Fletcher spoke Tuesday at an MSU Diversity Week lunch about citizenship, along with my colleagues Veronica Thronson and Tiffani Darden. MSU law school Jeannette Lugo moderated, cuz it was getting rowdy:
Emily and Victoria laughing it up before the talk.
Here is the opinion in In re Harrell/Harrell-Marls:
An excerpt:
At a pretrial hearing, the assistant attorney general, respondent’s attorney, and the trial court discussed whether one of the parties was of American Indian heritage for the purposes of the ICWA:
The Court: All right, the petition is authorized. The children have been placed with relatives. What else? I guess—is that it? Did anyone ever ask is there any . . . American Indian heritage in this family? American Indian heritage?
Ms. Safran (attorney for respondent): Do you have any Indian heritage in your family?
The Court: Cherokee, Chippewa.
Ms. Safran: There might be some grand—on the grandmother’s side, what was it? Some time—some type; attenuated.
Ms. Trott (attorney for petitioner): Ms. Topp was told no at the other—
Ms. Safran: Well, we didn’t have all the parties.
Ms. Topp (case worker): I talked to [respondent], as well, in the police station[,] and I was told no.
Ms. Safran: She doesn’t think—
The Court: You don’t have any kind—are you sure it’s American, or, any idea what we’re talking about? I mean, what kind of Indian? Cherokees, Chippewa? I mean, there’s a whole bunch.
Unidentified speaker: I don’t—I don’t know; I can ask.
The Court: And . . . what relative? Grandma? Great-grandma?
Ms. Safran: Your Honor, can we get a date because . . . they want me in [Judge] Slavens[’ courtroom] and I can’t believe it.
The Court: You’ve got to wait just one second. All right, you can investigate and see. That’s pretty distant; great-grandma is pretty far back. So, I’m not gonna demand that we send notice.
Ms. Trott: This is on the paternal side? Or maternal? Of which father?
The Court: On the mother’s side or father? It better be a maternal because right now—all right. You have the right to have this heard by a referee as to all the children . . . or by a judge with or without a jury, and, of course, continued right to an attorney at all hearings. We’re setting this for trial?
Ms. Trott: Yes.
It is clear from the record that the trial court had information, however slight, “suggesting that [a] child, a parent of [a] child, or members of a parent’s family are tribal members,” which was one of the five situations the Supreme Court listed as “sufficient to trigger tribal notice.” In re Morris, 491 Mich at 108 n 18. Specifically, respondent’s attorney informed the court that “there might be some [Indian ancestry] on the grandmother’s side.” Because it is for the tribes to determine a child’s eligibility for membership, In re Fried, 266 Mich App 535, 540; 702 NW2d 192 (2005), the trial court clearly erred when it found that the possibility of Indian heritage in a great-grandmother of one or more of the minor children was too remote to justify the notice required by the ICWA and MCL 712B.9(1).
Here.
Here:
Here. An excerpt:
Daniel Cauffman, 21, can speak candidly about the physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his stepmother when he was a child.
He knows his story of closed-fist punches coupled with other acts of physical violence speaks for hundreds – if not thousands – of children on Native American lands across the country.
“I hope it does help,” said Cauffman, a member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, Mich.
He was one of several young people to give testimony Tuesday alongside regional experts at a public hearing for the advisory committee to the Attorney General’s Task Force on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence.
“I’m glad they do stuff like this ’cause it does raise awareness,” Cauffman said. “As far as hopes goes, hopefully we can pull kids out of the situation.”
More detailed coverage here.
Here.
It is clear from the record that the trial court had information, however slight, “suggesting that [a] child, a parent of [a] child, or members of a parent’s family are tribal members,” which was one of the five situations the Supreme Court listed as “sufficient to trigger tribal notice.” In re Morris, 491 Mich at 108 n 18. Specifically, respondent’s attorney informed the court that “there might be some [Indian ancestry] on the grandmother’s side.” Because it is for the tribes to determine a child’s eligibility for membership, In re Fried, 266 Mich App 535, 540; 702 NW2d 192 (2005), the trial court clearly erred when it found that the possibility of Indian heritage in a great-grandmother of one or more of the minor children was too remote to justify the notice required by the ICWA and MCL 712B.9(1).
Here.
An excerpt:
There appears to be a lot of interest in a new kind of court in Washtenaw County.
More than 80 lawyers, mediators, and probation officers packed Judge Timothy Connors’ courtroom on Friday.
They were there for a six-hour education session on the Native American philosophy that guides the new peacemaking court.
The program was led by Tribal Council member and former Tribal Judge JoAnne Gasco and Court Peacemaker Paul Raphael from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottowa and Chippewa Indians.
For Immediate Release
February 4, 2014
As part of the “1812: Star-Spangled Banner Nation” exhibit, the Michigan War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission is offering a series of six free Saturday lectures. All programs will take place at 2 p.m. in the Main Branch of the Detroit Public Library located at 5201 Woodward Avenue in Detroit’s Cultural Center.
The traveling exhibit of 25 original oil paintings was created by the American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA) to help commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 1812. The paintings reflect nautical scenes from the War of 1812, including the famous battle between USS Constitution v. HMS Guerriere, August 19, 1812, in the Atlantic Ocean.The exhibit, hosted by the Detroit Public Library, is open at no charge, through Saturday, March 1st, during regular library hours.
Eric Hemenway, the Director of Repatriation, Archives and Records for the Little Traverse Bay Bans of Odawa Indians, presents “Native Americans in the War of 1812” on Sat.,Feb. 8, at 2 p.m. Hemenway currently sits on the Michigan Humanities Council, Emmet County Historical Commission and the Harbor Springs Board of Trustees.
In addition to repatriation work, Eric has been involved in five different exhibits, from national to state levels, on Great Lakes Indian history. Eric also performs educational outreach with local schools in northern Michigan, as well as speak nationally on Great Lakes history and the importance of repatriation for Michigan tribes. Eric currently sits on the Michigan Humanities Council, Emmet County Historical Commission and the Harbor Springs Board of Trustees.”
Eric Hemenway’s talk will discuss the Odawa involvement in the War and the drastic outcome it had for the tribe. He stated, “The War of 1812 represents one of the major turning points in Great Lakes Indian history. The Odawa, Ojibwe, Potawatomi and other tribes would have their futures forever altered after this war. In many scenarios, the repercussions for the tribes were severe and long lasting.” Continue reading
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