Red Lake Nation is mourning children whose deaths have intensified questions about Ombimindwaa Gidinawemaaganinaadog, its child welfare program. On September 10, the BIA reassumed operations under Red Lake’s self-governance compact, the same day FBI agents executed a sealed search warrant at the program’s offices.
The BIA’s September 9 notice describes the deaths of eight children since December 2021. According to the Star Tribune, one of those children was wrongly noted in the BIA notice as deceased but is in fact alive. The notice links several of the deaths to the program’s earlier placement and custody decisions. It also alleges that staff failed to report abuse to law enforcement and that the Nation refused to cooperate with federal investigators. The notice’s account of the program’s conduct has not been tested. Red Lake has appealed, and the parties are in mediation. The released version of the BIA’s notice is redacted and includes no supporting records.
In an official statement released on October 17, the Tribal Council acknowledged the grief of families who have lost children. It said some information in the BIA reassumption notice remains disputed and that it’s conducting an internal review in support of its mediation and appeal process. It also said that accountability applies to everyone serving the Nation, including elected leaders. The Council had announced the day before that Chairman Seki agreed to step down, which Seki has denied.
Red Lake’s FY 2024 report describes Ombimindwaa’s family preservation approach and notes the program had just begun using its own data system. The BIA disputes that report’s data.
The record demands answers about children’s safety, accountability within Red Lake’s government, and the federal government’s own process. It does not, by itself, establish a case against Tribal jurisdiction over child welfare generally. The answer to one program’s failures must be accountability; not a retreat from Tribal authority across Indian country.
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Editor’s note: I reviewed the BIA’s redacted notice of reassumption. Its detailed case narratives, though redacted, might still identify children and families in a small community, so I’m linking to reporting about the notice rather than to the document itself.
