State Ex Rel. Juvenile Department v. Cooke

Mother, a Lummi Indian, appeals a trial court order which found her children to be within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court because of her neglect of them. The court made the children wards of the court and committed them to the legal custody of the Children’s Services Division (CSD). The court recommended that the children remain in mother’s physical custody. The dispositive issue is whether the court was required to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), 25 USC §§ 1901-1963, before finding that the children were within its jurisdiction. We hold that it was required to do so…