After fighting to win back her parental rights, a young Native American mother prevailed. Then the state came for her second child.
After fighting to win back her parental rights, a young Native American mother prevailed. Then the state came for her second child.
But the ICWA requires a higher standard of evidence. So what might be considered typical is not enough. And those were the circumstances when the children were taken away. Her parental rights were terminated 9 months later with no consideration of any changes that had occurred.
The state also returned her kids. Two courts ruled that they shouldn’t have been taken away. And she never cried racism. ProPublica is the one pointing out that this is an example of a systemic issue in South Dakota that is disproportionately hurting Native Americans.