We affirm the order terminating respondent's parental rights for reasons stated in the decision at Monroe County Family Court (Miller, J.). We note that respondent failed to meet her burden of proving the applicability of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 USC § 1901 et seq.) or Social Services Law § 39 (6) because she failed to prove that her children were "Indian child [ren]" (25 USC § 1903 [4]; Social Services Law § 2 [36]). The only evidence that respondent herself was a Cherokee Indian was testimony by an agent of the Monroe County Department of Social Services. That witness testified that respondent lied to him in 1995 when she told him that her mother had died on the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina. In fact, respondent's mother did not die until June 1996, and the place of death was not proven. Unsworn statements by respondent to the effect that respondent is a Native American, found on exhibits submitted by petitioner, do not prove that the children are members of or eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and the biological children of a member of an Indian tribe (see, 25 USC § 1903 [4]; Social Services Law § 2 [36]).