The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma will fight a request for $1 million in fees in an Indian Child Welfare Act case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The tribe defended its rights and the rights of Dusten Brown, a tribal citizen who was forced to give up his daughter to a non-Indian couple. They are now being accused of ignoring a court order to finalize the adoption in South Carolina.

“It seems to be a warning to fathers and to tribes,” Cherokee Nation Assistant Attorney General Chrissi Nimmo told the Associated Press. “Don’t fight for your children, or we will ruin you financially.”

Nimmo pointed out that some of the attorneys who are seeking $1 million in fees said they were working on the case on a pro bono basis, or for free. Two of them -- Lisa Blatt and Lori Alvino McGill -- are Washington, D.C., attorneys whose law firms have worked with tribes or have sought business from tribes.

Get the Story:
Tribe to argue sovereignty in legal-fee demand (AP 11/8)
Cherokee Nation AG criticizes bid to collect legal fees in Baby Veronica case (The Tulsa World 11/7)
Cherokee Nation Reacts To Capobiancos' Over $1M Lawsuit (News on 6 11/6)
Capobiancos suing Baby Veronica's biological father Dusten Brown, Cherokee Nation for $1M in fees (KJRH 11/5)

Related Stories:
Attorneys want $1M from Cherokee father and Cherokee Nation (11/6)
Group calls for adoption reforms in wake of ICWA controversy (11/4)
Highlights from Day 2 of National Congress of American Indians (10/16)
Opinion: Demand investigation of adoption of Indian children (10/14)
Sandy White Hawk: 'Let them go. Someday they'll come back' (10/11)
Cherokee Nation father to drop appeals in bitter adoption fight (10/10)