Spencer made some calls and got the name of Faulkner’s supervisor. The governing body of the tribe, we discovered, was an elected council and they gave administrative power to the business manager. Spencer wrote a letter to her, listing reasons we believed the Walls’ home was not safe. It included everything we could substantiate in court plus things we couldn’t.

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Letter to Beth Woodson, Tribal Business Manager, 3/7/94:

Your assistant suggested I write to explain why we believed the placement of Carley Wall in the home of Mara and Buck Wall was harmful. We will list some of the reasons, and though each one may not mean much by itself, added up they show there is something very wrong about this household. Our sources state that all statements are true and they would testify so in writing if necessary.

A family that had been close friends to the Walls reports that Mr. Wall was a heavy marijuana user and is still a heavy drinker; he was frequently violent and abusive to Mrs. Wall and their children, and the children were very afraid of him. Mrs. Wall had been treated for wounds obtained from her husband’s abuse. It was common knowledge in the neighborhood that when Mr. Wall went on hunting trips, Mrs. Wall would stay home and play around with other men.

Records show that Mr. and Mrs. Wall were separated and seeking a divorce when Carley was born. A close friend of Mrs. Wall’s said Mrs. Wall was receiving daily psychotherapy and collecting public assistance while estranged from Mr. Wall, but staying with him on weekends. She also reports Mr. Wall was being treated for schizophrenia, and that there were many fights in that home. When Dewayne Wall and our daughter, Kim, were staying with the Walls, Mr. Wall had a fight with Dewayne and threw them out.

Children’s Services Division acted on a documented case of neglect when they took Carley into protective custody, yet Kim and Dewayne are now staying with her at his parents’ house. When Carley stayed with us, it became easier to comfort her the longer she was here, and she cried only when she wanted something. Mrs. Wall told us that she lets Carley cry herself to sleep.

Mrs. Wall told us Carley had the same urinary and digestion problems Dewayne had, for which he needed an operation. She said her family doctor was going to do an upper/lower G.I. investigation. The M.D. told us he never heard that complaint; Carley was constipated and dehydrated from vomiting, probably due to incorrect feeding. Mrs. Wall has ignored the advice of Carley’s pediatrician and WIC dieticians since Carley was 3 months old, continuing to feed her solid foods.

Once when Carley was with us, we discovered Kim had been giving Carley expired antibiotics from Mrs. Wall’s prescription. Carley did not have an infection, though she was suffering from a rash over her entire diaper area that was not being treated. Kim was also giving Carley teething pain medication she had gotten from the Walls, though Carley was only 4 months old and not experiencing teething pain. Whenever we picked up Carley from the Wall’s, the clothes and bedding stank of cigarette smoke. The diaper bag and bassinet were filthy with moldy dirt, urine and feces.

CSD encouraged Kim and Dewayne to get the help they needed (parenting classes, in-home visits, rides, regular therapy sessions and doctor visits). Mrs. Wall helped them to avoid CSD, telling them that the “Indian Card” would protect them. When Carley was born, she told Kim how long to breast-feed, when to go back to school and when she should get a job. Dewayne made no real plans to do either. Mrs. Wall began stocking a room in her house with baby clothes and furniture. We believe her intentions have always been to raise Carley herself.

Kim recently told us that “Mara is alright as long as she takes her medication.” A therapist cannot prescribe medication, yet it is the therapist’s report from which it was determined Mrs. Wall is capable of taking care of Carley.

Please check into some of these issues and discuss this with us if you have questions. Even if we are not “real grandparents,” as Mr. Faulkner has told us, we have great love and concern for this innocent baby who seems to be slipping through the cracks.

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The tribe’s business manager wrote back that she had looked into it and, “without getting into confidentiality, I feel the placement is pursuant to the Indian Child Welfare Act and in this case has not been abused.”

I wrote to the Children Services Division Region Manager who was Cowan’s direct supervisor. I explained the background, the current situation and why we felt the case was dismissed prematurely. I told him that Cowan had said that “as long as a tribe was involved, there was no way CSD could be involved,” and I suggested otherwise. He wrote back a surprisingly thorough account of the actions taken by CSD thus far, which showed that he had done his job. But he, too, did not question the authority of the tribe to place Carley with the Walls “due to her blood ties and that nation’s lack of recognition for relationships based on adoption.”

A week of letter-writing and phone calls, and it finally became clear to us that we didn’t have anything big enough to break down the barrier the agency had built to protect itself. Child abuse or neglect, at least in a case that involved a tribal nation, had to be substantiated with blood or broken bones. Blood or broken bones. It was a standard we would hear repeatedly.