Tribe Has No Right to Part-Indian Child of Cypress Mother, Court Told

A California attorney told a Canadian court Thursday that the Aleut Indian tribe in Alaska has no custodial right to a 6-month-old, part-Indian baby whose mother is from Cypress.

The lawyer, Marc Gradstein, said in a sworn affidavit to the British Columbia Supreme Court that the U.S. Indian Child Welfare Act does prefer that native Indian children be placed with their extended families. But he added that the act’s provision does not apply to a child who had no ties to its Indian home or culture, particularly in the case where the birth mother has not lived with the tribe.

The court is deciding the case of Jodi Argleben, an 18-year-old unwed mother from Cypress whose child was placed with a prospective adoptive Vancouver couple three months ago.