""If you're having problems, they'll take your kids anytime they want," said Robert Wabasha, of the Santee Sioux Nation, whose granddaughter and grandniece both died after being adopted out of his family. The granddaughter died at the hands of her adoptive father while a baby, and the grandniece recently drowned at age 5. Wabasha (shown below) and other Native people testified about experiences with Iowa's child-welfare system before the Iowa Commission on Native American Affairs during a two-day meeting at Four Directions Community Center in Sioux City, Iowa.

Fear and outrage permeated stories heard by ICNAA and other attendees, including attorneys, ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) specialists from the Ponca and Santee nations, and representatives of the governor, Siouxland Human Investment Partnership, and the Native American Unit of Iowa's human services department. "There's a feeling you're never safe," said commissioner and Four Directions program manager Judy Yellowbank, who's from the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. "Even people who have, for example, legally adopted a grandchild, can't be sure the child won't be taken away."

Preston Daniels, director of Iowa's human rights department, under whose umbrella ICNAA operates, addressed Native parents' sense of dread, saying, "Helplessness is terrifying." He also commended ICNAA's proposed solutions, including a bill to be introduced in the state legislature's 2011 spring session to restore parental rights to those who have lost them -- currently a permanent loss -- and to ensure grandparents' rights.

Daniels called the bill vital: "The relatively small Native population is in danger of losing its next generation, and therefore its heritage. Many are losing parental rights at a young age. However, every study shows that people generally mature out of youthful indiscretions at around age 25." They should have a second chance, Daniels said. "Children need their parents."

And parents need their children, said Four Directions' executive director Frank LaMere, from the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. He recounted the suicide of a young woman who'd lost custody of her child and added, "Our Anishinabe relatives tell us children choose their parents when they come into this world. A parental-rights bill would sustain those relationships.""

Get the Story:
Stephanie Woodard: Iowa Commission Takes on Child-Welfare Morass (The Huffington Post 10/12)