A Navajo teen whose adoption sparked an Indian Child Welfare Act battle is returning home to her roots on the Navajo Nation.
Allyssa Keetso-Pitts, 17, was known as "Baby K." In 1988, she was at the center of a dispute between the Navajo Nation and her non-Native adoptive parents.
The tribe assumed jurisdiction of the case and granted permanent guardianship and custody of Keetso-Pitts to the non-Native couple, who later divorced. Her Navajo mother, Trish Polacca, retained visitation rights.
Keetso-Pitts is now moving to Arizona where she plans to learn more about Navajo culture and language. She has seven half-brothers and half-sisters.
Get the Story:
Teen yearns to live, learn her Navajo roots
(The Oregonian 6/22)
Adopted Navajo child to return home to reservation
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Trending in News
1 Tribes rush to respond to new coronavirus emergency created by Trump administration
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'