U.S (NATIVE ORGANIZERS ALLIANCE) : Native children are at risk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friend, 

 

 

In one week, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could overturn the Indian Child Welfare Act and could threaten Tribal sovereignty. 

 

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was instituted in 1978, when a third of Native children were still being forcibly removed from their homes, families, and Tribes. The recovery from this horror is ongoing, but ICWA has made significant progress in healing generations of harm. 

 

ICWA protects children’s identity, familial network, and sense of belonging -- things that all children need.

 

And this case could have much broader implications to ultimately undermine the rights of Tribes, including land rights. ICWA’s opponents include a conservative think tank and a law firm that represents Big Oil. They want access to the lands that Tribes have jurisdiction over, which contain about a third of all fossil fuel resources in the U.S.^[1]

 

 

Please sign the petition if you agree: The Supreme Court must uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act and uphold Tribal sovereignty.

 

 

 

SIGN NOW

 

 

 

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) protects Native kids in child welfare proceedings by ensuring that they are not removed from their families unless doing so is necessary for the child's safety. When removal is necessary, ICWA gives preference to placing the child with extended family, or with members of the child's Tribe, or with other Native families. 

 

Child welfare organizations consistently describe ICWA's protections against child removal as "the gold standard for child welfare policies and practices that should be afforded to all children.”^[2]

 

By attacking ICWA, conservative groups are also threatening long-standing treaties and precedents around Indigenous rights. 

 

The U.S. Constitution recognizes Tribes as sovereign, much like states or foreign nations; we are federally recognized entities with inherent power to self-govern with thousands of years’ experience doing so. 

 

Our sovereign nations have the constitutional right to make decisions regarding the welfare of our Tribal members and citizens. To overturn this constitutional law would be an assault on Native families and tribal sovereignty. 

 

Natives and non-Natives alike must speak up and show our support for ICWA before the Supreme Court issues its decision later this year.

 

 

With one week until oral arguments in the Supreme Court, please sign the petition to support the Indian Child Welfare Act and tribal sovereignty.

 

 

Hawwih (thank you in Caddo), 

 

 

 

 

Judith Le Blanc (Caddo)
Executive Director. 

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] America's Original Sin Continues: The Fight Over Native Children

 
[2] How a white evangelical family could dismantle adoption protections for Native children