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Monday, January 19, 2009

Web Sites

Here are some interesting websites that have been sent to me over the course of the last month. We have been getting so much support, and I know that there are several of you wanting more information, so feel free to read these articles. Some of them are quite lengthy and will take a while to read. Please don't feel you have to read them, just in case you want to.

http://www.maquah.net/clara/Press-ON/01-09-14.html

http://adoption.about.com/b/2008/12/17/tribe-ruling-means-adoptive-parents-lose-custody-of-adopted-child.htm#comment-26 (this is where the comment came from that I posted recently)

http://caicw.org/ (this is the site of the lady that made the comment. LOVE this site)

http://www.caicw.org/inmemoriam.html (this is her husband who is full blooded native from the same tribe as our birth mom. He was and AMAZING man)

http://www.accessmontana.com/morris/page19.html (this is an article about sovereign immunity)

http://www.accessmontana.com/morris/page1.html (this is more about Roland John Morris)

http://icwaishurtingfamilies.blogspot.com/ (okay...honestly I haven't read this one yet. I can only spend so much time before I just can't read another thing, but I'd be interested to hear your comments if you read it.)

Enjoy. Keep spreading the news!!

Friday, January 16, 2009

Indian Country Today

This is another article that was brought to my attention. I LOVE it. It is amazing how people get on kicks, and you can't get them off to save their lives. This is an article in the Indian Country Today regarding Campbell Brown and her comments on her No Bias No Bull Show. I want to write to CNN to let them know that I very much APPRECIATE her comments. I think she hit the nail right on the head. Let me know what you think. Here is the link to the article.

http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/36438274.html

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Good Comment

This comment was emailed to me, and I found it very educated. I am currently trying to connect with the lady who wrote it. Hope you all enjoy!!


Please, my comment isn’t racist. I have all the documentation for everything my husband and I have been trying to tell people for the last 14 years.
As the birth Mother of five enrolled members of the Leech Lake Tribe, and the legal custodian of four additional members, I stand behind the Larsons 100%. I know life on the Leech Lake Reservation very well. My husband was a member of the tribe. He passed away foour years ago, but just three weeks before he died, so week from his cancer that he needed a wheel chair, he again went to DC and told Senators that ICWA was a bad law. He also spoke at the National Press Club about it. Then he came home, spent ten days in the hospital, and was discharged to our home to die. His last strength was used fighting ICWA.
This case in Utah is NOT ISOLATED and many children and families have suffered from ICWA. Someone needs to stand up and say it is wrong! Please see more ICWA family stories at http://www.caicw.org/familystories.html
Those that think this ICWA law has any validity are insane. The only reason this law exists is because the tribal governments have been doling out millions of dollars to federal and state campaign coffers for the last 30 years. Surprise! The tribes aren’t as broke as they lead you to believe. Only trouble is, it’s YOUR money that they are buying Senators with, and it’s not being used for it’s intended purposes.
Yes, there are many constitutional attorneys and professors that say that much of Indian law is unconstitutional. Please contact me and I can refer you to some.
Importantly, look at the last US census and ask yourself why so many enrolled members have moved off the reservation.
Now, ask yourself two questions:#1) WHY have so many enrollable members moved off the reservation? As for our family and many of our relatives, the answer is that The Reservation Is No Place to Safely Raise Your Children.People without brains will try figure out some way to blame it on the “white man.” Only trouble is, MOST Enrollable members are more white than Indian. It’s easy math. Most tribes require only 1/4 blood quantum to be enrollable. SOME TRIBES have much LESS. And the Cherokee Tribe has NO required blood quantum. We have a case where a tribe has been interfering with an adoption of a child with less than 2% blood quantum. (http://www.caicw.org/familystories.html)#2) If the Tribes have so much money to pay Congressmen with, as well as attorneys to chase children down with, why aren’t they instead spending that same money on infrastructure and job growth on the reservation? What are the true priorities? Why not just develop resources and make an honest effort to move away from the federal dole? If the reservations were cleaned up, wouldn’t more people want to stay there and live? How can a government call itself Sovereign when it is constantly running to the US Congress and demanding more money? Sounds like a bunch of teenagers!So, let me wrap this little lesson up. I will use my family as an example in order to get the point across.The Tribe Does NOT Own My Family - and in Particular, MY Children.My Children are 50% Minnesota Chippewa, but they are also 1/4 German, Jewish, and a spattering pf Irish Catholic. They have OTHER relatives than just those on the reservation. MOST enrollable children have relatives of other heritage.In fact, we have German Jewish relatives that died at Auschwitz.So tell me why my children’s Native American heritage is more important than their Jewish, Irish, or Scottish heritage. Tell me why in the world the state of Minnesota has passed a law last year that says that suggests tribal heritage is more important, and that the Minnesota tribes have jurisdiction over any enrollable child, even if the child and his family don’t want to be involved with the tribe and has never had any contact or relationship with the tribe.That law affects not only my children but my grandchildren, who will all be at least 1/4 Minnesota Chippewa.For everyone screaming about tribal sovereignty…why don’t they move their families to Cass Lake, Minnesota. Enroll their kids in school there and encourage them to go play at the housing tracts.If they are not willing to raise their own children under the conditions of the Leech Lake Reservation, they shouldn’t be demanding that our children be raised there.A commenter had the nerve in a post to suggest the Larson’s had “kidnapped” this baby. Excuse me? Who the heck are the ones doing the kidnapping, but the tribes themselves that push federal and state legislators to give them all the rights to Our Children!If anyone can connect me with the Larson’s, we have lots to talk about and much work to do.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Hello All

Hello all. This is just a post to let you know I haven't stopped, or forgotten all of you. Things have been kind of stagnant the last couple weeks. We are getting back on the band wagon, and stirring things up again. Hopefully we will get back in the media and stir things up again soon. We are hoping to get more information, and more help to get little Talon back. From what we hear, he is still doing okay, though probably teething. My heart aches every day. I walked past his room Saturday, and saw his binki sitting in his crib. I lost it. It is just little things like that that set me off. Yesterday was my birthday!! Happy birthday to me. I was so blessed to be able to spend it with two of my three favorite boys. We had a couple moments of talking about Talon, Kade mentioned that he missed him, and prays every night that we can get him back. The battle still wages, and hopefully we can win, although the money goes out faster than it comes in with legal fees. Anyways...hope all is well with all of you...and please continue to spread the word.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Another site

Here is another site that seems to be on our side. This one is based out of Minnesota. Keep 'em commin'. Thank you all for your support. The battle still wages. We will keep the blog updated as best we can.

Click here: Viewing a thread - Baby Talon needs your help!! National News- Indian Adoption gone wrong!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Some pics







Thought you might enjoy some pictures. These were taken by my good friend Jeni Williams about 48 hours before they took Talon. She is an AWESOME photographer and a great friend. She lives just down the street from me and does her photography out of her basement. If you want to see more of her work her website is www.4getmenotphotography.com and she also has a blog at www.4getmenotphotos.blogspot.com . She is so much better than penny's or sears. Enjoy the pictures. I will get more up soon.

different case

Here is a different case, but I believe the same circumstances. This woman was using drugs while pregnant but her outcome was quite different. What is the difference?

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=5213117

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Another Article

Here is the link to yet another article. There are also 16 comments, which I found amusing. I think it is interesting that people can "not feel bad at all for the Larsons" when they obviously don't know the whole story. Anyways...the article was good.

Click here: Utah custody fight complicated by tribal law - TwinCities.com

Friday, January 2, 2009

Here is the local version of the radio broadcast. It is very similar but there is more in this one. It is about a minute longer.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuer/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1449561

In our defense

I would like to clear the air a bit. Several people have commented on the fact that this adoption was never finalized. I would like to say that this is true, and that we never claimed that it was. We know that this has been contested from very early in the process, but we can't simply give up when we love him so deeply. I would like to know if any of you would give up on a child you thought of as your own. We KNOW he is not biologically ours. That doesn't matter to us. He is ours in love and hope. As far as the birth mothers wishes...she told us the day after he was born that she had second thoughts, but that she realized that this was the best thing for Talon, and that she wished to go through with it. She then signed relinquishment, and went back to Minnesota to fight for her 4 year old that had been taken into state custody. We then got news a week later that the tribe was going to fight for him. We still spoke openly with the birth mother, and she said that she was trying to get the tribe to back off, and that she didn't want to disrupt the baby's life, and that all she wanted was her 4 year old back. About a month ago that all changed. PLEASE believe that our desires have NEVER been selfish. We want Talon to be cared for, and we believe that we can do that as well as anyone. Our hearts bleed every day wondering if he is okay, and if he thinks we've abandoned him. We have even considered giving up, not wanting to displace him again, but fully believe that the best place for him is with us. I hope that everyone can understand that we love him fully, and are only fighting for him. Thank you for your continued support, and please keep spreading the word.

Also, it was asked if Talon's fund was still open at Wells Fargo, and it is. Any donations can be deposited in the name of Talon Larson. This is to help with the extensive legal fees we are facing. Thank you again. I hope all of your holidays were wonderful...

and here is looking forward to a WONDERFUL 2009!!!