The case is In re Jeremiah G. An excerpt:
We publish this opinion to emphasize, again, what we thought that our court made clear in In re O.K. (2003) 106 Cal.App.4th 152. In a juvenile dependency proceeding, a claim that a parent, and thus the child, “may” have Native American heritage is insufficient to trigger ICWA notice requirements if the claim is not accompanied by other information that would reasonably suggest the minor has Indian ancestry. Here, the assertion that there was a “possibility” the great-grandfather of the minor’s father “was Indian,” without more, was too vague and speculative to require ICWA notice to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. ( Id. at p. 157.) This is particularly so in this case because the minor’s father, who made the assertion, later retracted it, telling the juvenile court that he “didn’t actually have [Indian ancestry].” Thus, mother’s appellate claim of ICWA error lacks merit.
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