Northern Cheyenne Tribe

Washington Appellate Court Rejects Equal Protection Challenge to ICWA

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Beach v. Johnson.

An excerpt:

Moreover, ICWA does not deny Angel equal protection or substantive due process.  A child has no fundamental constitutional right to a stable and permanent home.  In re N.B., 199 P.3d 16, 23 (Colo. App. 2007); In re Baby Boy C., 805 N.Y.S.2d 313, 27 A.D.3d 34, 50-51 (2005); In re A.B., 2003 ND 98, 663 N.W.2d 625, 635-36.  And “[t]he United States Supreme Court has consistently rejected claims that laws that treat Indians as a distinct class violate equal protection.” In re Angus, 60 Or. App. 546, 554, 655 P.2d 208 (1982).  Indians are granted preferences under ICWA, not because of their race, but because of their membership in quasi-sovereign tribal entities.  Id. at 555.  ICWA does not violate due process.  N.B., 199 P.3d at 23; Baby Boy C., 27 A.D.3d at 51; A.B., 663 N.W.2d at 636. Nor does it violate equal protection because ICWA is rationally related to Congress’s obligation to protect and advance the Indian family and tribal relations. Id.at 555-56.

Northern Cheyenne Tribe’s Amicus Brief in Montana v. Wyoming & North Dakota Supreme Court Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here: Northern Cheyenne Amicus Brief.

The other materials are here.

Morrison v. Spang — Tribal Court Exhaustion in ICRA Habeas Proceeding

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials from the District court in Montana:

Morrison Magistrate Report

Morrison DCT Order

Remember Sand Creek

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the government website:

On November 29, 1864, soldiers from the US military attacked a peaceful encampment of Cheyenne and Arapaho along Sand Creek. Over 150 Indians were killed in the attack, most of whom were women, children, or elderly. The location of the Sand Creek Massacre site was obscured through time even to descendents of massacre survivors. The Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Study Act of 1998 directed the National Park Service to identify the location the massacre area and evaluate the suitability designating the site as a national park unit.

Family stories from Cheyenne and Arapaho about the massacre were used to help identify the location of the massacre site. Tribes had the opportunity to conduct their own “oral histories.” The tribal investigations were conducted by descendents of massacre survivors and tribal leaders. Historians also searched archives for the story of Sand Creek in maps, diaries, testimonies from soldiers and Indians, newspaper articles, homestead records, military scouting reports, and historic photos.