"The unusually quick decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to take over Spirit Lake Nation social services underscores the failure of tribal leadership to protect children. In formal terms, the tribe asked the federal government to take control, but let’s be honest. The tribe had no choice after it was clear its own mismanagement of child protection services was bordering on criminal.

The pressure to act on behalf of the tribe’s children had been building for months. Complaints and concerns from residents of the northeast North Dakota reservation became more than anecdotes when the U.S. attorney for North Dakota conducted investigations that uncovered criminality as serious as murder. Child welfare professionals put their jobs on the line when they blew the whistle on the tribe’s failures.

Media reports, specifically the work of Chuck Haga of the Grand Forks Herald and Patrick Springer of The Forum, exposed a situation that was so appalling it was hard to believe."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Takeover by BIA welcome (The Fargo Forum 9/20)

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