Here is the complaint.
This case mirrors the ongoing Doe v. Jesson case (where Mille Lacs defeated the preliminary injunction, and we are currently waiting for a decision on summary judgment). Filed after we wrote the ICWA Legal Defense memo discussing the other three ongoing cases, this case involves a voluntary adoption, the Oklahoma state ICWA, and Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. The arguments involve right to privacy, and due process and equal protection concerns.
In February 2015, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) published its revisions to the Guidelines for State Courts and Agencies in Indian Child Custody Proceedings. The new guidelines address areas of Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) non-compliance that have occurred over the past 36 years. In March 2015, the BIA announced its intent to advance further reform by proposing for the first time ever, legally binding federal regulations, Regulations for State Courts and Agencies in Indian Child Custody Proceedings, to govern the implementation of ICWA in state courts and agencies. The BIA received over 2,100 public comments during the notice and comment period that closed mid- May. The BIA will review these comments and then promulgate final regulations, likely by early spring 2016. A network of ICWA opponents has responded to the reforms by filing multiple lawsuits challenging the guidelines and ICWA’s constitutionality.
The National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA), the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), and the ICWA Appellate Clinic at Michigan State University College of Law—collectively known as the ICWA Defense Project—are working collaboratively to defend ICWA and the long overdue reforms to it introduced this year. This memo will summarize the pending litigation and describe some of the legal and communications strategies these partner organizations have developed to inform, advance, and unify a coordinated effort across Indian Country to respond to these attacks.
Also, here is the NICWA Board Resolution and
talking points for conversations with state Attorneys General.
The Feds wanted to move the case to Arizona (the location of Goldwater v. Washburn, the class action case).
Order here.
Pleadings:
MotiontoTransfer_MemoinSupport
Here is the Government’s answer to the initial complaint: 43 – Answer
The plaintiffs also filed a motion for summary judgment before time had run for the Government to respond to the initial complaint:
PartialSummaryJudgment_MotioninSupport
Documents filed in this case are also all being kept here (under the “Kathryn E. Fort” tab at the top of Turtle Talk’s main page).
Here, from the University of Minnesota Press’ website:
The first complete resource for the practical use of plants in the Anishinaabe culture and the stories that surround them
In Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask Mary Siisip Geniusz makes Anishinaabe botanical information available to native and nonnative healers and educators and emphasizes the Anishinaabe culture that developed the knowledge and practice. Teaching the way she was taught—through stories—Geniusz brings the plants to life with narratives that explain their uses, meaning, and history.
Here are the materials in Diné Citizens against Ruining Our Environment v. Jewell (D. N.M.):
Here are the materials in Sprint Communications Co. L.P. v. Wynne (D. S.D.):
Here are the materials in Flathead Irrigation District v. Jewell (D. Mont.):
US D-D.C. Court order in the matter of Solonex LLC v. Sally Jewell, et. al, here.
DOI Schedule here.
ACHP invitation to comment here.
On July 27, 2015, the D.C. District Court ruled the Department of the Interior (DOI) is violating federal law in delaying decision on a natural gas exploratory permit that has been suspended since 1985. The DOI was given 21 days to submit a schedule for the final resolution of the suspension and on Monday that schedule was released. Highlights include:
ACHP has scheduled its 3-hour public meeting for Wednesday, September 2, 2015, in Choteau, Montana. Designated representatives from all parties, including the Blackfeet Tribe, will speak first then comments will come from those who report their name and organization before the meeting. Any other comments will be heard as time permits. ACHP is accepting written comments until 5PM EDT on Friday, September 4, 2015.
If you would like to officially speak at the meeting or write a comment:
Email: www.106permittodrill@achp.gov
Fax: (202) 517-6381
Mail: Ms Katry Harris
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
401 F St NW Suite 308
Washington DC 20001 2637
Turtle Talk 
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