Missing Threads documentary Trailer

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/.

Sit Awhile

Sit and rock.

The day's cares

float away on the fall wind.

The pace slows and

hassles are

hushed

by the hum of

late afternoon insects 

and the rhythmic creak

of the rocking chairs.

the fall

leaves flicker on the birch in
secret communion with the September breeze

geese flock to the quarry
their boisterous babbling carrying through
the late afternoon

children draped in sweaters
are sent the out to play in the browning grass,
sun glinting off their imaginary swords
and suits of armor

raspberries ripen

bees lumber past
dying brown eyed susans and the
days shrink
succumbing finally to the fall
constellations

Change

People pass away or move
out of our lives.
Careers end and hobbies
start.
Finances ebb and flow.
Children grow
and leave and distance
becomes the norm.
Lovers become roommates
and spring becomes fall.
All that's certain in life
is change.

GIDEON

Gideon growled happily. There was a time, in a previous life, when happiness would make him laugh, but he barely remembered those days. Today he sat still as stone watching children play as the day’s light dimmed to dusk. He admired their energy and abandon. He could never venture out of his shell that way. 

Distant notes plucked from a guitar drifted past, evoking pale memories of his younger self wooing a lovely lady. He remembered the breeze toying with her hair and the way she lifted her hand to her mouth when she laughed. And when she touched him he lit up as though a thousand suns were burning within him. 

When she agreed to become his wife he rejoiced. The entire village was invited to share their joy. And when they later learned that they had begotten a baby, there was no limit to their happiness.

As the birth drew near and the pain grew worse, his wife assured him that she loved him and that all would be well. But alas, she died, as did the child, leaving Gideon alone.

There was no comfort for him in anything. He grew quieter and quieter, stiller and stiller. After a while he ceased to move or speak at all, a thick protective wall slowly growing to encase him. And he never laughed again.  

Now, here he sits, able only to watch and hear life being lived, joy but a seldom seen memory. And he growls in what he thinks is happiness.

Inspired by this photo taken by Brin Jackson.