One thousand suns turn
bright in the dusk dimming field.
Time to rest our heads.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Monday, November 23, 2015
Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act Documentary Now Available
Our newly completed one hour long
film from producer Susan Reetz, Missing
Threads: The Story of the Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act, explores the
connection between family, tribal culture and children, and the consequences of
severing those ties.
The project began in 2012 with
initial funding from the Midwest Child Welfare Implementation Center (Lincoln,
Nebraska) which made it possible to capture interviews with two tribal social
workers, two tribal attorneys, two former Wisconsin Department of Children and
Families staff and sponsoring senator Robert Jauch (now retired). This portion
of the story outlines why all 11 Wisconsin tribes and representatives of
Wisconsin state government made the unprecedented decision to work together to
codify the federal Indian Child Welfare Act into Wisconsin law, and how the
bill was drafted, enacted and implemented.
Additional funding from the
Ho-Chunk Nation, Forest County Potawatomi Foundation and the Oneida Nation made
it possible to film in-depth interviews with a Forest County Potawatomi man and
a Ho-Chunk woman who were removed from their families as children and placed in
non-Native foster homes. These personal stories illustrate the long term impact
of a Native child’s removal from their culture and subsequent efforts to
reunite with family and tribe, and find their personal identity.
The goal of the film is to inform
viewers about the importance of maintaining connection between Native children
and their tribes and culture, and the state’s legal responsibility to make sure
proper channels and procedures are followed. It will be used to educate social
workers, attorneys, judges and the general public. It can also be used as a
road map by other states seeking to undertake their own codification of the
federal Indian Child Welfare Act.
Three hundred DVDs will be given
away to tribal and state judges, attorneys, social workers, foster care staff
and others who may have contact with a case impacted by the Wisconsin Indian
Child Welfare Act. The film will be shown at the Green Bay Film Festival (http://www.gbfilmfestival.org/filmgreenbay/)
on March 5, and by late fall it will also be available on YouTube for free
viewing. More information can be found at http://missingthreadswicwa.blogspot.com/.
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