Why should I care?
What is ICWA?
The Indian Child Welfare Act was passed by Congress in November 8, 1978. The purpose of the Indian Child Welfare Act was to:
protect the best interest of American Indian in the United States who are members of, or eligible for membership in, a federally recognized tribe.
promote stability and security of American Indian tribes and families.
establish a Federal minimum standard for the removal of American Indian children.
establish a Federal minimum standard for the placement of American Indian children in homes that reflect the unique values of American Indian culture
provides guidance and set minimum standards to States regarding the handling of child abuse and neglect and adoption cases involving American Indian children
(source: Public Law 95-608 Nov 8, 1978 via congress.gov)
History
European Contact: Human Trafficking & Disease
Since the start of colonization and missionization, Native American children of the Americas have been the most vulnerable to violence, kidnapping, killings, human trafficking, and slavery. During his colonization and genocide campaign against the Taíno, Christopher Columbus noted in his diary:
“Yesterday a canoe came alongside the ship, with six youths in it. Five came onboard and I ordered them to be detained. They are no where. I afterwards sent them to a house on the western side of the river, and seized seven women, old and young, and three children. I did this because the men would behave better in Spain if they had women of their own land, than without them.”
-Christopher Columbus, Monday 12th of November
As more and more European colonizers violently settled the Americas, many Native tribes united to push the Europeans out. Many campaigns were successful; however, most were not due to the Native American people not having resistance to the various diseases the European colonizers infected the Americas with.
As Native tribes were being decimated by the European diseases, many surviving adults and children surrendered to become slaves. As decades went on, the amount of Native people fighting against the European settlers, namely settlers from Britain, Spain, and France, decreased. As more Native people died from European disease infections, the more their land went vacant. Some Native tribes established government relationships with the settlers; however, many were violently exterminated.
The 17th to 19th Century: Kill the Indian, Save the Man
As the colonial settler population grew and grew, the need for more land to settled was in high demand. Many European colonizers found that instead of killing the Native tribes, it would be a more effective genocidal tactic to incorporate the Native Americans into their societies. For the French and newly Canadian colonizers, they forced the Natives to Residential schools. For the now American (formerly British) colonizers, they sent the Natives to Indian Boarding schools. For the Spanish and then newly Mexican colonizers, they forced the Natives into Missionary schools. There was another European colonizer that settle land in the north pacific and into the arctic, the Russians. They would force the Native to Russian Orthodox schools. All of these schools were owned and operated by the respective colonial governments as well as their respective colonial religions. France, Canada, Spain, and Mexico used violent and abusive Catholic individuals to torture the Native children. Britain and the United States used violent and abusive Protestant Christians especially Baptist and Mormon individuals to torture the Native children. As for Russia, they used violent and abusive Orthodox individuals to torture the Native children.
The 20th Century: Adoption, Relocation, and Indian Child Placement
Many of the colonial governments at this time had ended treaty making and recognition with many Native tribes within their politically defined borders. The colonial United States government decided to cut expenditures and cost to fund the reservations which provided much support for welfare programs, job training, parental support, and more. This became known as The Indian Relocation Act of 1956. In return, the United States government sold a lie and advertise it to the Natives on the reservation. The propaganda was that the United States government would help Natives with job training, guarantee job placement, paying for their housing, and more if they were to move to designated cities across the United States. The offer was swiftly picked up by many Native tribal members as poverty on the reservations was extremely high. The poverty was intentionally manufactured by the United States government with the passing of many laws and policies that restricted Native access to their own land (farming, agriculture, livestock herding, mining, etc.), water (drinking water, irrigation, hygiene), and air (power plants, deforestation, etc.).
In addition to the extreme poverty that was manufactured on the reservations, in another attempt to further exterminate the Native tribes, the United States government launched one of their most nefarious programs since the invention of the boarding schools. The United States government in conjunction with many Christian, Catholic, Mormon, and Jewish organizations launched the Indian Adoption Act of 1958. The act, administered by Child Welfare League of America, prioritized forced adoption and kidnapping of Native children in the western and southwest states to be sent to White families on the east coast. One of the reason this act was so popular was that the United States government and the Child Welfare League of America states that Native Americans could not support their children and that many families were living in third world conditions (erroneously viewing traditional dwellings and diet as third world). This further severed the connection between Native parents and children and thus, language, culture, traditions, and heritage was severed. Many Native children were abused physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and sexually at the hands of White families. In addition, this also furthered the disconnection many Native children had who grew up into adults. Many of them hid their Native identities even when they started families of their own. Thus, many mixed Native children never knew of their heritage. Stories of a fortunate few knew or were told of their Native heritage years after their Native ancestors passed.
Recent History
Brackeen v. Haaland
On November 9, 2022 the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) — a 44-year-old law that was put into place to address the systemic removal of Native children from their families, communities, and culture. On June 15, 2023 (via Indian Country Today), the Supreme Court affirmed ICWA! The Supreme Court handed down a major decision Thursday in the Haaland v. Brackeen case, affirming the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act by a 7-2 vote. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito were the lone justices to dissent. The decision represents a major victory for federal Indian law and tribes across the nation.
Education
Listen More About the Indian Child Welfare Act
Listen to "THIS LAND" Season 2 podcast from Crooked Media
Education
Watch & Listen About the Indian Child Welfare Act
Watch Indigenous Pride LA’s curated playlist on educational videos about the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Want to watch the playlist on YouTube? Click here.