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About: Lisa

 

I have been the birth mother to five, adoptive mother to one, adopted mother of one, custodial mother to three, and stepmother to an additional four members of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.

I was raised in a middle-class suburb in Minnesota, lived for almost 20 years in western Montana, and seven years in Alberta. I've lived in a major metropolitan area, two Indian reservations, three small towns, and seven years on a Bible College campus. I have also earned an Associate of Science Degree (Registered Nurse), a B.A. in Christian Ministries, and a Diploma of Bible and Missions.

Just prior to my husband's passing, he asked me if I had been happy with him and the life we had had together. I paused briefly before responding. Several days earlier I'd been thinking about that very thing. So I regathered those thoughts and answered, "It's true that we've had rough times together. But we've also traveled through most of the states and been from one end of America to the other; from the Atlantic to the Pacific. We've lived in Canada and helped at a children's home in Mexico. We've slept in some of the best hotels and eaten at the best restaurants - in Windsor B.C and Washington DC for example - and have slept on floors and eaten nothing but commodities on the reservation. We have great friends all over the place - even some around the world. We also have some pretty interesting enemies. All in all - I think we've had a pretty rich life together.

With that, tenseness left him and he visibly relaxed back in his pillow.

We'd been politically involved for several years. Prior to my husband's passing, we'd visited DC several times to speak to Congressmen about federal Indian policy and specifically the Indian Child Welfare Act, an unconstitutional mandate making it harder for families of heritage to choose to keep their children off the reservation.

Because of this, several reservation leaders as well as the Montana Human Rights Network had labeled us as racists. This, despite the fact that my husband was 100% Minnesota Chippewa. No, race wasn't an issue for us. Corrupt and controlling government was - and is - the issue.

My husband is gone, but the issues remain. There's much to write about.

 

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