---

thetuliptree:

As an independent research project, I focused on how the foster care system works on Native American reservations around the country, specifically in South Dakota and the Pacific Northwest. Through the process it became more clear to me how corrupt and unjust the system is. In South Dakota alone, 700 children are removed annually from their homes, many times for no reason, and are placed in non-native homes. This severed tie with their family and tribe takes away their sense of self and culturally identity.

            The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), a federal law that was passed in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter, has two main goals that it seeks to maintain which are to “protect the best interest of Indian children” and “to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families”. The law outlines the circumstances in which children should be taken from their homes and it also states that children must first be placed with relatives or other tribal members if they must be taken from their families.

            However, this law is not always being followed. Many times there is no evidence that the children are being mistreated or that the home is unsafe. One of the main excuses used by the Department of Social Services for taking children out of their home is that they are deemed to be suffering from extreme poverty. This kind of situation is usually a cultural misunderstanding between what is normal for Native American families and what a non-Native sees as standard.

           In South Dakota, Native America children make up 13.4% of the total child population, but represent 52.6% of the children in the foster care system. Of those Native American children in foster care in SD, 90% of those children removed are placed in non-Native foster homes. In Washington, they make up 1.5% of the total child population in the state, but represent 10.5% of the children in the foster care system. In 2009, 80% of those Native American children in foster care were placed in non-Native homes. 

As an independent research project, I focused on how the foster care system works on Native American reservations around the country, specifically in South Dakota and the Pacific Northwest. Through the process it became more clear to me how corrupt and unjust the system is. In South Dakota…

Things that are happening in this country. It is amazing and unsurprising how this is so hidden from view.