert on the Indian Child Welfare Act and its application in Oklahoma, which has 39 tribes and the second largest tribal population in the United States. On his client’s behalf, he filed a suit, Simmons v. Tarbox, to halt the finalization of the adoption and bring Deseray back to Oklahoma from South Carolina, where she has been living with an adoptive couple who do not have the legal authority or a court order to retain her.

“My client was cut off, lied to, left out of the loop, and never received any notice at all regarding the whereabouts of his child and the intent to remove her from the state of Oklahoma to South Carolina in this illegal adoption. His parental rights have been completely denied and abrogated by all of the attorneys and their clients in this case,” says Mason. “The only reason I got involved was because Deseray’s Indian grandmother called him to give him the heads up and asked him to intervene.”

Tarbox’s family concurs that they were also caught off-guard, having been kept in the dark about her plans to give the child up for adoption without first notifying Simmons or seeking placement with another family member. “We had no idea what was going on and we were not notified that she had even had the baby until May 15, which was two days after she was born,” says Jana Snake, Tarbox’s sister, who is fully supporting Simmons in his quest to obtain custody of his daughter. “She cut us off and didn’t tell anybody what she was doing. But I knew that [this adoption] wasn’t right. It was illegal and I knew the tribe needed to be notified. So I told my mom to call him and call the tribe to stop it, but it was already too late.”

By the time Simmons was even able to dial Mason’s phone number, Baby Deseray had already been spirited away to South Carolina, a state known to be a safe haven for quickie private adoptions to wealthy couples seeking domestic babies in the United States. Time Magazine ran a feature story in 1984 entitled “Newborn Fever—Flocking to an Adoption Mecca,” in which South Carolina’s questionable adoption practices are described as “a unique blend of tax laws, aggressive lawyers and open-minded newspapers.” Home studies, it says, are “are routinely waived by South Carolina’s lenient family-court judges.”

These practices, say legal experts, have led to a deeply dark underbelly in the U.S. adoption industry that is little different than human trafficking, and in direct violation of the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. “There’s no question that this is human trafficking at its worst. It’s the selling of infants and children to the highest bidder,” says Mason. “These kids generate huge legal fees in the process and there is a lot of fee splitting among attorney and adoption practitioners in keeping the assembly line moving.”

Tulsa attorney Mike Yeksavich handled the adoption of Baby Deseray in collaboration with the law firm of Bado and Bado, an Edmond, Oklahoma-based adoption team. Together, the two law firms coordinated the adoption with attorney Raymond Godwin and Nightlight Christian Adoptions in Greenville, South Carolina. Godwin is also the attorney who handled Veronica’s adoption to Matt and Melanie Capobianco in 2009. Veronica’s adoption, which also went through without notification to the birth father, Dusten Brown, or the Cherokee Nation, has become the most expensive, litigious custody battle in U.S. History.

Indian Country Today Media Network has also learned that in addition to the fact that no Interstate Custody for the Protection of Children (ICPC) paperwork was filed in the case prior to Deseray’s removal from the state, Yeksavich also took the additional step of having himself appointed as the legal guardian of the baby to ensure her speedy adoption in South Carolina. Additionally, Paul Swain, the Tulsa attorney representing the Capobiancos in Oklahoma, also represents Godwin.

Bado and Bado, according to the Oklahoma Bar Association website, has had numerous complaints filed against it and was publicly reprimanded by the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys Board of Trustees in 2009 for the mishandled adoption of a Native child to a Kentucky couple.

In their review, the board demanded then that the firm “cease and desist” from the following: Conduct in which they represented themselves as an adoption agency, and not an adoption law firm; providing legal advice and counsel to birth mothers while also representing adoptive parents; holding out employees as “independent contractors”; permitting non-lawyers to practice law or explain legal issues to clients or other parties; involving themselves excessively with birth mothers whom they do not represent; and neglecting to promptly address tribal enrollment, in addition to other sanctions.

Bado and Bado could not be reached for comment by deadline on this story.

It’s the lack of oversight on the adoption industry, combined with acts of this nature, say legal experts, that led to the legal Gordian’s Knot that became the highly contentious and emotional Baby Veronica case that went to the Supreme Court.

In fact, Indian Country Today Media Network has learned that Raymond Godwin allegedly told another lawyer in South Carolina, who declined to be identified, that he placed “upwards of 50 Native American children from North Dakota” last year alone. In that conversation, Godwin said that Indian children are easier to place, “because they’re lighter-skinned.”

Even worse, says Mason, is the blatant marketing and selling of Indian children by lawyers who make anywhere from $25,000 to copy00,000 in legal fees for these children. “Anyone can do the math and realize that this is an enormous industry in the trafficking of Indian children,” says Mason. “And they’re preying on poor, uneducated Native women who are in poverty and have no idea what’s going on and don’t know any better, which is precisely why ICWA was enacted in the first place. They are predators who do everything in secret to prevent the biological fathers and the tribes from blocking the flow of income they receive off these adoptions.”

Mason says that before Simmons had even received notice on this case, Yeksavich had already filed a motion in Oklahoma County in early July to dismiss the case in Oklahoma courts. Godwin filed a motion for adoption proceedings in South Carolina at the same time in a coordinated effort to push the adoption through. Simmons was only notified of the proceedings in South Carolina on July 24 for the adoption hearing in South Carolina on July 25, which he had no way or means to attend with less than 24 hours to respond to a court action a thousand miles and five states away. As was the case for Baby Veronica’s father, Dusten Brown, the wheels had already been set in motion months before to cut him completely out of his daughter’s life.

Experts say that by the very nature of complicated and conflicting interstate laws and procedures that adoption attorneys are able circumvent not only mainstream adoption law, but the federal laws involving the Indian Child Welfare Act, as well, which has lead to chaos and confusion for judges, attorneys, birth parents and adoptive couples who may be located in multiple jurisdictions. “I came into this case trying to put the brakes on,” says Mason. “But by the time I even got a hold of it, an Order of Dismissal had already been pushed through without anyone knowing about it. Yeksavich never even gave notice of his intent to dismiss and rushed this right past the judge’s desk.”

Mason says it was a family court judge in South Carolina who finally caught on to what was happening. “To the credit of the South Carolina judge, they realized that no ICPC paperwork had been filed and refused to finalize the adoption,” says Mason. “Under the law, this child has been illegally kidnapped from Oklahoma and the judge there appointed Shannon Jones to represent my client there.”

Jones, who also represents Dusten Brown in South Carolina family court, has a thorough understanding of the Indian Child Welfare Act. She is also an expert in the Uniform Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act.

In the meantime, Mason says he intends to pursue full custody for Jeremy Simmons, even if he has to file an adoption action in Creek County, Oklahoma court for Deseray to be adopted by her father. “These shady adoption practices have to stop,” says Mason. “It is the buying and selling of human beings, which is unconscionable in its vast application in the United States. Its tentacles reach far and wide and one of the only good things to come out of Adoptive Couple is that Dusten Brown has brought to light the shady practices of an adoption industry that actively worked against his parental rights from the beginning. To his everlasting credit, he dug in and fought and he should be commended for that.”

Dorraine Frances Jones

Dorraine Frances (Williams) Jones, 78, was born and raised on the Tulalip Indian Reservation. Her parents were Lawrence Charles Williams and Christina Fryberg of Tulalip. She passed away on August 22, 2013 at Everett, Washington.
Dorraine was born to a fisherman and fished with her husband, “Breezer” on their boat the “Dorraine J.” She started her career with her dad beach seining, then fishing with Breezer, she also worked many years at the original Smoke Shop located by the dam on the reservation; and later in the first tribal health clinic as a Community Health Representative. She enjoyed her culture by harvesting cedar, cascara bark, berry picking, clam digging, canning and cooking for family events. She will be deeply missed by her family and friends.
Dorraine is survived by her son and daughters, Jimmy Jones (Kristy L.); Rae Anne (Mike) Gobin, Karen (Steve) Gobin; her grand-children, Justine Jones, Brent Cleveland (Sara E.), Ron Cleveland, Joshua Cleveland, Shelby Cleveland (Trever H.), Sonia Gobin (George S.), Steven Gobin Jr. (Chandra R.), Kevin (Laini Jones), Natosha Gobin (Thomas W.) and Jessica Jones; great-grandchildren, Brent Cleveland Jr., Evalynn Cleveland, Rosalie Cleveland, Stella Cleveland-Husein, Kylee Sohappy, Kira Sohappy, Koli Sohappy, Kaliyah Sohappy, Aleesia Gobin, Eian Williams, Wakiza Gobin, Florence Gobin, Eliana Gobin, Jet L. Jones, Ava D. Jones, KC Hots, Kane Hots, Katie Hots, Aloisius Williams and Aiden E. Mather; her sister, Jane Wright; brothers, Herman Williams Sr., Clyde (Maxine) Williams Sr., Arley Williams, Charlene Williams, nephews; Frank (Michaela) Wright, Lawrence (Kim) Wright, Herman Williams Jr., Andy Williams; Alan (Arnele) Williams, Clyde Williams Jr., Gene (Julie) Williams; Lance Williams; Brian Jones Sr. and Brian “Bubbas” Jones Jr., nieces, Christine (Dean) Henry, Deb (Joe) Peterson, Illa Wright, Leilani Davey, Charlotte Williams, Janet Williams, Gail Williams, Felicia (Sugar) Jones, Chris Jones; and many other great nieces and nephews.

Dorraine was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph D. Jones Jr.; parents, Lawrence and Christina (Daisy) Williams; parents-in-law, Ralph and Edith Jones, Lena Harrison; her sons, Kevin O. Jones, Ralph D. Jones III; her grandson, Nathan D. Cleveland; her sister-in-law, Genevieve Williams; brother-in-laws, Darrel R. Jones, Frank Wright; and nephew, Greg Williams.

The family wishes to extend their gratitude to the Everett Providence Hospital for their support in her final days. A special thank you to mom’s caretakers, Jimmy, Kristy, Justine, Brian “Bubba” and Chasity who were there for her night and day for the many years that she had been ill.

The Viewing will take place at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday August 27, 2013 at Schaefer-Shipman Funeral Home in Marysville. An Interfaith Service to celebrate Dorraine’s life will be held at 6:00 p.m. on August 27, 2013 at her home. Funeral Services to be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday August 28, 2013 at the Tulalip Tribes Gym followed by burial service at the Mission Beach Cemetery.