Unspoken: America's Native American Boarding Schools. The video was based on the Native American boarding Schools, Carlisle, Haskell, and Sherman. How the boarding schools came to be, and the negative effects they had on the children. The mistreatment was also mentioned in the video; students experienced sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Students who attended boarding Schools Suffered trauma and lost their language and traditional ways, which still affects their families now. The video ended by talking about SFIS and how the boarding School is a positive change.

I understood this video well; it was a topic I already knew of. In ways do understand how the boarding schools relate to my topic. In this way, the only difference is that the boarding school forced kids away from their parents and family. A forced separation still affected the children and changed their relationships with their parents and family. The children were also taken away from their traditions and forced to be assimilated. The trauma from the boarding schools tragically affected the students and still affects many families today.

“Actually, the US Has a Long History of Separating Families.” CNNus, 24 June 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/06/24/us/us-long-history-of-separating-families-trnd.

The cultural impact of the Indian Adoption Project is still felt today. The short article was about the Indian adoption project in 1958; their goal was to take Native kids away from their biological parents. The project was just another way to assimilate after boarding schools. The process of taking Native kids and placing them into all white families was seen as a better idea to assimilate. Advertisements were making Native children seem hopeless and trying to convince white people to adopt them, as if they were their only hope. By the 1960, one in four Native children was living away from their families.

The connection I can make to this article is that today, some people were those kids, and they had to grow up living with that childhood trauma. Not only childhood trauma, but also the abuse and loss of Native identity. That trauma, abuse, and loss of identity still affect many generations that have come and will continue to come. To this day, I know many people who have struggled growing up because their parents went through many of the government's acts. The ones who went through this project never got to grow up in their Native homes; they never got to experience growing up with their Native parents, which still affects many generations. 

KING 5 Seattle. “‘Indian Orphan Nobody Wanted Gets Parents’: The Dark History of the Indian Adoption Project.” YouTube, 24 June 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlqdDcdnKJo.

The Indian Child Welfare Act: A Unique Law within a Flawed System. The article tells how ICWA is a landmark victory for tribal sovereignty. It is mentioned that the “family policing system” targets Indigenous and other parents of color. The government did not provide support; instead, their first act was to remove children from their parents and homes. Studies were showing that removing children harmed generations; it was also shown that children do better at home than in foster care. ICWA is a model for how the government should support families. Before Congress passed ICWA in 1978, the Native American children taken were placed in non-native American homes. 2023 Brackeen v. Haaland upheld ICWA, protecting Native American children and tribal sovereignty, keeping Native Families strong. ACLU NorCal is supporting and working on expanding child protection, acknowledging the importance of culture. Now the government's first resort is to help families stay together. 

This article connected deeply with my topic. ICWA is a landmark victory for tribal sovereignty; it was also a step taken to stop the separation of Native American children from their families. Native Americans still deal with the trauma and harm brought by all of the events of separation. The trauma is passed down to generations, and we all still feel it today. The article gives us some events of ICWA. It also recognized how Native Americans were targeted before the act, as well as the genocidal policies targeting tribes. The article also highlighted how studies showed that children are better off at home than in foster care. Slowly over time, the government started realizing the importance of culture, prioritizing family reunification, and providing support.

“The Indian Child Welfare Act | Retro Report.” PBS LearningMedia, 7 Dec. 2023, nm.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/indian-child-welfare-act-icwa-video/retro-report.