1.25.080 Definitions

For purposes of the Code, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) "Child" shall mean a person under 18 years of age who is:

(1) A member of or is eligible for membership in the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, whether or not resident or domiciled on the Reservation and whether or not the subject of a child welfare proceeding in any court; or

(2) Any Indian child who is not a member of or eligible for membership in the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, but who is domiciled on the Bad River Reservation, provided that the child's parents or legal guardian consent to any jurisdiction exercised by the Bad River Tribe, except that no child who is the subject of a proceeding in any other court shall be deemed a child subject to this chapter, unless such proceeding is properly transferred to the Children's Court.

(b) "Guardian" means a person appointed by any court to be guardian of a child's person.

(c) "Custodian" means a person having care and custody of child under any arrangement with the child's parent or guardian or pursuant to order of court.

(d) "Extended family" shall include persons over 18 years of age who are a child's brother, sister, step-parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, first cousin, niece, or nephew.

(e) "Law enforcement officer" includes any tribal, state or county social worker, peace officer, military or other security official of any jurisdiction within the boundaries of the United States and Canada

(f) "Child welfare coordinator" means the director of the Indian Child Welfare Office of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians or his or her designee

(g) "Secure custody" means a locked facility approved by the child welfare coordinator and tribal attorney for the secure, temporary holding in custody of children.

(h) "Person with an interest in a child" means the child if 14 years of age or over, the child's parent, guardian, or a custodian, a member of the child's extended family, a law enforcement or conservation officer when jurisdiction under Section 1.25.060(a)(8) is alleged, and the child welfare coordinator.

(i) "Child welfare proceeding" has the meaning given to "child custody proceeding" in Title 23, United States Code 1903(1) (1992) and shall be defined to encompass all delegated and inherent power held by the Bad River tribal government applicable to child welfare proceedings.

(j) "Adoptee" is defined as the individual, child or adult who is adopted or is to be adopted.

(k) "Adoptive Parent" is defined as the person establishing or seeking to establish a permanent parent-child relationship with a child who is not their biological child.

(l) "Best Interests of the Child" is defined as:

(1) the ability of the tribe and reservation community to provide for the care of the child;

(2) the wishes of the tribe, parents, party or parties;

(3) the preference of the child if the child is of sufficient age to express a preference;

(4) the intimacy of the relationship between the parties and the child; the child's adjustment to home, school and tribal community;

(5) the length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment and the desirability of maintaining continuity;

(6) the permanence, as a family unity, of the existing or proposed adoptive home;

(7) the mental and physical health of all individuals involved;

(8) the capacity and disposition of the parties to give the child love, affection, guidance and to continue educating the child in the child's tribal culture and heritage.

(m) "Best Interests of the Tribe" is defined as a variety of factors including but not limited to the ability of the tribe and its members to provide for the child; the ability of the tribe and its members to provide for the continuation of the tribe's culture, language, history, religion, traditions and values through its children if those children are taken away and not taught these things throughout their daily lives. The ability of the Tribe to continue as a viable cultural entity will be hindered by the loss of its children. Every child is a gift from the Creator and is viewed by the Tribe as crucial to the future of the tribe as a whole.

(n) "Birth Parent" is defined as the biological parents listed on the child's birth certificate, enrollment application or acknowledged as the birth parent by law.

(o) "Customary Adoption" means a traditional tribal practice recognized by the community and tribe which gives a child a permanent parent-child relationship with someone other than the child's birth parent(s).

(p) "Final Decree of Customary Adoption" is defined as the final court order which established the permanent legal relationship between the child and the adoptive parent(s) and establishes any contact which may be allowed with the biological parent.

(q) "Final Order Suspending Parental Rights" means a final order of the court which suspends the rights of a biological parent to provide for the care, custody and control of their child. A Final Order Suspending Parental Rights may establish the parameters of contact between the birth parent and the child if that contact is in the child's best interests.

(r) "Suspension of Parental Rights" is defined as the suspension of the rights, powers, privileges, immunities, duties, and obligations existing between parent and child, as agreed by biological parent; however tribal membership, rights, privileges, entitlements, or obligations shall not be affected by such suspension for the child(ren).

(s) "Prenatal Exposed Newborn" means a child who has been exposed to addictive illicit drugs or prescription drugs or alcohol while in the womb and exhibits symptoms consistent with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome after birth, or the child or the mother tests positive for addictive illicit drugs or addictive prescription drugs during the pregnancy or shortly after the child's birth. Addictive illicit and prescription drugs include, but are not limited to: amphetamine, including methamphetamine,, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine and its metabolites, marijuana, opiates, narcotics and opioids, such as fentanyl, oxymorphone, hydromorphone, codeine, dihydrocodeine, ethylmorphine, hydromorphone, hydrocodone, morphine, methadone, and buprenorphine. The definition “Prenatal Exposed Newborn” does not include children whose sole exposure to addictive prescription substances comes through medication provided to the mother during labor and childbirth.