The wait for a Supreme Court ICWA ruling. And the investigation of Indian Boarding schools continue. (Trigger warning)

We expect to hear the SCOTUS ruling by the end of June, multiple states pass their own ICWA laws, and ground penetrating surveys take place across Canada and the US.

Last week, the House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on ICWA. At a virtual round table, Lawmakers heard from experts about the history of US Indian Boarding Schools.

In her testimony, Maggie Blackhawk,connected the dots between Native children being taken from their homes and placed in Indian boarding schools to Native children being placed in foster care and being placed for adoption during testimony.

Public interest continues to build pressure, and multiple states have passed or are considering legislation regarding ICWA. Unfortunately, Oklahoma’s supreme court recently ruled that the child must live on their tribal reservation for ICWA to apply.

Muscogee (Creek) Nation Statement Regarding Oklahoma Supreme Court’s Ruling On The Indian Child Welfare Act:

Now, the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling disrupts that partnership and causes unnecessary confusion over what is specifically affirmed in ICWA—that Indian tribes have exclusive authority over child custody proceedings involving all Indian children residing within reservation boundaries.  The Court’s central holding that the State retains concurrent jurisdiction with the Nation over the case since the child is a Creek Citizen residing in another Nation’s Reservation is a result in direct contradiction to the clear statutory text of ICWA.

Indian Boarding School Investigations:

Efforts to uncover the history of Indian boarding schools will be ongoing as archives are digitized and ground-penetrating radar surveys are conducted on potential gravesites.

The Road to Healing tour, where survivors and descendants can share testimony, made a stop in Tulalip Washinton last month.

List Expands On DOI's Findings On Native Boarding Schools

Nearly 90 sites were identified as “Catholic-affiliated Native American boarding schools”.

The release of the information Tuesday came just weeks after U.S. Department of the Interior officials announced a $4 million partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities to expand its Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative through the collection and digitization of records documenting the experiences of survivors, and their descendants, of federal boarding school policies.

The list of Catholic-led boarding schools, compiled by volunteer historians and tribal leaders, is the most comprehensive look to date at the church's involvement in the assimilation of Native American children into a white, Christian society, according to the Catholic Truth & Healing website. The website was constructed by the group to release its findings, which detail each school and the tribal nations it impacted, among other information.

Read more at: https://www.law360.com/articles/1606324/list-expands-on-doi-s-findings-on-native-boarding-schools?copied=1

New Podcast documents the search for potential graves at Red Cloud Indian School

I have partnered with the media group Illuminative to share their new and powerful podcast: American Genocide. Watch my quick recap of episode four below, and listen to the full Podcast here: https://illuminative.org/americangenocidepodcast/

@showme_yourmaskEpisode four of #AmericanGenocide ties science and ceremony together to uncover the painful history of #RedCloud Listen with me & support this important podcast by going to https://illuminative.org/americangenocidepodcast/ Or visit the link in my bio #TruthJusticeHealing @IllumiNative #IllumiNative #AmericanGenocidePodcast #HonoringOurAncestors

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I will continue to share with you the developments of these investigations that are made available to the public. Last week we discussed the movement to repatriate the remains that are still held in Institutions across the US:

Thank you for listening to and amplifying this painful history. Much is coming to light.