On Nov. 9, the Supreme Court will be hearing whether or not the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) should be upheld. This is a crucial law for Native Americans, given that it allows the indigenous rights of these individuals in terms of health care and the foster care system. In addition, it protects sacred traditions passed down for generations and the forceful removal of young Native children. Because of this, it allows them to embrace their culture and identity rather than converting and stripping them as the past has done.
Throughout history, the concept of “Kill the Indian, Save the Man” spread throughout the United States. This began forcing Native children into boarding schools run by European settlers. However, this started a lifetime of trauma for the Indigenous population. As reported by rosalux.nyc, some people believe there were one or two of these residential schools, but there were about 139 facilities, with more than 150,000 Indigenous people forced to attend. People think these historical events occurred ages ago, but unfortunately, the last boarding school only closed in 1996. This trauma still exists today within the Native population, whether first-hand or generational. With families separated, the forceful pressure to become more ‘white’ only caused more damage.
Within these schools, people went through tremendous loss— not just of lives but of themselves. Because of the forced assimilation, Native Americans lost their language, community, traditional values and identity, according to The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. These children, some as young as three years old, were forced to take on English names, beaten, raped and barely taken care of during captivity. This led to more than 500 deaths, but only 19 were reported. This was until the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative was pushed, and children’s bodies were discovered in unmarked graves in Canada.
Native Americans were treated as something to be discarded, and their identity was no exception. The labels they put on themselves have been stripped away for generations, and it didn’t help that children were forced into the foster system. Their culture was being erased throughout history, with the children forced to be with non-Native people. It didn’t help that many people believed that all Indigenous people had passed away or no longer existed because of the lack of culture. ICWA was formed to allow Native children to actively participate in their culture, even in the foster system. Rather than removing them from everything they have ever known, being placed in the hands of the same tribe will allow them to continue having their culture present, as stated on the Montana Official State Website.
However, despite its incredible accomplishments, unfortunately, after 44 years, the Supreme Court is being challenged to overturn this. What many fail to note is that the ICWA is a form of protection for American Indian children and allows them to have connections. Without ICWA, it will become another cultural genocide and lose their freedom, just like when the Europeans first came to the Americas. Therefore, it is vital to have this law in place for Native Americans to stop the forced assimilation process.
With ICWA, it allows Indigenous children to have the best interest, promoting security that they may not have otherwise. Before this law was created, there was no stopping the colonizers from allowing them to behave in any practice they wished to perform. This caused the first genocide, with only 574 federally recognized tribes today. This number is only declining rapidly because most of their land has vanished due to colonization and destruction. Despite many believing this was only in the past, this is still happening in the present, and will continue if ICWA is overturned.
It is essential to speak up about this topic; Native American lives depend on it. Unfortunately, this is even a minimum for federal legislation to do, and it can be stripped away due to inevitable votes is heartbreaking. With ICWA, child protective services (CPS) can ask if a child is an American Indian or part of a particular tribe, giving them their deserved rights to be placed with other community members. They can still practice their customs and beliefs, even with a foster family. This is key to preventing genocide once again, and every voice matters.
Sign this petition and take the first step toward action.
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