Do you think it's wrong?

Question

From all the research i've done, so far as I can see it's illegal to prohibit a child from being adopted by a good family based on race or cultural differences (unless the child is old enough to state that they would prefer being adopted by someone of the same race/ culture, of course). so do you think it's fair to these kids that ONLY documented native american parents can adopt a native american child?

by the way, im native american myself, so please dont skew my intent with this question by calling me ignorant or a racist or some stupid thing like that. i only want to know if others think this is terribly wrong, as i do.

Answer 1

I'm on the fence with this one.

Answer 2

I have an issue with the practice because of personal experiences.  My sister-in-law ans her husband were foster parents to three Native American Children, two girls and a boy.  They raised these children for over two years and were going forward with the adoption.   On the day of the adoption when everyone is in court in walks members of the Tribe (from another state).  It seems the bmom knew she could not get her children back due to neglect and addiction, so she went back to the Tribe (where she had not been since a child) and told them.  They showed up and the kids were turned over.  It was not a pretty situation.   The Tribes point was they were going to unify her with her children on the reservation.  Now everyone thinks this is fair right, put them back with the mother?  Well within 6 months the children were taken from her by the Tribe because she was not a good mother.  The two little girls were placed in Foster Care, placed with new family in that state, non-native, and adopted out.  The Tribe only kept the son who was suffled back and forth due to issues.  

Really, so two of them are adopted out to white couples, why could they not of just let them stayed in the home that had raised them since babies?  This is my only issue with the "law" because it still does not protect the children at every turn.

Answer 3

Our son was adopted though our Tribal agency. We are both Native American. I understand why the law was put into place originally, but times have changed and the law hasn't.

Both of my Great Grandparents were forcibly removed from there homes and separated from siblings when they were kids. They were older, so they did not get adopted, but they lived in a Boarding School until they were 15 & 17. The Europeans thought of Native American's as savages, and this was the only way to "save" them.

That being said, I do not think Native American children should only be adopted by other Native American's. I think that every effort should be made to keep children with Native American's but when their is not a suitable Tribal family for them, they should be allowed to be adopted by non-Native families. It is not fair to the families and especially to the children to live in a foster home for years and all of the sudden are pulled from the only family you have known. I think what happened to Renee's family is horrible. This should never happen. But unfortunately it happens all the time.

So, I see it as an old law that needs to be revamped to meet today's needs. If the Indian Tribes feel that non-native families are good enough to provide foster home for native kids, why can't they be adoptive parents to them?

Answer 4

It's a matter of Federal law. The intent of Congress under ICWA was to "protect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families".

"Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA): ICWA is a Federal law that takes precedence over the local adoption laws of every state and gives Native American Indian Nations and Tribes, including the Alaskan Aleuts, the right to control adoptions that involve their tribal members, the children of their tribal members, those individuals that could become tribal members, or even those individuals that a tribe would otherwise give appropriate recognition to under the terms of ICWA, even though the required tribal affiliation has not yet been formally established. In any instance where the provisions of any state law might conflict with ICWA, ICWA will always prevail. ICWA recognizes that the role of Indian tribes is critical in the placement of Indian children, and provides that tribes have a legal interest in their children that is even greater than the competing legal interests of the biological parents of the child. ICWA also provides that an Indian child has an independent right to grow up with an active knowledge of its cultural roots and an opportunity to be involved in its Indian culture and heritage. ICWA applies to cases that involve both voluntary and involuntary terminations of parental rights, as well as to the adoption of Indian children or their placement in foster care."

Hope this is helpful...

ETA: Native Indian tribes are treated as a "sovereign nation".  Sovereign is defined as "the exclusive right to have complete control over an area of governance, people, or oneself."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereignty

"Tribal sovereignty refers to the inherent authority of indigenous tribes to govern themselves. Current federal policy in the United States recognizes this sovereignty and stresses the government-to-government relations between Washington, D.C. and the American Indian tribes."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribal_sove...

Hope this helps clarify the special issues concerning Native American Indian & adoption...

Answer 5

no. i do not think it's wrong.

i think it's perfectly appropriate for the native people to place restrictions on who adopts their children. adoption is build on loss and cultural conflicts (when adopting inter-culturally/racially).  

historically, as you know, the native people have a horrible history of violence and having their children forcibly removed and europeanized by white settlers. generations later, many native people have the residual scars from that mal-treatment.

many countries also do this.  although some might think what's best for the child is to be with a family with an abundance of resources; many cultures strongly believe that keeping a child within his or her own culture is not only socially protective; but spiritually ordained.

i see nothing wrong with it, at all.

Answer 6

As part of the treaties signed between the United States and the Native Americans, tribes were declared a sovereign nation.  They have entirely different laws and rights in certain areas.  They are not simply considered a minority within our nation...they are legally their own nation, within our nation.

It is illegal to not approve someone to adopt in general, it is not illegal to not approve someone to adopt a specific child based on concerns that may be raised by cultural differences.  So, while I may approve one couple to adopt cross-culturally, I may find that another couple is not suitable.

I had this white foster mother that was even featured in a major magazine recently about what a hero she was...she only adopted African American children...she even had a picture of MLK, Jr. in her living room....her sainted soul.....

She actually said to me (I SWEAR I will NEVER forget this)...."I felt I had to step in and save these children from being products of their culture."  I almost died....I rose such a stink in the agency that I left and one woman who was my very good friend before still will not speak to me.

Not everyone is suited for cross-cultural adoption and what is UNFAIR to the children is to allow a placement where this is so.

If the family is able to meet all of the needs of the child, including supporting their cultural history, I see no problems with cross-cultural placements and do them all of the time.

Native Americans have such a beautiful and specific culture by tribe (as I said, one tribe can be as different from another as the US is from France), I don't see how another culture could provide the support needed to maintain that.  I'm not saying it is impossible, but difficult.

Also, Native Americans have such a value on kinship care, that it is seldom neccessary to place outside of a tribe, so there is no question of fairness to the child being unadopted when there was a family denied simply because of race.

I don't want to compare Native Americans to trees, or an endangered species, but there has been so much damage to the culture that is such a beautiful, natural resource in this country.  I see no problems with efforts to continue to protect it.  We can never make up for the harm we've done, but we can take steps to learn from mistakes and protect what is left.

Answer 7

i actually agree with this rule.  we usually are stripped of our heritage when we are adopted.  i love that native americans value theirs enough to require this.

Answer 8

i am native also and i think that it is important to be able to adopt native children, and that native children should be adopted by native parents to prevent further cultural loses however i believe that native parents should also be allowed to adopt a child from any race, culture or backround. although i think native children should be adopted by native parents, i disagee with the concept of DOCUMENTED natives because it discriminates against natives who are not identified as native due to governmental guidelines.

Answer 9

I understand the reasoning behind it and how it is legal.  Being Native American I'm sure you know there are a different set of laws and rules for some issues, as long as you are a recognized member of a tribe.  Adoption is one of them.  

My understanding is that this is legal because the tribe wants to preserve their heritage and beliefs for their children.  Not only do you need to prove you are of Native American descent, but you must agree to raise the child to know their heritage and the ways of Native Americans.  

I personally may not think it's a fair law for all situations of adoption of Native American children.  But I do respect their right to preserve their heritage.

I do agree with you.  If a couple of a different race can agree and actually raise the child to know their heritage then why not.  

You have to look at history though.  Native American's are just that.  Native.  This was their country.  So the govt.  allows for certain special rights for Native American descendants.

They were overtaken by illegal immigrants.  Kind of funny that the descendants of those illegal immigrants and others are the ones passing so many laws and fighting illegals from "taking over" currently isn't it?

Answer 10

I agree with you that it is totally wrong. However, I can see both sides of it. I have Native American ancestors. I think the Native American heritage has "gotten lost" and they are probably trying to preserve the little bit that is left. I surely wish that I had more knowledge about my ancestors but I am surely proud of the tiny bit that I have. Native Americans were treated so horribly and I think the government knows that they were in the wrong.

Answer 11

I'm adopting through foster care, and I lost the opportunity to adopt a NA girl because I did not have documentation of my heritage.  This was a sad time for me, but at the same time, I was ok with it, because that meant that they were able to find three SUITABLE families for this girl, who also had NA heritage (but with documentation).  If they had not been able to find three other families with documentation, we would have been one of the possibilities.  I know we were considered, and that's good enough for me.  I trust that she found a good family.

ETA:  As far as I know, there is no law, at least in Oregon, that a NA child has to be adopted by a NA family.  The way my SW explained it to me was that all the homestudies that were submitted for this child would be sent to the NA tribal cousel that decides who adopts the children of thier tribe.  The tribal counsel looked over the homestudies and made their own choices first.  They have "first pick" so to speak.  Once they have made their choices, the caseworker must abide by the decisions that were made.  But in Oregon, you have to have three families in order to go to committee for any child, so the tribal counsel's choices only narrowed it down to three options.  After that, the choice of which family the child goes to is made at committee.  However, just because we have to have three families to go to committee, that does not mean that three "suitable" families have to be chosen.  If the tribal counsel came back with only one choice, then the caseworker would probably have chosen two other "not so good" families, just so that they would have the requisite three families for the committee, but knowing that the tribal counsel's choice of family would be honored.  This happens a lot in Oregon.  The caseworker will often choose the foster family and natural family as the "other two" choices, just so that they have a total of three families, but knowing that the child can't go back to the natural family, and that the foster family is not a permanent placement option.

Sorry to go on so long, I thought this might help.  :-)

Answer 12

thats really bad. skin colour has nothing to do with it.

Answer 13

Totally understand.  I don't see it as a racial issue.  But these days, it's beginning to become rare to find a full blooded native american?  indian?  hawaiian? you'll come across so many that are either, half this, half that, part this, part that .. so maybe in 50-100 years from now, there won't be a pure bred, if you know what i mean.  So I see why it's important for them to purely produce 100% native american, have their own people raised, taught & looked after by their own people because that's history there, that's culture & that's tradition, and that's IDENTITY.  

It's like say if I was hawaiian/chinese/european, living in hawaii, but look more like a chinese and proud of my hawaiian culture & it's heritage because that's where I was born & raised, and then to have people come up to you and say you look chinese and could have never thought you were half hawaiian, that would upset me.  

another example, is a friend of mine who is samoan/danish, but looks middle-eastern and hates it when people thinks she looks iranian or iraqian (she's not racist, but do you see what i mean?)

Of course children should be your first priority, and if they need good loving homes, but these days we have to have an open mind and see the true meaning as to why things are the way they are, and it's for a reason, people should stop jumping to conclusion and accusing others of being racist, ignorant etc..

We have one life to live, live it & fulfil.  Hating on another because of their colour is going to get you nowhere but live a miserable life .. Hope I made any sense, I tried to keep to the topic, sometimes i get off track and forget what the topic is about, hehehehe .. thanks for reading  :o)  HAPPY LIVIN!

Answer 14

it's a very interesting thing indeed

i think the REASON for the native americans doing that is a cultural issue

i think they are trying to preserve the culture and the integrity of the culture/language

but i have seen time and again, native american children bounced around from home to home because they can't find an adoptive native american family

*sigh*

in theory i get it, but at the same time it breaks my heart

we are having the same difficulty in our home

we are considering adopting

to us we would adopt a child of another race but i wonder why i would do it? am i trying to prove that i don't discriminate? or am i doing it cuz that kid needs a home?

obviously i would hope i am doing it for the right reasons, but it makes me wonder...honestly it does

and if we adopted a chinese girl for example

would i be able to give her a balanced life in terms of culture and language?

if i couldn't, does that mean i shouldn't adopt her?

ack! those kids need someone...

oh gosh

now i am even more confused than before

thanks for the question

it's a great one!

Answer 15

Well, I think that a child should go to whereever the child can get a loving home.  I don't that race should matter at all.  I think the system is set up so that kids don't get adopted into loving families sometimes and grow up in foster and group homes...

Answer 16

Are you saying that it is a law that only documented Native Americans can adopt a Native American child?  I honestly wasn't aware of that.

As an adopted child and someone who has looked into adopting myself, I can give you my perspective.  An expectant mother that is looking into adoption doesn't just drop her kid off and run.  She often has strong emotions towards her baby and wants the best possible life.  Choosing to let her child have a life elsewhere out of her control can be a very difficult decision to make.  Naturally, we have to let birthmothers place stipulations on the terms of adoption (as long as they want to, some don't have any stipulations) or they'd never let their children go to better homes.  For example, if a Native American birthmother truly believes that her child will not have a good life unless raised by other Native Americans, then yes, it is OK for her to demand that only Native Americans can adopt her child.  My birthmother's stipulation was that she wanted me to go to a family that couldn't have kids and had waited for a long time.  The 9 years my parents tried to adopt and conceive + my birthmother's terms were the reasons why I had the life I have today.

If it's simply a law and not necesarily a birthmother's terms that you're speaking of, then no, that's not right.  A child can be loved and have a wonderful normal life with adoptive parents reguardless of their skin color, race, background or creed.

Answer 17

very interesting question.

I actually know two couples who are white and adopted native american children.  It was a very long process but worth it.  I going by memory here, the couples had to meet with the tribal counsel.  There were many stipulations, about rituals, classes, and how often the children would be brought back to the reservation to learn about their culture.  It was completely the tribes decision on whether the children were adopted or not.  In the end, the children were allowed to be adopted.

I was impressed.  I wish i had those guidelines to follow on how to instill my daughters culture into their lives.  All the guess work was taken out.  Now the parents are also allowed to participate.  I think its a good idea.  I like how involved the tribal members are in preserving their culture with the younger generations.

I don't know why these couples were allowed to adopt.  Maybe its different tribes or different states, idk.  I think if its proved there are no Native American couples available to adopt then the children might be able to be adopted by white families.  Like i said, the Tribal counsel will not approve of just anyone and it is their decision if the couple gets to adopt or not.  I think most of this is because of US history trying to abolish Native American's culture.  So from that aspect I respect what is being done to preserve Native culture for future generations, whether its fair to the rest of us or not.

Answer 18

I think it is perfectly within the tribe's rights to determine whatever qualifications they would like for adoption. If ethnicity is one of them, then that is the right of the tribe to do so.

I do think there should be a route to make an exception on a case-by-case basis, at the discretion of the tribal government.   I think this should especially be a consideration if there are circumstances that indicate a child's life woule be especially difficult growing up on the reservation.  

And, of course, if there are no Native American homes willing to take in a child, I believe it is preferable to grow up with a family of a different race than in an institution.

Interesting question!

Answer 19

really?? Only native americans can adopt native american children..if that's true that's kind of sad (but maybe I don't know the reasons behind the rule)

I myself would love to open my home to a child of native american heritage.. I myself am about a 16th native american, but that's if you put all the bits and pieces from BOTH my parents together.. (they're each about a 16th, but undocumented) I don't think it's possible for me to "prove it" or be documented native american.

I think any parent should be able to adopt a child of ANY race that they were open to adopting.. race shouldn't be an issue..

But again, I'd never heard of the "native american rule" so obviously I don't know the reasoning behind it..

it's like in Oregon in the early 90's my aunt was foster caring for a little girl.. we all loved her dearly.. My aunt would have loved to adopt her.. so would have my mother.. but she (the child) was ONE QUARTER  african American, and the state of Oregon said she had to be adopted by residents of Oregon (my aunt was, but my parents, not) and by an african american family (we're all caucasian)... So we were all told we couldn't adopt her.. She ended up goign to a white family anyway, and my aunt was given "grandmother rights" for visitation, etc, but she was cut out by the adopting family.. never saw the child that she had raised from practically birth, nursed through crack withdrawal, and raised for over 2 years, again..  she was very hurt, and stopped fostering..