CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SANTA ANA : Indians Seek Ruling in Adoption Dispute

The Aleut Indian tribe has asked Santa Ana Superior Court to order the arrest of a woman member of the tribe if she refuses to let a tribal family raise her child. Court documents show that the Akhiok Tribal Council wants a judge to declare that Jodi Argleben, 18, broke the law when she gave her 5-month-old baby up for adoption by a Canadian couple. The council contends that under a 1978 law designed to preserve Indian families and customs, the tribe has the right to assure that the child, if put up for adoption, is raised by an Aleut family. Argleben, who was reared by a non-Indian family, said she has the right to determine how the child will be raised.