Protect Native American Children

[beatrice_otter]

The US and Canada have a horrifying history of enacting cultural genocide (and sometimes physical genocide) by removing Native American/First Nations/Alaska Native children from their families, first to residential schools and then to put them in white families. In the US, this was mostly stopped by the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978, which said that if Native American children were removed from their families they needed to be placed with other Native American families. ICWA is being challenged in the Supreme Court as we speak, and the Trump-packed Supreme Court is highly likely to overturn it.

This would be a disaster. However, it could be mitigated by legislation at the state level. The Lakota Law Project has a widget for you to email your state Governor and state legislators asking them to put in place state laws to protect Native American children should ICWA fall.

Comments

[chestnut_pod]

Message sent; thank you.

[beatrice_otter]

You're welcome! And thank you.

*

[minoanmiss]

*makes note to signal boost this*

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> first to residential schools <<

Concentration camps, really. The number of mass graves found is appalling. The number of "missing" and probably murdered victims is even higher.

And yet American whines about other countries like China putting children in "reeducation centers."

[sabotabby]

Good. We have something like that here (Canada) but the practice continues.

[beatrice_otter]

It does in the US, too, but at least the law reduces it and makes it harder. Hope it doesn't fall, but if it does, better to be prepared.