A Red Lake Nation welcome sign on State Highway 1 on the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota. Photo: Lorie Shaull / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
This story discusses allegations of child abuse and neglect, including child deaths.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs took over Red Lake Nation’s child welfare program on Sept. 10, citing what it called a pattern of inaction, according to a federal document released to MPR News through a public records request.
The 11-page Reassumption Notice, signed by Interior Department official Kennis M. Bellmard II, sets out the federal government’s legal justification for assuming control of Ombimindwaa Gidinawemaaganinaadog, the nation’s child welfare agency. Red Lake Nation has operated the program since 1997 under a self-governance compact with the federal government.
What the notice alleges
The notice describes the deaths of as many as eight children since 2021 and alleges that the program’s inaction contributed to five of them, MPR News reported. It accuses the agency of failing to report suspected abuse to law enforcement, of an “outright refusal” to cooperate with federal authorities and of “actively impeding investigations.” It also alleges that the program’s reports to the Minnesota Legislature contained “unrealistic data” on declines in maltreatment reports, and that the agency employed people with serious criminal convictions in violation of federal child protection law.
The released notice includes no supporting records, MPR News reported. Names of children and tribal employees were redacted.
The program had previously described its work as effective. In its 2024 annual report to the Minnesota Legislature, the program’s executive director said child maltreatment reports had fallen by half that fiscal year.
The notice took effect the same day FBI agents executed a search warrant at the Ombimindwaa building. The notice does not mention the search, and neither the FBI nor Red Lake Nation has said whether the two are connected. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota said the warrant remains sealed.
The nation’s response
In a statement to MPR News, Holly Cook Macarro, Red Lake Nation’s media contact, said the nation “is cooperating fully with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and is committed to ensuring every child and family receives the care and protection they deserve.”
The statement said Red Lake has filed an appeal of the reassumption decision and that “the Nation and the BIA have agreed to mediation. Because this matter is ongoing, we are unable to comment further at this time.”
Federal law entitles a tribe to a hearing before an administrative law judge within 10 days of a reassumption unless it agrees to a later date. The nation reopened its human services building a week after the takeover. In an Oct. 3 social media post, it said, “We fully expect there will be difficult conversations and challenges ahead as we continue working with the BIA.”
Sovereignty and responsibility
Federal reassumption of a tribally run program sits at a difficult intersection. Self-governance compacts are among the most important tools tribal nations have used since the 1970s to take back control of services that federal agencies once ran, often badly. Child welfare is at the core of that work: The Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in 1978 precisely because state and federal systems had removed Native children from their families at staggering rates.
At the same time, sovereignty carries the duty to protect a nation’s most vulnerable citizens. The allegations in the notice are serious, and they remain allegations; the nation has appealed, and the mediation and any hearing will test the federal account.
Tewatati will follow the appeal and report on its outcome.
Source: MPR News.
.jpg){kind=link}