skip to Main Content
Name: In re K.P.
Case #: C060327
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 3 DCA
Opinion Date: 06/22/2009
Summary

The juvenile Court is not required to investigate an unrecognized tribe’s affiliation with federally recognized tribes and provide notice to them. Mother was a member of a tribe not recognized by the federal government. On appeal from a parental rights termination, mother argued that the department violated the ICWA by failing to investigate the tribe’s affiliation with federally recognized tribes, and to provide notice to those tribes. The appellate court rejected the argument. ICWA did not apply to mother’s tribe. There was never any evidence before the juvenile court suggesting that her tribe was affiliated with a federally recognized Indian tribe. There is no authority for the contention that an agency must investigate any possible affiliation of a tribe which is not federally recognized.