VIDEO: Rusty Page of Santa Clarita speaks about DCFS placing foster daughter Lexi, 6, in Utah, Philip Browning, director of the DCFS, said the law does not allow him to comment on details regarding specific children. But the court then declined the request last week pending appeal, McGill said. DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The custody battle over a 6-year-old girl heated up on Friday, as a state appeals court heard arguments from both sides. Track SoCal rain with LIVE Megadoppler 7000 HD. The little girl has a tiny bit of Choctaw ancestry just 1.5 percent and under federal law the Choctaw Nation can decide her fate. Lexi, whose birth family is part Choctaw,has lived with Summer and Rusty Page in their home in Santa Clarita, Calif., since she was 2 years old, but the court decided that it would be in her best interest to place her with relatives in Utah where she could be near her native American extended family. Your subscription to Omissions? Real news, real hope. The horrible crash happened Monday afternoon just after 3:30 p.m. in an area of rural Collinsville near North Bluff Road. Choctaw, North American Indian tribe of Muskogean linguistic stock that traditionally lived in what is now southeastern Mississippi. . "The Choctaw Nation has advocated for Lexi to live with her family since 2011. In 1978, before Native Americans became the preferred designation for Indians, but when racial identity was beginning to become the toxic political concept it now is, Congress enhanced tribal rights. Lexi was ripped away from the only family she has ever known because of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The Christian Science Monitor has expired. and we can't stand idly by while that happens,' Rusty told Fox 11. In a disturbing video from KTLA, Lexi screamed, begging Rusty, 'don't let them take me away', as she was removed from her family. Some people are upset at the way iPhones charge. (Page 8), January, 2013 Lexis attorney opposed Lexis move to Utah, issuing a Do Not Remove order to prevent Lexi from being moved. The brutal racial politics of the Indian Child Welfare Act, Sign up for a weekly roundup of thought-provoking ideas and debates. ", Lexi has celebrated four birthdays with the Page family and "has woken up in their home every Christmas morning she can remember," the legal team also noted, adding that "Our clients have been the only consistent source of love, nurturing, parenting, and protection she has received her entire life.". She has a loving relationship with them,shesaid. That figure means that Lexi's home placement is . Lexi: Directed by Victoria Vertuga. Lexi, who spent most of her life with California foster parents, was removed from her home on Monday under a court order that concluded her native American blood requires her placement with relatives in Utah. This message will appear once per week McGill said a social workernotified the Pages onWednesday that Lexi had safely reached herUtah home, though thats all theyve heard.. Girl who is part Choctaw taken from Santa, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Girl who is part Choctaw taken from Santa Clarita foster familys home, LA City Council approves $54M boost to fund LAPD officers who police on Metro, Man charged with hiding explosive in suitcase at Pa. airport; Allegiant flight was bound for Florida, Southern Californians react to rare, low-altitude snow, Long Beach officers will be required to work an overtime shift each month, chiefs memo says, L.A. Countys Department of Children and Family Services), National Indian Child Welfare Association, Southern California home sales fall to all-time low, DA Gascn suspends attorney who prosecuted transgender child molester, Reports: Kings trade Quick to Blue Jackets, acquire Korpisalo, Gavrikov, Southern Californias mountain towns remain buried under snow with more on the way, Former CHP officer charged with assaulting woman during traffic stop near Santa Clarita, Some California cities cant stop apartment projects as developers use builders remedy, Killer keto? In the mid-18th century, there were 20,000 Choctaw living in 60 or 70 settlements along the Pearl, Chickasawhay, and Pascagoula rivers. Lexi shows her face by telling the junior deckhand to "take [his] Afrikaans ass and go the f-k away." (For the record, this is simply further proof that she has no idea what she's talking . The Indian-removal process continued. The Childrens Court of LA County is the court that rules in favor of ICWA over the child. Amazing. Lexis court-appointed lawyers emphasize that she will have two biological sisters nearby after the move: one of her sisters lives with the same family, and another lives a few houses away. But the clash between a caring family, and a cultural community, is heightened in this case because the family Lexi is being sent to is not nativeAmerican: they are related to her father by marriage. She finally knows what mom and dad means and they want to take that away from her. When first encountered by Europeans, the Choctaw were located in three geographic divisions in the area that is now Mississippi and western Alabama. From the age of 9 months until almost 3, Laurynn was in a North Dakota ministers foster care. In 1992 a group of twenty-two Irish men and women walked the 600-mile Trail of Tears, raising $1,000 for every dollar given by the Choctaw in 1847. Today, the nation is reverting in the name of social justice and equity understood as improved social outcomes for government-favored groups to a retrograde emphasis on racial identities. The family is planning to file a petition with the California Supreme Court to keep Lexi in California, their attorney Lori Alvino McGill told the Daily News. This article was published more than1 year ago. But you know what? Picture of the Choctaw Native Indian The above picture depicts Mushulatubbee, meaning "Determined to Kill" who was a Chief of the Choctaw. You may recognize 23-year-old Lexi Hensler from your TikTok "For You" Page, or that time she picked a boyfriend for her best friend, Pierson Wodzynski, on Bestie Picks Bae. The Pages have been fighting that decision for several years, and want to adopt Lexi, but an appeals court found they "had not proven by clear and convincing evidence that it was a certainty the child would suffer emotional harm by the transfer." Where is Lexi page now 2021? Our hearts are broken and we are trying to make sense of everything that has happened with our three other children who witnessed their sister Lexi forcefully ripped away from our family by strangers Children with disrupted attachment histories: Interventions and psychophysiological indices of effects, Understanding Attachment in Young Children (PDF Download). 'As a grandmother, it's ripping my heart. How much do you know about California? Sometimes with dire consequences. Discover what happened to the Choctaw tribe with facts about their wars and history. The Facts. Please help #bringlexihome The issues escalated when Mathew Shea and Lexi later got into a fight during dinner. unless you renew or The petition and request for a stay werefiled Tuesday; the Pages have asked thatLexi bereturned to California until hercaseisdecided. Copyright 2016 Save Our Lexi, All Rights Reserved. Rusty Page carries Lexi while Summer Page, in the background, cries as members of family services (l.) arrive to take Lexi away from her foster family in Santa Clarita, Calif., Monday. Get stories that empower and uplift daily. The court decision rests on a federal law meant to protect native American children's best interests, but the Pagesargue that it has been misapplied in Lexi's case and is forcing her to be ripped from theonly family that she has ever known.. Rupert Murdoch isnt sinking the Fox News legal case. Were the bran muffin of journalism. A Choctaw Miko (chief) was quoted by the Arkansas Gazette . What happened yesterday should never happen . Lexi, who has only ever know the Pages as her parents, is one-and-a-half per cent Choctaw Native American. Others believe that the current foster care system does the same thing. The law has led to some emotional, high-profile cases, including one in 2016 in which a court ordered that a young Choctaw girl named Lexi be removed from a California foster family and placed with her father's extended family in Utah. The law is very clear that siblings should be kept together whenever they can be and they should be placed together even if they were not initially together., VIDEO: Lexi, who is part Choctaw, is taken away from her foster family in Santa Clarita. The Choctaw Nation, far from their seemingly harmless statement earlier in the week, stated that they advocated for Lexi's placement with the Utah family.. Because of an arbitrary law its ripping her from a stable environment, he said. Even as Lexi continues to bounce back and forth through the legal system, Ralph Richard Banks, a professor at Stanford Law School, said she may be gone for good from California, telling the Associated Press that once a Native American child has been placed with aNative American family, it is unlikely that the child will be returned. In 2015, this column acquainted readers with Declan Stewart and Laurynn Whiteshield. About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review under the charming heading of do things that dont interest you: Many things that end up being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. Copyright 2023 KABC Television, LLC. The Pages had explored that heritage before Lexi was placed with them, and they made an effort to teach Lexi Choctaw language and stories. A happy, thriving six-year-old girl was forcibly removed from the people she knows as her parents because of a terribly misguided interpretation of a federal law that was designed to keep families together, not tear them apart. Youll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com. Everyone except DCFS social worker, Roberta Javier, who felt there would be no trauma breaking Lexis primary bond & attachment. The law is very clear that siblings should be kept together whenever they can be and they should be placed together even if they were not initially together.. Updates? The ICWA requires that Indian children be placed with Indian foster families. And Lexi is part Choctaw, a federally recognized American Indian tribe, which means the Indian Child Welfare Act's placement preferences applied. 'Quite frankly, when Lexi is old enough to understand what happened to her, I think that would lead to resentment of her heritage, not embracing of the culture,' Rusty told ABC 7. Rescue them. The family has been waiting for five years for all of them to be together. contact customer service Science Monitor has expired. Lexi is now with her extended family and her biological sister in Utah. The unnecessary mentions of her 1/64th Choctaw ancestry were regurgitated like standards written on a chalkboard, and when 1/64th transformed into 1.5% that was regurgitated by supporters as well. Page told KNX-AM radio. Her paternal grandmother informed the court that he was enrolled in the tribe. (Page 10), All parties agreed that a transition would pose a risk of trauma, including depression & anxiety (that was 3 years ago). The child, Lexi, sobbed, clinging to her foster father Rusty Page as he reluctantly fought through a crowd to hand the child over to the Department of Children and Families inSanta Clarita. Here is what was stated in the COA document: " The tribe consented to the girl's placement with a non-Indian foster family to facilitate efforts to reunify the girl with her father.". The National Indian Child Welfare Association said in a statement Monday that it was disturbed by a flurry of negative media attention regarding the attempted reunification of a child with her family in Utah.. The horrifying scene came days after Rusty and his wife Summer were denied an emergency stay to keep the part-Native American child. Another sister of the girl will be living down the street, she said. The department did not officially request expedited placement until November 2012, one year after Lexi was placed with the Pages & thoroughly bonded/attached. Lexi will never be the same; shell be changed forever, longtime family friend Claire Stitz of Camarillo said tearfully as she walked back to her car after the girl was removed. I come outside to cry and go back inside to play in the backyard with them,' he said. Staff Photographer David Crane contributed to this report. ICWA gives a higher preference to family members . Lexi, who has only ever know the Pages as her parents, is one-and-a-half per cent Choctaw Native American. On Monday morning, a crowd of more than 50 people holding signs and singing hymns still stood in solidarity with the Page family. The Choctaw are known for their distinctive head-flattening. As Lexi was being ripped away from her family, the Pages legal team filed with the California Supreme Court for emergency relief and for the states highest court to hear the case. The Indian Child Welfare Act, enacted in 1978, is meant to protect nativechildrens opportunity to grow up with their own extended family, or another Native family, to foster their sense of identity and their understanding of their culture. Where is Lexi page now? We will continue to expeditiously pursue our appeal through the state courts in California, and, if necessary, to the U.S. Supreme Court. "She has a loving relationship with them," said Leslie Heimov, from the Children's Law Center of California, the girls court-appointed legal representatives. Less than six weeks later she was dead, having been thrown down an embankment by the grandfathers wife, who had a record of child abuse. An update on major political events, candidates, and parties twice a week. (Page 28). They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Thousands of people died along the way. Save Lexi. Choctaw Stickball PlayerThe Choctaw Indians once lay claim to millions of acres of land and established some 50 towns in present-day Mississippi and western Alabama. She said, Dont let them take me. Graham and lena Kelly, Lexis foster aunt and uncle, break down in the street after family services came to take Lexi away from her foster family. The foster parents have appealed the court order issued earlier this month affirming the child was to be placed with the Utah couple. The tribe and parents or Indian custodian of the Indian child have an unqualified right to intervene in a case involving foster care placement or the termination of parental rights . 1832 The Treaty of Payne's Landing began the process for removal of the Seminoles of . It was painted by the famous artist George Catlin (1796-1872) in 1838. Lexi, who is 1.5 percent, or 1/64 Choctaw, was six years old when she was taken from her foster home near Los Angeles in a tearful parting last March. Social workers removed Lexi from the home Monday afternoon, before the Pages filed for relief in the California Supreme Court,McGill said. LOS ANGELES (CN) - A California court of appeals delivered a fresh blow to a foster family seeking custody of a 6-year-old Native American girl, finding it in her best interest to live with her extended family in Utah. Before enactment, as many as 25 to 35 percent of all Indian children were being removed from their Indian homes and placed in non-Indian homes, with presumably the absence of Indian culture. Horrible crash happened Monday afternoon, before the Pages & thoroughly bonded/attached the crash. The girl will be living down the street, she said North American Indian of... Of thought-provoking ideas and debates and edit content received from contributors been waiting for five years All! Request for a stay werefiled Tuesday ; the Pages & thoroughly bonded/attached Stewart and Laurynn Whiteshield was. 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