Dusten Brown holding his daughter, Veronica.
Monday, the battle for Baby Veronica came to an end. With guns in tow, US Marshals took the screaming child from her biological father—from her Nation—and placed her with the adoptive couple in South Carolina. “The Court of the Great White Father” never allowed a “best interest” hearing, and by doing so, disregarded Native sovereignty and condoned intergenerational -cultural genocide. Therefore, “The Court of the Great White Father” asserts that Baby Veronica’s best interest is to be placed in a world that is better for her—a world only an affluent, white family can give her. Native communities came together to fight for Veronica, to no avail. When the Great White Father wants something to happen—by God, no one can stop it.
This case is all sorts of racism, sexism, and classism being fueled by a Right-wing narrative that the Puritans themselves couldn’t have created. Change the variables of race, gender, and class and you can really see how messed up this case is: Would a mother have to fight this hard and long to have her biological daughter back? Would a white-military man have to fight like this at a chance to have his daughter? Would an affluent biological parent have these issues? The answer is. Hell No!
The funny thing, if you could call it funny, was the lack of outcry from anyone other than Native folks. The Native activists discourse has been a good one, a strong one but–compared to the amount of crap mainstream media has produced—it hasn’t even made a dent. Obviously, this case has marginalization of the classes/races/genders written all over it. So where was the outrage from mainstream activists?
Where were the civil right allies, pissed that a Native man—a soldier even—was fighting for his daughter? Where were the Feminists, pissed that an unwed father had no rights to his biological daughter, pissed of the blatant patriarchy of the case and pissed of the dismissive media who saw the father as a lazy, no-good Indian? Where were our liberal-lefties who saw an Evangelical adoption agency circumvent all laws and ethical protocol in placing Baby Veronica up for adoption?
Where were they? Where are they? I’m not saying that Natives need white Saviors, I’m saying that allies are the greatest invention in history. The more voices, the louder we can be.
This case is the fulfilling of a systematic venture to kill the American Indians. We have been defeated. Without our children—we have nothing left. Laws, like the Indian Child Welfare Act, have been gutted before our very eyes. How does an Indian trust the government? The laws that were enacted to protect us were disregarded and trampled upon. Treaties continue to go unchecked.
Can you imagine how this case has made me feel? Everything I do, my school work, my hope for my people’s brighter future—is futile. I have to come to terms that things like this most likely will happen again. I’m terrified to have children of my own—what if they are taken from me? All I can do is to continue to walk the Red Road, being the best I can be and more importantly, making it possible for my people to reach their goals. I need to come to terms with what has transpired.
I will—hopefully.
I will—just give me time.
I want to thank the countless lawyers, activists, tribal members, and allies for their support over the past 2 years. I also want to say a prayer for the Brown family during this difficult time. I pray for Veronica, that she will grow up healthy and strong. Our hearts go with you. Be safe.
Rambling Navajo Girl 