California COA Appeals Decides ICWA Notice Case, Reversing and Remanding for Proper Notice to Karuk Tribe

Here is the opinion in In re Guardianship of D.W.

An excerpt:

The record in the present case discloses that from the outset of these proceedings until respondent was appointed the minor‟s guardian, appellant consistently informed the court that the minor had Indian ancestry, and that his father was an enrolled member of the Yurok or Karuk tribes. “Because „biological descendance‟ is often a prerequisite for tribal membership . . . [a relative‟s] suggestion that [the child] „might‟ be an Indian child [is] enough” to satisfy the minimal showing required to trigger the statutory notice provisions. (Antoinette S., supra, 104 Cal.App.4th at p. 1408, fn. omitted.) In carrying out its obligation under the ICWA to provide notice, the court incorrectly assigned appellant, the party objecting to the guardianship, the responsibility of providing notice to the possible Indian tribes.