Adam N., a Minor

In re ADAM N., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. SACRAMENTO COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JAMES N., Defendant and Appellant.
No. S093804 C.A. 3rd, No. C034929 California Supreme Court Filed January 24, 2001
        Petition for review DENIED.
        The Reporter of Decisions is directed not to publish in the Official Appellate Reports the opinion in the above entitled appeal filed November 7, 2000, which appears at 84 Cal.App.4th, 846. (Cal. Const., art. VI, section 14; rule 976, Cal. Rules of Court.)



(Editor Note - For your convenience we reprint below the Daily Journal's Ruling Column brief that summarized the earlier decision of the lower court.)


NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS
Father who fails to establish child's membership in Indian tribe is not entitled to reversal of custody ruling.
3rd District California Court of Appeal
        James N. is the father of two minor children. A dependency hearing was held because James allegedly could not care for the children. James believes that he has Blackfeet Indian heritage. Under the Indian Child Welfare Act, when a child of Indian ancestry is subject to a court proceeding, the child's tribe must be notified. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) sent a notice of the dependency hearing to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but not to the Blackfeet Tribe. During the hearing, a social worker opined that James' connection to the Tribe was too remote to fall under the Act. James' parental rights were terminated, but he argued that DHHS failed to satisfy the notice requirement of the Act by failing to notify the Blackfeet Tribe.
        Affirmed. Under the Act, an "Indian child" is a member of a tribe. Alternatively, an "Indian child" is eligible for membership in a tribe and the biological child of a member of a tribe. James made an unsupported assertion that he believed he has Blackfeet heritage on his maternal side. This is insufficient to trigger the notice requirements of the Act. James failed to establish that his children are members of or eligible for membership in the Blackfeet tribe. James failed to establish that he has assumed the obligations of tribal membership. The only reasonable inference is that James is not a member of the Blackfeet tribe. Thus, DHHS was not required under the Act to notify the tribe of the dependency hearing.
        In re Adam N., C.A. 3rd, No. C034929, filed November 7, 2000, by Scotland, J.
        The full text of this case appears in 98 Daily Journal D.A.R. 11917, November 9, 2000.