Here. The decision is unpublished. It isn’t just cases where the parent is unsure of their tribal affiliation where this is happening.

In August 2011, at the outset of this case, John told the social worker that he was “a member of the Mission Digueno Tribe[,] a band of the Kumeyaay Indians,” and had a roll number. John also said that he had “Native American Ancestry with the Chumash Tribe in the Santa Ynez reservation….” In his Parentage Inquiry, he declared he had “Chumash and Digueno” heritage. In his Parental Notification of Indian Status, he declared he might have Indian ancestry through a Kumeyaay Tribe and a “Mission Digueno / Chumash” band. In September, John’s sister gave the social worker the roll number shared by all family members.

The social worker sent incomplete ICWA notices to the tribes. Most of the notices listed the roll number only in connection with a relative, did not explain how that relative was related to Matthew and did not explain that the whole family shared the roll number. Most of the notices omitted known information that John and other paternal relatives had received medical and dental treatment at an Indian health clinic. Most of the notices listed a Chumash Tribe association only for the paternal great-grandmother.

None of the responses to the ICWA notices were positive. The court found that ICWA did not apply. In May 2013, the court terminated parental rights.