Dakota County celebrates opening of Indian Child Welfare Act Court

Dakota County, Minnesota, is celebrating the opening of a new court Tuesday with a specific focus on Indigenous communities.

County officials say the Indian Child Welfare Act Court was established in the effort of building trust with tribal nations by ensuring decisions concerning Indigenous children are made with cultural understanding and respect.

The celebration began at noon at Hastings High School, featuring an inaugural flag ceremony including the flags of the sovereign nations within Minnesota's state boundaries, and a performance by the Little Horse Singers drum group.

The county says the court implements provisions from both the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 and the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act, passed at the State Capitol in 1999. 

Minnesota is among the states with a history of forcibly removing Indigenous children from their families and subjecting them to years in boarding schools that aimed to erase Native cultures, inflicting centuries of intergenerational trauma. The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates hundreds of children died of abuse in the more than 400 federal boarding schools across the country between 1819 and 1969. 

Minnesota was among the states with the most schools, operating in Leech Lake, White Earth and Red Lake nations, as well as near the Twin Cities and in the St. Cloud area.

"The opening of the ICWA Court in Dakota County marks a meaningful step forward in developing positive outcomes for Native children in the child protection system," said First Judicial District Chief Judge Christopher Lehmann. 

The county laid out these five criteria for the court:

• Proactively build relationships of trust with Tribal Nations
• Partner with culturally relevant services to support Native families
• Empower parents with lived experience to inform ICWA Court practice
• Engage Tribes fully, meaningfully, and with respect for Tribal Sovereignty and each Tribal Nation's culture
• Effectively engage families by reducing barriers to participation and fostering a courtroom atmosphere that facilitates engagement.

The celebration will be livestreamed on the Minnesota Judicial Branch website.