6 Year Old Foster Child Ripped from Loving Home Because of 1978 Law

The poor little girl was already # up and traumatized for life by her selfish parents.
The state added gas to the fire.
The pain and emotional anguish just continues on and on...

With the information about the "new" family I, also, wonder how this is a qualifying event under the ICWA.

I question why the STATE had NOT used the law prior to NOW...what changed NOW?

THAT, IMO, is key to understanding the entire situation. Start to now.

originally posted by: Morrad
By allowing this to happen it suggests to me that no one in authority considered the little girls psychological and emotional needs. Was a child psychologist consulted and any recommendations followed? This WILL damage her and she will will grow up with problems. These people defy empathy and common sense.

That is the very thing that should trump everything else!
The child was happy with her family, now she's going to be unhappy for a very long time!

I hope there's a few people out there that are hanging their heads in shame.

a reply to: Nyiah

THAT certainly makes somewhat of a difference to me...in so that
If the foster parents love Lexi and want the best for her and their sole motivation is her happiness and benefit then perhaps they should petition the court for custody of her biological siblings as well?

Just a question...

originally posted by: masqua
a reply to: Boscowashisnamo

None of this issue made any sense, anywhere.

I hear ya. Perhaps I'm too close to the issue to not be biased, but make no apologies when it comes to the welfare of a child. After playing Horse with a 8yo boy that wouldn't take off his shirt because of the cigarette burns his foster father(POS) gave him, or being unable to hand a 5yo girl her Xmas present because she was sexually assaulted while in foster care system, the home Lexi had seemed like a sound answer--the right answer.

I don't have that many happy foster home stories to tell after working the past 3 years with DVS.

a reply to: VoidHawk

BUT, if there was NO child psychologist or anyone in authority of such things involved...are we assuming she (Lexi) was happy?
A child being removed from the home that they've lived in for years and their things by people in uniforms and the foster parents throwing themselves on the ground in anguish and protest would cause any child to be upset and inconsolable...

Just saying...

originally posted by: TNMockingbird
a reply to: Nyiah

THAT certainly makes somewhat of a difference to me...in so that
If the foster parents love Lexi and want the best for her and their sole motivation is her happiness and benefit then perhaps they should petition the court for custody of her biological siblings as well?

Just a question...

Why should they? The sibling is already in the (what I assume to be) aunt & uncle's custody, why should the foster parents get the other kid, too? These people have been fighting for years to get the other kiddo, I think it would be very reasonable to take a step back, drop the emotional reactions, and look at it from their side. They'd been fighting for years for her, and the foster family has been making it very difficult. Hell, even the media is on their side, sob stories win views. Even if the sob story is unfairly one-sided, which this is starting to look more & more like.

I wonder if anyone even considered asking the child?

Seems unlikely, doesn't it?

originally posted by: Nyiah
I think it would be very reasonable to take a step back, drop the emotional reactions, and look at it from their side. They'd been fighting for years for her, and the foster family has been making it very difficult. Hell, even the media is on their side, sob stories win views.

I agree wholeheartedly!
I must have overlooked the part where the "new" family members had been fighting for years to obtain custody.
Having been a situation similar I suppose I am a little 'emotional' although am trying to raise a rational debate...from both sides...
My point being that if the biological siblings are thriving and in a good place with their biological relatives AND the foster family have Lexi's best interests at heart then, perhaps, they should either consider custody of the siblings who SHOULD be together (IMO) OR relinquish custody (in Lexi's best interest if that is the case) so that she (Lexi) can be with her siblings.

I suppose, being that I don't post often, I wasn't clear in my meanings...
I suppose I'll back out of this one...too close to the fire and all that...

a reply to: Boscowashisnamo

Completely understand your position. My wife's family is Irish/Scottish/German mix. (yes, I married a ginger) and my brother-in-law married a full-blooded Cree who was taken from her birth parents during the 60's Scoop. She grew up in a very white family which she came to love and still does. She went back to visit her birth mother once (that I know of) but stayed on with her adopted family for life, preferring that.

I now have two nephews who are mixed blood, but I'd be hard pressed to show you a more well-rounded and successful pair of young men. Just thinking of them puts a smile on my haggard old face.

It's great when it works out, but, imho, the government should NEVER take children from their parents in the way the 60's Scoop happened in conjunction with the residential school system. Never again.

originally posted by: seagull
I wonder if anyone even considered asking the child?

Seems unlikely, doesn't it?

Spot on!
So often the children have absolutely no say.

a reply to: masqua
Thanks for the heads-up on Scoop. I'm reading about it and the fallout from stories associated. Never again is right! Emotion aside, I understand the biological family's desire for this child to be returned, and to expose her to her heritage, even if it's 1.5% as listed in the articles. Some view the Page's actions as stonewalling, others view it as a zealous desire to be a part of the only family she's known since a young age.

My problem with the biological family is if Lexi's return was so important, why didn't any family member step up at the time to raise her until reunification was feasible? Why did the tribe so readily give Lexi up to the foster system and not place her within a Tribal family? Finally, why did it take several years before the biological family entered the fray to get her back?

Good on your nephews--the world needs young men like them!

I agree that the MSM tends to spin these stories to create more advertising revenue. So, it would be useful to have more information about the entire situation before coming to any conclusion.

However, this child is reported to be only 1/32 Native American. Apparently her father was on the tribal roles, even though he could only have been 1/16 himself. The only way I see this is possible is if there is strong evidence that her father has a direct link back to a Choctaw ancestor. At 1/16 Native America, her father's closest full blooded ancestor was 5 generations ago.

Then there is the issue that the Tribe is placing this girl with relatives who are not Choctaw, and apparently are not practicing the Native American culture for which the law was originally written.

As I said, it would be good to get more information about this situation before jumping to any conclusions. But, on the surface it appears that this decision was not in the best interest of the child.

-dex

Stuff like that happens all the time in my city. We have many indian reserves in the area.
The indians here are stereotyped for substance abuse. Well not stereotyped, its true. The majority of my fellow natives are brought up into these living conditions. They grew up seeing and living with alchoholics and drug abusers. So naturally they pick up the habits.
I lived on the reserve for 3 months. The things i seen ... Unbelievable.
Have you ever seen a lysol cocktail? Have you ever see someone looking forward to drinking a lysol or hairspray cocktail...i have. No gas tank is safe on the reserve i was on. Every night someone would syphon enough gas to wet a rag for some huffing.
Ive seen houses with not a window, cupboard or piece of furniture left, blankets acting as front doors year round, but a brand new truck in the drive way.

The indians in my city and surrounding area that grew up like this, usually end up following in the same foot steps. They become deemed unfit as a parent and have their children removed from their custody.
A good friend of mine works for the indian division of child services here. She tells me that Most of the time, they wilfully give them up and never look back. Sometimes they put up a fight because they lose out on 1 child worth of government benefit money.
Most native housing occupants here, have 4-5 children living in them. You get a big chunk of change for baby bonus, per child here. So naturally some people treat this like a full time job, having kids every year to bring in more money.

Im half Ojibwe Indian. I refuse to even admit to this fact Most of the time.

But dont get me wrong. There are much more good natives in my city, than the bad. You just see and hear about the bad ones more often. Luckily only 2 of my relatives are how i described above. Every one else on my fathers side are hard working, tax payers.

Is this a new story?

I'm sure I've heard this before.

a reply to: masqua
My grandmother received a large cash settlement from the Can. gov because of the residential school issue. Even received a letter from Harper offering an apology for what happened back then.
She was one of the kids taken from the reserve to become "civilized" lost everything she knew- which was life on a reservation. Her parents were also lost. Shes in her 80's now, but about 10 years ago, she actually found 2 of her brothers still alive, that were also taken from the rez. I cant remember the website, but she was able to track them down.
What an emotional experience that was when we all met. After a big celebratory lunch, My family and I, sat in a large circle with my grandmother and her 2 brothers in the middle. They each took turns telling of their experience, how they felt when they were being taken away, the things that happened to them in the schools.
They each poured their heart out. My grandmother never spoke of what happned to her growing up, to anyone in the family. There was not a dry eye in the whole place.
Some of the things that happened to them...makes you wonder how a human can treat someone like that.
Things were different though in those times...
They were strong back then.

originally posted by: Annee
Is this a new story?

I'm sure I've heard this before.

While the custody battle may have been in the news, the Girl was taken from the Page's foster home yesterday.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Boscowashisnamo

It just chaps my hide that society seems to think that biology is somehow stronger than love. I have a lot of relatives who are related to me through adoption, not biology. My husband, as I mentioned, was adopted. I have two adopted nephews. My husband's friend has two adopted sons and one biological son, and my husband and I discussed adopting ourselves. I had a cousin who was adopted too.

So many people who can get simply ripped out of my life because I don't have a biological tie to them.

Had there been biological relatives capable of caring for this little girl at the time her parents abused her, she would have been given to them then, but they apparently either were unable or didn't want her. So now that she has a family she has always known, the blood relations turn up and she gets simply ripped out of one life for another?

No wonder people choose abortion.

Don't foster parents receive some sort of money? Maybe her biological family is finally taking her back for the paycheck.
I was wondering the same thing about why her relatives didn't step up in the first place when she was given a black eye by her biological parents and take action to take her in at that point.

a reply to: Macenroe82

I certainly hope someone was there recording those stories. We must not lose those experiences. While they represent a dark time in our history, these events are part of who we are now. We need to remember them, if for no other reason, so we don't repeat the same mistakes.

-dex

originally posted by: Boscowashisnamo

originally posted by: Annee
Is this a new story?

I'm sure I've heard this before.

While the custody battle may have been in the news, the Girl was taken from the Page's foster home yesterday.

Thanks.

Could have been a similar story too.

This has disturbed me since I first seen the news on them battling for their child. Sad to see they are going forth and relocating her from her adopted family. Hopefully something can happen for the ones going through with this to come to their senses here.