Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma Archives

Father, other Oklahoma relatives file to adopt Baby Veronica as James Island couple seek adoption OK

Tuesday, July 9, 2013 6:42 a.m.

Baby Veronica’s biological father, stepmother and paternal grandparents have filed court papers in Oklahoma to adopt the 3-year-old girl, a move that dissenting U.S. Supreme Court justices warned could happen and will likely complicate the custody dispute.

Attorneys for Matt and Melanie Capobianco of James Island and for Veronica’s biological mother said Monday that the action defies the high court justices, who asked South Carolina judges to determine where Veronica should live.

The toddler’s mother found the Capobiancos through an adoption agency and, when the girl was born in September 2009, gave custody to them.

Lori Alvino McGill, the Washington attorney for Veronica’s biological mother, said her client, Christinna Maldonado, has not agreed to allow the adoption by anyone other than the Capobiancos and will fight the termination of her parental rights if the couple’s adoption doesn’t go through.

“We believe these frivolous filings in other jurisdictions are designed to further delay the proceedings,” McGill said, “in the hope that it will make it harder for South Carolina to finalize the (Capobiancos’) adoption.”

A Charleston attorney for Veronica’s father said Dusten Brown simply wants to continue raising his daughter.

“We are just trying to follow the direction and guidance of the majority opinion,” Shannon Jones said, “and let the court decide what is in the child’s best interest at this point.”

Brown, a member of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, challenged Veronica’s adoption through the Indian Child Welfare Act, arguing that their shared American Indian heritage gave him preference as a parent.

The Supreme Court ruled late last month that ICWA didn’t apply to the dispute the way a South Carolina judge thought it did. Brown’s parental rights could have been terminated because he never had custody of the girl and never supported her, the justices said.

Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion, tossed the case back to the S.C. Supreme Court and ordered that it be expedited so that Veronica’s custody status could be determined.

But in documents filed with the South Carolina’s top court Wednesday, Brown’s attorneys used portions of the ruling that went against them in Washington to their own advantage.

Veronica has lived with Brown in Oklahoma since he was awarded custody in late 2011, and removing her from the “continued custody” of a loving home wouldn’t be in her best interests, Brown’s filing stated.

His attorneys asked that the case be sent back to Family Court in Charleston so that judges could consider “fresh” evidence. Because 18 months have passed since the custody switch, they argued, much of the information ferreted out during the Family Court trial is stale and wouldn’t serve as a legitimate basis for a custody ruling.

They said she should stay with the “fit and loving father” she’s with now. The girl also has matured emotionally and physically and has developed social skills with her new family, they said.

Veronica “has been extremely well cared for and loved by her father and has thrived,” the document stated.

But if Brown’s parental rights are terminated, his attorneys have a backup plan.

In disagreeing with Alito’s opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling could mean that Brown’s relatives could be considered as adoptive parents and that ICWA would give them preference.

Brown and his wife, Robin Brown, both filed adoption petitions in the District Court of Nowata County, where they lived. Veronica’s stepmother would be a logical choice to raise the girl because they already live in the same home, Brown’s attorneys argued.

But Brown’s parents, Tommy and Alice Brown, also asked the District Court of the Cherokee Nation for a chance to adopt Veronica under ICWA. They have been a certified placement family for the Cherokee Nation since 2011, the court filings stated.

Such petitions could require that the case be transferred from South Carolina to Oklahoma courts.

But those arguments are “absurd” and “offensive to the authority of the United States Supreme Court,” attorneys for the Capobiancos said in a response to Brown’s filing. They noted that some of Brown’s argument was based on the dissenting opinion, not the majority’s.

The Capobiancos had asked the state’s high court Friday to take up the case on an emergency basis, arguing that the ruling in Washington “unequivocally cleared the way” for the couple’s adoption of Veronica to be finalized.

The couple is “willing and able” to move to Oklahoma to ease Veronica’s transition, the document added.

But the competing adoption attempts might further delay a final ruling.

The Capobiancos’ attorneys said the added petitions violate the federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act, which outlaws “forum shopping” in seeking a more favorable venue when a different court already is addressing the case.

They added that the U.S. Supreme Court could not have possibly overturned the lower court’s decision and asked that South Carolina judges take up the case promptly without intending a tangible outcome.

“(Brown) audaciously treats the (U.S. Supreme Court) reversal as an academic exercise with no real world consequences,” their filing stated. “(He) acts as if a decision … is just a technicality — an inconvenient bump in the road that has no practical effect.”

Reach Andrew Knapp at 937-5414 or twitter.com/offlede.

Using Video Games and Kickstarter to Learn the Cherokee Language

By Ralph Richardson, Indian Country Today Media Network

In our highly competitive global economy, learning a new language is back in vogue, whether it’s Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic—or Cherokee. There are a plethora of programs, applications and schools to help people hone their communication abilities. Now comes a new strategy: Don Thornton, founder and president of Thornton Media, Inc. and a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, has developed Talking Games, the first commercial 3-D video game that teaches language.

“The problem is that too many language courses are sitting on shelves gathering dust,” Thornton says. “The reason is boredom. You simply can’t get the player to continue using the game for hundreds of hours because they are bored. We intend to make language learning more fun.”

People are embarrassed to struggle with a language in the real world but can have fun with the exercise in a gaming situation. (Courtesty Don Thornton)

Thornton has utilized new technology to help preserve the language of his ancestors. “Our video game model is a true paradigm shift in the language software industry,” he claims. “It’s a disruptive technology advance that will change the way all languages are learned.”

Thornton says his grandmother, Lucinda Robbins, taught Cherokee in her hometown of Tahlequah, Oklahoma for 40 years. “While visiting her I purchased a Cherokee-English dictionary near her home, which I showed to her for her opinion,” he recalls. “She flipped through it and said she knew the professor who wrote it and commented that he used to ‘Come over and ask me how to say words when I was sitting on my porch.’ ”

Eventually the professor didn’t even bother to sit on Robbins’s porch and “would just drop off lists of words and she would fill them out for him. He did this for three years. I flipped through the dictionary thinking at least he must have thanked her profusely for her help. But her name didn’t appear anywhere in the book. She told me about many similar projects that she had worked on. She translated books for people into Cherokee and had a request to narrate the entire New Testament—a two-year project. At no time did she ever get paid for these major projects or even receive a copy of the work. It got me thinking how Indians don’t have control over their own cultural property and must rely on others.”

Determined to bring Cherokee back to the Cherokee, Thornton says he “started the company by adapting the world’s first ‘smart toy’ to teach an indigenous language.” He claims that development of Talking Games has created many “endangered language firsts,” including the first handheld translator, first two-way translator, first Nintendo DS language-learning apps, first language-learning apps in the iTunes Store and first language-learning video game for an endangered language.

“All of the R&D for these projects was paid for out-of-pocket,” Thornton states proudly. “No grants. We have created custom language tools for more than 170 tribes and First Nations.”
All of this came from his desire to honor his grandmother, who, he says, “died in December 2012 at the age of 92. She was the best Cherokee speaker in our family.”

Despite his successes, Thornton still needs the support of Indian country to continue his work. His Kickstarter campaign launched on March 11, and his goal is to produce his game in both Cherokee and Spanish. Thornton hopes the inclusion of Spanish, which he says is the most requested second language in the country, will subsidize the inclusion of Cherokee. “If we are successful in launching this project it will benefit the revitalization of all endangered languages,” he says.

The game Thornton has developed is engaging and fun. Users fight zombies, wrestle Bigfoot and escape from aliens—all while learning a language. “The virtual world we create for

Thornton was inspired by the mistreatment of his grandmother. (Courtesy Don Thornton)

Talking Games is not meant to simply recreate a town or community, but to create a ‘suspension of disbelief,’ ” Thornton says. “We want the player to sort of forget they are playing a game. This is the reason for the amazing addictive power of immersive video games. When you read a great book or see a great movie, you become lost in it, and part of your brain actually forgets you are playing a game. We use 3-D characters that you interact with in our virtual world.”

No special glasses or equipment are required to play Talking Games. It is a role-playing game with 3-D characters, like Grand Theft Auto. In Talking Games, the player controls the main character, Charlie Vann, gets a head injury in a car crash and forgets how to speak Cherokee. His family and friends must help him regain his language. The obstacles he must overcome include zombies, Bigfoot, and aliens. “The problem with most ‘serious games,’ Thornton says, “is that the motivation to play the game is external. You are ordered to play the game by your superiors, for instance. There are no internal motivators to play, making the game fun to play.”

Talking Games also differs from other language-learning programs in that users must speak to play the game. In addition, Talking Games provides what Thornton calls an “immersion environment.” Virtual characters can only respond to the language the user speaks. These aspects of the Talking Games system create a richer learning environment.

Thornton says studies on 25,000 military personnel learning Arabic show that video games that teach languages are “more effective than traditional methods” of language learning. “When you attempt to learn a new language, one of the biggest fears is that you will speak incorrectly and will be laughed at,” he explains. “There is a moment where you look the other person in the eye to see if they understood you. Some people are not bothered by making mistakes in public, but most people feel very uncomfortable if they make a mistake. Talking Games provides a safe environment to practice basic conversation. If you make a mistake in front of a video game character, it’s really not that big of a deal.”

With the introduction of Talking Games, Thornton says he has expanded his goals to promote accelerated learning of all languages—but the heart and soul of his company remains with the languages of original peoples, like his grandmother. “Part of our efforts and profits,” he says, “will always be devoted to the revitalization of endangered languages.”

Thornton Media Launches Kickstarter Campaign for 3-D Video Game To Teach New Languages Including Cherokee

By Ralph Richardson, Indian Country Today Media Network

Don Thornton

Thornton says his grandmother, Lucinda Robbins, taught Cherokee in her home-town of Tahlequah, Oklahoma for 40 years. “While visiting her I purchased a Cherokee-English dictionary near her home, which I showed to her for her opinion,” he recalls. “She flipped through it and said she knew the professor who wrote it and commented that he used to ‘come over and ask me how to say words when I was sitting on my porch.’”

Eventually the professor didn’t even bother to sit on Robbins’ porch and “would just drop off lists of words and she would fill them out for him. He did this for three years. I flipped through the dictionary thinking at least he must have thanked her profusely for her help. But her name didn’t appear anywhere in the book. She told me about many similar projects that she had worked on. She translated books for people into Cherokee, and had a request to narrate the entire New Testament—a two-year project. At no time did she ever get paid for these major projects or even receive a copy of the work. It got me thinking how Indians don’t have control over their own cultural property and must rely on others.”

Determined to bring Cherokee back to the Cherokee, Thornton says he “started the company by adapting the world’s first ‘smart toy’ to teach an indigenous language.” He claims that development of Talking Games has created many “endangered language firsts,” including the first handheld translator, first two-way translator, first Nintendo DS language-learning apps, first language learning apps in the iTunes Store, and first language learning video game for an endangered language.

“All of the R&D for these projects was paid for out-of-pocket,” Thornton states proudly. “No grants. We have created custom language tools for more than 170 tribes and First Nations.”

All of this came from his desire to honor his grandmother, who, he says, “died in December 2012 at the age of 92. She was the best Cherokee speaker in our family.”

Earlier this month, Thornton was a speaker on the panel “Mobile Devices and Indian Country” at the National Reservation Economic Summit 2013 Conference with Jamie Richardson, senior systems engineer for Apple Inc. “The conference brings together American Indian businesses and corporations,” Thornton says. “I was the only panelist invited to speak with Apple about mobile apps.”

TRANS TK. e future for Talking Games looks bright, because the game Thornton has developed is engaging and fun. Users fight zombies, wrestle Bigfoot, and escape from aliens—all while learning a language. “The virtual world we create for Talking Games is not meant to simply recreate a town or community, but to create a ‘suspension of disbelief,’” Thornton says. “We want the player to sort of’ forget they are playing a game. This is the reason for the amazing addictive power of immersive video games. When you read a great book or see a great movie, you become lost in it, and part of your brain actually forgets you are playing a game. We use 3D characters that you interact with in our virtual world.”

Talking Games video still of Cecil and Cindy meeting for the first time (Thornton Media)

No special glasses or equipment are required to play Talking Games. It is a role-playing game, or RPG, with 3D characters that exist in 3 dimensions, like Grand Theft Auto. In Talking Games, the player controls the main character, Charlie Vann, gets a head injury in a car crash and forgets how to speak Cherokee. His family and friends must help him to regain his language. The obstacles he must overcome include zombies, Bigfoot, and aliens. “The problem with most ‘serious games,’ Thornton says, “is that the motivation to play the game is external. You are ordered to play the game by your superiors, for instance. There are no internal motivators to play, making the game fun to play.”

Talking Games also differs from other language learning programs in that users must speak to play the game. In addition, Talking Games provides what Thornton calls an “immersion environment.” Virtual characters can only respond to the language the user speaks. These aspects of the Talking Games system create a richer learning environment.

Thornton says he has commissioned third party studies on 25,000 military personnel learning Arabic that show that video games that teach languages are “more effective than traditional methods” of language learning. “When you attempt to learn a new language, one of the biggest fears is that you will speak incorrectly and will be laughed at,” he explains. “There is a moment where you look the other person in the eye to see if they understood you. Some people are not bothered by making mistakes in public, but most people feel very uncomfortable if they make a mistake. Talking Games provides a safe environment to practice basic conversation. If you make a mistake in front of a video game character, it’s really not that big of a deal.”

Cecil negotiates with Coyote (Thornton Media)

This innovator in the area of language learning says he launched Thornton Media in 1995 “to create custom language tools to help indigenous communities to revitalize their languages while retaining control over their own cultural property.” Now, Thornton says, his company is still the “only language tool company in the world that retains no ownership over the cultural property of our Native communities.”

Support Thornton Media’s Kickstarter campagin at http://kck.st/WhweWy.