ICWA - Tumblr Posts
About ICWA
The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was enacted in 1978 in response to a crisis affecting American Indian and Alaska Native children, families, and tribes. Studies revealed that large numbers of Native children were being separated from their parents, extended families, and communities by state child welfare and private adoption agencies. In fact, research found that 25%–35% of all Native children were being removed; of these, 85% were placed outside of their families and communities—even when fit and willing relatives were available.
At the time, not only was ICWA vitally needed, but it was crafted to address some of the most longstanding and egregious removal practices specifically targeting Native children. Among its added protections for Native children, ICWA requires caseworkers to make several considerations when handling an ICWA case, including:
Providing active efforts to the family;
Identifying a placement that fits under the ICWA preference provisions;
Notifying the child’s tribe and the child’s parents of the child custody proceeding; and
Working actively to involve the child’s tribe and the child’s parents in the proceedings.
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Protect ICWA
The Protect ICWA Campaign was established by the National Indian Child Welfare Association, the National Congress of American Indians, the Association on American Indian Affairs, and the Native American Rights Fund.
Together, we work to serve and support Native children, youth, and families through upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The Campaign works to inform policy, legal, and communications strategies with the mission to uphold and protect ICWA. Sign up for the Protect ICWA newsletter Follow @protecticwa on Instagram Follow @protecticwa on Twitter
U.S. Supreme Court Asked to Review Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals En Banc Decision in Brackeen v. Haaland ICWA Case
Following a decision in Brackeen v. Haaland Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) case from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals en banc (reviewed before all sitting judges within the federal circuit), four of the parties in the case filed petitions asking the United States Supreme Court to review the decision.
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https://www.change.org/p/protect-the-indian-child-welfare-act
The Indian Child Welfare Act.
Youve hopefully been hearing about how the supreme court will hear the case of Brackeen v Haaland where the validity of ICWA will be decided on November 9th.
Here is a helpful breakdown on why it's so important.
(this includes food, healthcare, and our sovereign rights)
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The Lakota People's Law Project petition.
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As a native who didn't qualify for tribal protections because of tribal blood quantum laws, when I was separated from my family I wasnt placed with natives. I was placed with homophobic white christians. I'm nearly 30 now and still trying to reconnect with the culture and family I was cut off from.
ICWA fucking matters. We need to protect it. Kids need their family, they need their people. And right now they need you too.
Tiktok by oodhamboiii(they/he)
Video ID:
A masculine person wearing a teal shirt with pictures on the front sits in a tan room with a picture behind him and a door to his right. He is Native-American with long brown un-braided hair. His hair is split evenly and sits on his chest. He has a mustache and a short beard.
Their facial expression is upset, and they sit close to the camera. Above them are the following words:
"In 4 days, the United States Gov't will end protections against Indigenous youth."
And then, "The Indian Child Welfare Act(ICWA) prevents Native children from being stolen & forced into residential schools."
Followed by, "Opposition deems Native Americans growing up with their culture, "racist & unconstitutional."
Lastly, "Enacted for only 45 years, it has only taken 1 generation for it to be repealed."
The video ends after this statement is shown.
The video has Little Dark Age by MGMT playing. Lyrics heard in the video are "I know that if you hide, it doesn't go away/If you get out of bed and find me standing all alone/Open-eyed, burn the page, my little dark age"
:End ID
This video was posted 17 hours ago as of this reposting. That means that there is only 3 days. Support the indigenous community as they fight this.
#saveICWA
If you can't bring yourself to care that the Supreme Court is going to review the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act, thus possibly opening the doors to further cultural genocide of Indigenous Peoples on United States soil, unfollow me right now.
If you think our rights aren't as important to protect as your rights to your own body, i don't want you on this blog.
Never forget residential schools were not a uniquely Canadian issue, they existed in the US as well. Silence and neutrality allowed them to be built and silence and neutrality will bring them back. Whether that's your silence and neutrality is up to you.
hi. this an extremely serious post.
so, Big Oil's lawyers, Texas, and other states with a very little IA/NA (Indian American/Native American) populatuion has decided that The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is unconstitutional. because of this, they decided to being it up to the Supreme Court for decision making. they believe that ICWA is unconstitutional. this fall, they will have a discussion on whether or not this will be overturned.
This is a summary from the Lakota People's Law Project
"If the Supreme Court overturns the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) — a federal law that keeps Native children with Native families — tribal sovereignty could soon be a thing of the past in the U.S. Should the justices rule in the plaintiffs’ favor in the case of Brackeen v. Haaland, we could quickly see a return to blatant, pre-1978 genocidal practices — when Native babies were legally stripped of their families, culture, and identities."
Key Points to Take Away
Big Oil's lawyers, Texas, and three other states with very few Native inhabitants are attacking the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).
The Texas Attorney General is asking the Supreme Court to declare ICWA unconstitutional.
The Plaintiffs argue that tribal affiliations should be considered racial, rather than political, designations.
Overturning ICWA could be the first legal domino in a broader attack on tribal rights and sovereignty.
ICWA was enacted to protect the interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families. Overturning ICWA will be the first domino to effect Tribal Sovereignty as a whole.
Before you do anything else today, please sign this petition telling President Biden and The Department of Justice to defend ICWA, Haaland, and Tribal Sovereignty with all available means.
we need your support. please.
I need each and every person who sees this to pay attention to what is going on with the Indian Child Welfare Act.
The same SCOTUS that refered to tribal land as a territory of the state is about to hear a case that might overturn ICWA.
ICWA allows Alaska Natives and Native Americans control over the adoption and foster care placement of Native American and Alaska Children. In practice what this ensures is that if a Native American or Alaska Native child cannot be raised with their parents', the extended family will be given custody. If the extended family cannot care for the child, the child is placed with a family in their tribe or, barring that, with a family who is Native American or Alaska Native.
This act is important for two reasons:
For centuries, Native Americans and Alaska Natives were forcibly assimilated into White culture. From the 1800s to the late 1900s, children were taken from their families and either adopted out to White people or put in boarding schools. If parents refused, they were sometimes incarcerated, and they could lose custody of their other children. There are cases where tribes would hide their children and tell people who came that they had none...so the white people started showing up uannounced. The children sent to these schools were abused. Some were murdered. And survivors still live with the trauma. ICWA was passed to stop this...but not even 50 years after it being passed, it's at risk.
Native Americans and Alaska Natives are constitutionally guaranteed sovereignty. We all know the government picks and chooses when it wants to honor that, but Native Americans and Alaska Natives are supposed to have sovereignty. The idea that one country can step in and tell sovereign tribes and nations that they are not allowed to control the placement of their own children should be absurd. The U.S. doesn't tell Britain what to do with their foster care system...but the SCOTUS knows that Native Americans and Alaska Natives don't have an army or navy like Britain does. Because of this the SCOTUS believes it has the right to violate years of precedent and treaties. It knows that it will be protected no matter what it decides.
So I'm asking people to keep an eye on ICWA. I'm asking them to boost the signal. And I'm asking them to protest if it falls.