Controversial Adoption of a Native Baby by a Utah Politician

In 2017, David Leavitt, a wealthy Utah politician, traveled to the Northern Cheyenne reservation in Montana to adopt a baby girl. Several years later, during an interview with a documentary filmmaker, Leavitt recounted how he managed to gain custody of the child, revealing a troubling approach.

Leavitt explained that he approached the tribe’s president with a proposal to facilitate an international buffalo sale, leveraging his connections. Simultaneously, he sought the tribe chief’s approval to adopt the child. This revelation surfaced when a video of the incident leaked to local TV, prompting a federal investigation into bribery allegations.

The story raised concerns about potential violations of the Indian Child Welfare Act, designed to prevent Native children from being removed from their tribes for adoption by non-Native families. Critics argued that the method used to secure custody bypassed protections meant to shield Indigenous families from such removals.

Some members of the tribe and the child’s Native family felt that this case was a clear example of a child being taken from their community under questionable circumstances. An investigation is ongoing into whether traditional safeguards were circumvented to facilitate this adoption.