Memorial planned for attorney who fought for justice for Tribal children

Dana Hanna dedicated his life to fighting for justice.

He began his legal career as a prosecutor in Nebraska before moving to New York City. His heart was pulled back to the Midwest where he hoped he could help make a difference.

“He was dedicated to justice,” said Stephen Pevar, an American Civil Liberties Union Attorney for 45 years who worked closely with Hanna for many years. “He wanted to help people and especially the tribes and their members.”

Hanna was driven to use his career to help tribal members, especially children. Most notably, his work ensuring the Indian Child Welfare Act was enforced properly forever changed the way indigenous foster children are treated in Pennington County. 

After spending five years as the Attorney General for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Hanna had moved to Rapid City and entered private legal practice. Not long after opening his office in Rapid City, Hanna noticed a problem in the way children in Native American families were being treated when state courts took action to remove them from their homes.

For years, prosecutors and social workers had worked to remove children of tribal members from their families without recognizing the rights that the Indian Child Welfare Act afforded these families. When he met resistance, Hanna worked with Pevar to file suit. 

They won on the issues but a detail allowed the ruling to be overturned on appeal. In order to avoid another trial and another loss in court, the Pennington County authorities changed the way child removal procedures were handled in court to honor ICWA and protect the rights of Native American children and their families.

“His work on behalf of the children is so significant,” said Gay Kingman, Executive Director of the Great Plains Tribal Association. “And it is important that his work is being carried on.”

His longtime partner and the love of his life, Iris Dillon, said that while Hanna wasn’t a tribal member, he had a passion for the Lakota people. 

“In the Lakota culture, we laugh and have a good time and Dana got that and loved being a part of it,” Dillon said. “But when it came to important cases, he was all business.”

Dillon said Hanna was frequently up at 3 a.m. and worked late into the night to prepare for court. 

“He was always deeply invested in every case he took,” she said. 

Kingman said she had worked with Hanna on several occasions.

“ICWA wasn’t being upheld. Children were going before the courts and families and tribes had no say in what happened to them,” Kingman said. “Dana worked to make sure that changed and that the law was being followed.”

Another case that Hanna worked on, also with Pevar, was a lawsuit filed against the school district in Winner, South Dakota that resulted in substantial improvements in the way that Native students were treated by school officials, after which the graduation rate for Native students quadrupled. Hanna worked on that case while he was Rosebud’s Attorney General.

Hanna will be recognized by the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association with a proclamation to honor who he was and the work he did for tribes in the region.

In that spirit, A Celebration of Life for Hanna will be held Memorial Day weekend on Saturday, May 25, 2024 at 2 p.m. at The Rushmore in Rapid City.

Memorials, sympathy cards and condolences may be sent to Iris Dillon, PO Box 456, Allen, SD 57714-0456.

The post Memorial planned for attorney who fought for justice for Tribal children first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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