Sunday, March 20, 2011

Starting your search for CIB, Birth Certificate for self or child. (some of my first steps)

by Leland P. Morrill:  Adopted Native American Citizenship Affected by The REAL ID Act of 2005 on Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 8:54am
This is in derived from the Lisa Grant Paris's concern about her children. (FACEBOOK PAGE COMMENT)
My first inclination is, a parent of adopted "unrecognized" , interpreting this as undocumented, native american children should start by obtaining documentations such as a Certificate of Indian Blood, Delayed Birth Certificate, and inquiring through the childrens' "native" Nation Trial Court Judicial District where they were adopted out of. Another place to start would be that Nations Vital Statistics Office. I am going to use the Navajo Nation as example for this entry as I am Navajo, and my research has been to gain/retain legal U.S. Citizenship and also to become a member of the Navajo Nation as a result of the passage of the Real ID Act of 2005. It is important for parents of adopted Native American children have the CIB (Certificate of Indian Blood) or Census Number or a U.S. State issued Birth Certificate for your child as these are required documents for them throughout their lives and may affect their legal and financial status/abilities as adults.

The first document to check would be the child's "Final Judgement of Adoption". On mine there is a space next to my name for a "C#" (Census Number). Today's Adoption documents may have a(C.I.B.)Certificate of Inidan Blood Number there.  If there is one, your child may be a member of that "tribal" Nation. Call/write to that Nation's District/Family Court.
Where do I start?!?
Tops of my letters from the Navajo Nation Chinle District/Family Court, Final Judgement of Adoption, State of Arizona "Certificate of No Birth
In my case I wrote to the Navajo Nation Judicial Branch Chinle District Court to inquire about my court document forms. There will be a fee involved, make sure to pay the fees as you go along.  I had requested a copy of my Final Judgement of Adoption because I needed to send copies to the Navajo Nation Vital Statistics office, The State of Arizona Vital Statistics Office, and The State of New Mexico Vital Statistics Office  as required documentation to start my application process for a native CIB & a State issued "DELAYED" Birth Certificate. (NOTE: I did not have documentation of my birth place so I contacted multiple states the Navajo Nation borders) 
The Chinle District Court and Chinle Family Court (NAVAJO NATION) contact information is:
Chinle District Court
(Chinle Family Court is also at this same address and phone number)
Post Office Box 547
Chinle, Arizona 86503
520-574-2070/2071
FAX 520-674-2089

Get additional copies of your child's (or your) Final Judgement of Adoption because you will need a few copies to send out. In my case I neededcopies for the Navajo Nation Vital Statistics, State of Arizona Vital Statistics and New Mexico Vital Statistics because I didn't know where I was born. You will find downloadable online forms for each U.S. State Vital Statistics office to send with your documentation to request a birth certificate or to start your search. You will need to send money for the fee (I sent a money order), a "Request for Copy of Birth Search Application" (downloaded), copy of your State Issued Identification (and perhaps your social security card) and a copy of the Final Judgement of Adoption -or whatever documentation you have to start the search. 

For your Native Nation Vital Statistics office, look online for that phone number and address. Make a courtesy call and ask them the process. Start by sending in all the documentation you have, even if it is just the Final Judgement of Adoption. The Nation may have downloadable documents or they may have to physically fax, send a pdf/word file, or manually send  a "snail-mail" document to you. Here you will want to send as much information as you can or have. They should be able to assess where you are in the process and continue from there with you. NOTE: There may be cultural differences and language barriers so please make sure you are very clear in communicating with them and make sure they understand what you are saying. In my case, I had to talk to 5 people and two different Navajo Nation Vital Statistics offices to convey my message and to document the receipt of my documentation.

A real good tip here. Many documents go to POST OFFICE BOXES. Send these documents CERTIFIED MAIL and track them online. In my case this was valuable as the State of Arizona "claimed" to have lost my documentation at one point and also the Navajo Nation Window Rock Vital Statistics office was very slow in "receiving", checking their post office box, logging in the mail & opening it up & getting back to me. Make sure to go online to USPS Tracking and checking when the documents were delivered to the post office box assigned to the sending address. CALL and verify the receipt of your package. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY it is received and looked at in a timely manner. Tell the representative at each office you sent the packages Certified Mail & share the tracking number and information with them. 

Keep in constant communication with the offices where you send your documentation. Do not be timid, be clear with your message and ask for direct phone numbers, email addresses and contact information. "Log" each name, date and time you speak with a representative as this will aid in your research. I always ask first and last name, sometimes you will only get a first name. A good tip here: When calling, be prepared, have a piece of paper, pen or your computer ready to take notes. When you call and they introduce their office and name, write it down, log the time, this will save you from having to ask their name. You will also then be able to include their name and make it more personable, complimenting the representative by "remembering" their name in the conversation. Be sure to be polite, use "please" and "thank you".

Follow the offices directives when given instructions. Follow these to the letter. Each office has a a specific way of doing things and follow their instructions. If you do not know these, ASK. It is in your best interest to know.  Each office will guide you. The more you know, the better your experience will be.

<span>Sources useful for this document/note are:</span>
NOTE: I am currently attempting to find funding sources for this page and my blog to help people affected by THE REAL ID ACT of 2005, Adopted Native Americans, Navajo's adopted outside of the Navajo Nation or other Natives adopted outside of their respective nations. If you know of GRANTS available, are able to help write a grant please email me. OR if you know of any funding sources, or are interested in helping out please also email me.
Subject: REAL ID ACT 2005 email to: lelandpmorrill@gmail.com

"LIKE" my page and share it. Please comment as this entry is in direct response to a question. 
Thank you for reading!!
Leland P. Morrill
Email: lelandpmorrill@gmail.com
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)