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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 8-629 / 08-0439 Filed December 17, 2008

IN THE INTEREST OF A.P. and S.T., Minor Children, SAC AND FOX TRIBE OF THE MISSISSIPPI IN IOWA, Appellant. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Susan Flaherty, Associate Juvenile Judge.

A Native American tribe appeals from the juvenile courts denial of its motion to intervene in children in need of assistance proceedings. AFFIRMED.

Jeffrey S. Rasmussen of Olson, Allen & Rasmussen, Bloomington, Minnesota, and John G. Daufeldt of the Daufeldt Law Firm, P.L.C., Conroy, for appellant. David Fiester, Waterloo, for mother. Michael Lindeman, Cedar Rapids, for father. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Bruce Kempkes, Assistant Attorney General, Harold Denton, County Attorney, and Lance Heeren, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee State. Robert Kimm, Cedar Rapids, for minor children.

Heard by Eisenhauer, P.J., Doyle, J., and Zimmer, S.J.*
*Senior judge assigned by order pursuant to Iowa Code section 602.9206 (2007).

2 DOYLE, J. The Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa (Tribe) appeals from the juvenile courts denial of its motion to intervene in children in need of assistance (CINA) proceedings that involve two children it alleges are Indian children within the meaning of Iowas Indian Child Welfare Act (Iowa ICWA), Iowa Code chapter 232B (2007). Upon our review, we affirm the judgment of the juvenile court. I. Background Facts and Proceedings. A.P. and S.T. are the children of A.M.P., an enrolled member of the Tribe. It is undisputed that neither child is a member of the Tribe, nor are their fathers members of the Tribe. The State filed a CINA petition as to A.P. and S.T. in November 2007. Upon receiving notice of the proceedings, the Tribe filed motions to intervene on November 29, 2007, asserting the children were members of the Tribes community and the childrens mother was an enrolled member of tribe. See Iowa Code

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