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The South Dakota tribal relations committee discussed the Indian Child Welfare Act at its latest meeting.
South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s Zadya Abbott reports.
The committee’s third meeting comes shortly after the Supreme Court ruling upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).
The act aims to keep more Native children with their tribes and communities in adoptions and fostering situations.
BJ Jones is the Chief Judge for Sisseton Wahpeton.
He is thinking about what the Supreme Court ruling means for representatives in Pierre.
“There’s a lot of areas in South Dakota that are ripe for some good state legislation. Just because the Supreme Court has ruled that ICWA is constitutional. Which is a great relief, and most tribes believe that to be the case, doesn’t mean there aren’t issues that can be clarified by state statutes.”
Judge Jones says a South Dakota bill could address concerns about legal responsibility between the Department of Social Services and Tribal Courts.
Two bills codifying ICWA into state law were introduced last legislative session, but they were voted down.
Opponents said they wanted to wait for the Supreme Court ruling before enacting anything.
Mickey Divine is the Program Director of Child Protective Programs on the Lake Traverse Reservation and a member of the tribal state coalition.
She told committee members the group plans to push for legislation supporting ICWA.
“I am asking for legislation because we are gonna continue with that state ICWA law. Because those challenges to this, the challenges to our sovereignty are still coming and we need to be prepared. We want to care for our own children. We want to care for our own families here. We live here.”
Fourteen states have passed legislation in support of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
That includes North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Wyoming.
Listen to the full committee session
The Bureau of Indian Education recently extended a five-year contract of a program that provides additional mental health resources for tribal youth.
Emma VandenEinde of the Mountain West News Bureau reports on how it impacts more than 100 tribal schools in the Mountain West region.
The Behavioral Health and Wellness program allows for both Indigenous students and staff from schools and universities to access resources. That includes telehealth counseling, a 24/7 crisis hotline, and on-site crisis support.
Teresia Paul works for the Bureau and is the program lead.
She said the majority of their clinical team are Indigenous people who know these communities well.
“We’re able to really engage in those types of interventions with people who are from the communities and who know how to do those interventions respectfully. You know, you can’t just tap someone to step into that role. It has to be folks that, you know, have gained that respect.”
The program is crucial for many American Indian and Alaska Native students.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among eight to 24 year-olds in that demographic.
Paul said it’s their duty to protect their most sacred citizens – their kids.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-South Pacific Division and Navajo Nation signed an agreement intended to improve USACE’s support to Navajo Nation at Window Rock, Ariz. this week.
Services and any goods which the Corps may provide to the Navajo Nation under this agreement include full or partial services in the areas of planning, design, engineering, consultation, technical support and training, and construction activities.
According to the Army Corps, the purpose of the agreement is to establish a mutual framework governing the respective responsibilities of the Parties for the provision of goods and services for Navajo Nation projects.
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