About this site

ICWA-aki is an independent newsletter launched in August 2026 by Kate Fort. This will mostly be about Indian Child Welfare Act related matters, but I interpret that very broadly, and might also include anything related to what I'm up to (see the About me below).

If you subscribe today, you'll get full access to the website as well as email newsletters with new content. If you don't subscribe, you should still get full access to the website. I don't have any plans to ask for paid subscriptions to this--I'd like to keep it accessible as long as I can afford to pay for it.

This site is in no way affiliated with Michigan State University College of Law. The writing on this site does not reflect the views of Michigan State University or the College of Law. Just me, having opinions I decide I'm ethically allowed to post about while I happen to work at MSU.

About me

First, I am the Director of the Indian Law Clinic at MSU College of Law. We represent tribes in Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) cases in state and federal courts, including the most recent Supreme Court case, Haaland v. Brackeen. This is the work I'm most known for, as well as my writing and researching and presenting on ICWA. I also have an outdated casebook, American Indian Children and the Law, that needs a second edition desperately. And the Clinic also provides significant legal clerking support to Tribal appellate courts all over the country, which means my secondary area of expertise has become Tribal court systems.

I also teach a podium class (on ICWA) and write law review articles. And read ICWA cases, and keep them catalogued in a spreadsheet. And keep a spreadsheet of ICWA state laws. And work with different groups around the country on ICWA related matters. You get the drift. I have, periodically, taught ICWA at other law schools, including Montana and OU.

Second, I'm the current Director of the Law Clinic at MSU College of Law, which is confusing, because it means I am a double director, title-wise. This just means I am in charge of the administrative aspects of our clinical law program.

Third, I am a consultant with The Whitener Group, a Native-owned company based in Olympia, Washington. I do a lot of work with Tribal Courts in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest in this role, as well as with state Court Improvement Programs.

Fourth, I am the Reporter for the Uniform Law Commission State Indian Child Welfare Act committee. While that role is officially concluding this October, I continue to spend a lot of time with the Act and hopefully assisting states and Tribes with enacting it. I have a feeling I'll be talking about it a lot in the next few years.

Access all areas

By signing up, you'll get access to the full archive of everything that's been published before and everything that's still to come. Your very own private library. Well, it's not private or your own, but it is a library of sorts, I guess. That said, this is also not a comprehensive storage site for all ICWA cases. Links may break over time to state decisions or state policies or news stories. I'm trying to focus on the writing rather than the content moderation.

Fresh content, delivered . . . periodically

Stay up to date with new content sent straight to your inbox! No more worrying about whether you missed something because of a pesky algorithm or news feed. Personally, I get too many emails so I understand if you'd rather not. But my goal is to only send things out once a week or so in a newsletter format, not post daily updates.

This is a place to let you know about new cases, new laws, viral posts, and certain jobs. Like the ladies at the Sports Gossip Show used to say, I'm doing this all myself. If you have a posting for a legal and ICW-related job, I'm happy to include a link or contact information in one of the newsletters.