Indian Child Removal: New Developments in South Dakota

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Yesterday, I cross-posted my piece from a year ago on South Dakota's practice of stealing Indian children and placing them in white foster "care" situations" in the service of racism and financial profit.  Despite being more than a year old, the piece tragically is not outdated in the least.  That said, there are new developments, so I reposted it primarily to provide the backstory for anyone not yet familiar with it.

On Monday, February 3, four separate American Indian groups formally asked the Justice Department to investigate the public scandal that is the so-called "child welfare" (i.e., removal, foster care placement, and adoption) in Indian Country.  The four groups are the National Congress of American Indians [NCAI], the Native American Rights Fund [NARF], the National Indian Child Welfare Association [NICWA], and the Association on American Indian AffairS [AAIA]. 

The request, delivered via letter, was typically polite but also pointed:

[T]he groups wrote that a lack of federal oversight had led to Indian children being improperly placed with non-Indian families by child welfare workers and that tribal representatives were too often left out of custody proceedings. They also accused adoption agencies of sometimes ignoring the tribal membership of children in their care. 

“Although these civil rights violations are well-known and commonplace, they continue to go unchecked and unexamined[.]”

Indian Child Removal: Racism, "Perverse Financial Incentives," and Willful Violation of the ICWA

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Author's Note:  This post first appeared at Daily Kos on February 2, 2013.  It is cross-posted here with very minor edits.

On January 31, 2013, the Lakota People's Law Project submitted a report to Congress documenting allegations first reported via an NPR investigation in 2011: that South Dakota's state child welfare officials were stealing Indian children from their homes and families and placing them in white foster care - in part for "perverse financial incentives," and all in direct and repeated violation of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act [ICWA].

At the time the NPR story was released (October, 2011), Meteor Blades wrote a brutal, soul-searing report here at Daily Kos, documenting both the current outrages and this country's long and terrible history of stealing Indian children. In it, he made the point that what people regard as "history" isn't even past, telling the story of Kossack Carter Camp. In the diary and comments are other stories from other Indian families: those of Meteor Blades, of navajo, of myself, of Wings. Carter and Wings are both survivors of such programs themselves.

But in 2011, we could hope that the worst abuses were at least now only in our pasts.

In 2011, we had no idea how bad it still is.

A Note On What's to Come: More on Our Stolen Children

Photo copyright Ajijaakwe, 2014; all rights reserved.

Just a quick heads-up about some of the content that will be appearing here in the days and weeks to come.

One set of topics I plan to cover in depth involves the myriad forms of cultural genocide still being practiced against our peoples.  That includes everything from environmental dangers like the Keystone XL pipeline to the theft and misuse of our cultural ways to the literal stealing of our futures by way of our children.

I've written on most of these (and many other related) topics over the years at Daily Kos. I'll be cross-posting those pieces here, often — as will happen today — by way of providing context for what's to come.

Just over a year ago, I posted a diary there about the state of South Dakota's insidious practice of stealing Lakota children from the families and cultures, in the service of both racism and profit.  This story is in the news again, as the tribes in that state continue to fight for their children — and thus their very future existence.  I'll be cross-posting that piece here today as a launching point; I'll follow up with new information in the coming days, weeks, and months.

So if it looks familiar to you, it probably is, but don't be put off by last year's date.  These evils are ongoing, and they need our continued pressure to bring them to a halt.  and I'll be coming to you for help with that.

Chi miigwech.

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