Echoes of Home, Promises of Protection: Foster Care and ICWA

Aislihn Haley O'Leary

Nambe Pueblo

O'Leary, Aislihn, "Personal Collection". March 25, 2026.

“Pueblo of Nambé Flag.” Infobase, Facts On File. American Indian History, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=18626&itemid=WE43&iid=202372. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

"Sharing One Skin: Okanagan Community"

By Jeanette Armstrong

In this article, Jeanette Armstrong conveys her point about the connection we, as a people, have with nature. She dives into the current state of that connection when she elaborates on the newly found disconnect we have with it today. As indigenous people, we have a strong tie and relationship with nature. Armstrong discusses the ingenious mindset versus the European mindset that many of us have actually adopted into our own lives. She clearly states and argues that there needs to be a change, or nothing good will come if there isn't.

Armstrong, Jeanette. “Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community,” in Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (eds), The Case Against the Global Economy. San Francisco, CA, Sierra Club Books, 1996. Pp 460-470

O'Leary, Aislihn, "Fall Landscape". November 14, 2025.

O'Leary, Aislihn, "Humanities". November 14, 2025.

How Place Names Impact the Way We See Landscape

By B. Toastie

This article discusses the importance of the names Indigenous people give to places. The names we give tell a story, our story, and don't represent just one person; the names we give represent the place and its own story. This is important because titles convey power and serve as a means of representing what something signifies. When places that hold a deep meaning for Indigenous people are given the names of people who have hurt our communities, there's a part of us, our story, that is taken away along with the name. Instead of carrying the story of the landscape, the name that's changed carries the memory of the cruel people who have hurt far too many. The way we see the landscape is no longer telling a story, but instead we see and hear the name that in the article, Toastie seeks an elder to learn about the Measuring- Worm Stone. When Toastie talks to the elder, he learns that they know nothing about the original meaning. Of course, places will get renamed, but in this article, Toasties fights for the respect that the land rightfully deserves.

Oaster, B. Toastie. “How place names impact the way we see landscape.” High Country News, 1 May 2022, https://www.hcn.org/issues/54.5/people-places-how-place-names-impact-the-way-we-see-landscape/print_view. Accessed 6 September 2025.

And Then I Went to School

By Joe Suina

In this article, the author Joe Suina begins by describing his childhood. A life living on the reservation with his grandma. The beauty he found in the smallest details, the moments he cherished, and especially the love he had for his grandma and their way of life. The story then takes a turn as Joe Suina is sent to the school that is mandatory to attend. At that school, he cannot speak his language and is forced to learn English by the white men running it. Joe Suina has a hard time adjusting to this new way of life. He doesn't understand why he can't speak his language, or why the lights are so bright, and why he can't play outside instead of sitting in a chair for hours. As time goes by, Suina starts to view his identity and his old way of life differently because of the teachings of the white man. During boarding school, he visits his family over the holidays but feels the loss of connection between him and his home. As Suina struggles with his identity, he holds onto the memory of his grandmother as he looks for a change in his life

Sunina, Joe. 1985 “And then I went to school: Memories of a Pueblo childhood.” New Mexico Journal of Reading, 5(2).

History

LDS Church President Spencer W. Kimball, no date

American Indian History: The Indian Child Welfare Act

By Alexander Ewen

Alexander Ewen explored the history of the Indian Child Welfare Act. As readers begin the article, they are presented with information about boarding schools. The idea of breaking the Native American culture through children started with this immoral strategy. This strategy was to take the younger generations of tribes, educate them with the idea of Christianity, and break the bond they had with their traditional culture. They also got placed into white families, further pushing the white American ideologies onto the children. Later, an adoption program called the Mormon Indian Student Placement program began under the belief that Mormons got a special place in Heaven if they converted Native Americans. This program placed primarily Navajo children into Mormon families. In the 1970s, the program fell under heavy criticism for the pressure that was put on Native American parents to give up their children. Finally, in 1977, an investigation was put into place. It wasn't until 1997 that the program was officially abandoned. However, sadly, by the time this program was abandoned, there had already been over 70,000 children placed in Mormon homes. To respond to these heinous acts, Congress responded to Indian activists by providing a particular adoption process by creating and passing the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978.

Ewen, Alexander, and Jeffrey Wollock. “Indian Child Welfare Act.” Encyclopedia of the American Indian in the Twentieth Century, Facts On File, 2014. American Indian History, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=18626&itemid=WE43&articleId=359720.

Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Short Documentary

By ComAcad Archie Williams HS

This documentary, created with group effort, was originally made to protest the challenge of a Supreme Court case that challenged ICWA in 2022. The case in question was renowned, known as Haaland v. Brackeen. The documentary begins with the history of when we first see Native American children being targeted by the government as an attempt to eradicate Native American communities and culture. Boarding schools were the main example of this point. In the documentary, they continue to speak about the original goals of the child welfare system in that era. Their goals were to assimilate Native Children by giving custody to non-Native families. They would advertise the children in newspapers in a dehumanizing manner, like the children were merchandise. As the documentary comes to a close, they bring in the current events that are taking place. It tells of previous cases where ICWA was challenged. They end the video with a strong and powerful message: any challenge to ICWA is just a way to continue the colonial mindset even further.

ComAcad Archie Williams HS. (2024b, January 30). Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) short documentary. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qOoWbcGP3A

Haaland v. Brackeen Protest. Stephens, Rosemary, 2022

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) Tue, Oct 22, 1968

Examining Child Welfare Care Outcomes for American Indian Children in the Context of the Indian Child Welfare Act

By Annie M. Francis

The article is about a study that has been done on the child welfare system and its compliance with ICWA. Within the article, to help people with a better understanding of the topic, a heavy portion is dedicated to ICWAs' history and why we have it today. The section proceeds to go back to the beginning, stating that over 7 million Indigenous people lived in North America before colonization. By 1900, after the arrival of Europeans, it is estimated that the Indigenous population had been reduced to 375,000 due to eradication efforts made by Europeans. In terms of Indigenous children, the boarding school era was an eradication effort that is possibly one of the most renowned. This was an effort made by the American government to assimilate Native Americans, with a focus on children. This era lasted from 1776 to 1996. In these schools, children were given American names, had their hair cut, were forced to do manual labor, and were punished for speaking their traditional language. There was also harsh treatment that involved physical abuse, sexual abuse, and diseases. After the boarding schools were dissolved in 1995, the Indian Adoption Program came to promote the adoption of Native American children by White Families. Research, advocacy, and family storytelling led to federal legislation to correct these practices.

Francis. M Annie, Hall. J William, Ansong David, Lanier Paul, McMillan Ashley. “Examining Foster Care Outcomes for American Indian Children in the Context of the Indian Child Welfare Act”.Child Maltreatment, Vol. 28(3), pg 527-pg538, 2023.

Current Events

Supreme Court Upholds Indian Child Welfare Act: Adoption Lawsuit Heads Back to South Carolina Courts

By Karine Locke

This article discusses a case centered around a young Cherokee girl, Veronica. The girl was fostered by a Non-Native family after a short time from her birth. When she was 27 months old, the state court of South Carolina ordered the foster parents, Matt and Melanie Capobianco, to give their custody of the girl back to the biological father. He had previously given up his parental rights because of a personal situation involving the girl's biological mother. The Capobiancos felt that this was wrong, and DNA wasn't enough, so they brought this to the Supreme Court. In the end, because ICWA was invoked, the Supreme Court sided with South Carolina, and custody of the girl was granted back to the biological father, a win for ICWA and what the act stands for.

Locke Karine.”Supreme court upholds Indian Child Welfare Act: Adoption lawsuit Heads Back to South Carolina Courts”. Navajo-Hopi observer, 02 July, 2023. Proquest, https://www.proquest.com/newspaper/supreme-court-iupholds-indian-child-welfare-act/docview/2547778835/2e-2

Charles, Jeremy, "Dusten Brown and Veronica". April 2011

Indianz.com, "Haaland v. Brackeen Protest". Unknown date.

Haaland v. Brackeen Affirms the Constitutionality of ICWA

By Grace Carson

In this article, Grace Carson speaks on the recent finalization of the Supreme Court's decision in Haaland v. Brackeen, a case involving ICWA. Haalnad v. Brackeen was an attempt by some U.S states to get rid of ICWA because they deemed it "unconstitutional." In the end, ICWA was affirmed with a 7-2 opinion on June 15, 2023. This was a huge win for tribes and their sovereignty. Despite this win, Carson says there still needs to be improvement. Native Children are still three times more likely to be taken by state child welfare, and 56% of them are placed in Non-Native families. However, Native American people across the United States celebrated this win because it protects the culture of Native Americans and their future, a future similar to Justice Neil Gorsuch's words: a future where "Native parents raise their families as they please, Native children grow in their culture, and Native communities resist fading into the twilight of history".

Carson, Grace. "Haaland v. Brackeen Affirms the Constitutionality of ICWA". Human Rights, vol.49, no.3, 2024, pp.24. Proquest, https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/haaland-v-brackeen-affirms-consitutionality-icwa/docview/2931167362/se-2.

Global Connections

wdet.org, "Muslim Foster Care Association Organizers". March 27, 2025.

Foster Care

By Catherine England

There are countless children in the United States foster care system, a number estimated to be over five hundred thousand. There is a small group within that number who have found it harder to find foster homes and, with that, families to adopt them. This group is composed of Muslim children. With the culture that they come from, the idea that a family did something wrong that resulted in the taking of the child is obscure. This leads to the lack of Muslim families and people willing to foster children. This is because of their lack of familiarity, which inevitably leads to fear, and the idea that the whole system is "un-Islamic" adds to the fire. With that, there is a high need for Muslims to open their minds and their doors to fostering. A great example of what is possible is Yousof and Ali. They are a Muslim couple who have fostered four children who were brothers and sisters. These four siblings have previously lived in five other homes. The children were able to learn and practice the ways of their culture, embracing their heritage and where they come from. Despite the controversy of fostering in the Muslim community, it is something that needs to be changed for the betterment of the children's future. It is difficult to become a foster parent, going through a process that is seen as intrusive, including background checks and home inspections. Ali had said that "Ultimately, these children are in the category of orphans, they are the beloved of Allah".

England, Catherine. "Foster Care." Azizahh, vol. 2, no. 2, Summer, 2002, pp. 28. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/magazine/foster-care/docveiw/197264800/se-2.

The Issues Surrounding Foster Care

By Amie Tabiando

This article was written with the focus of foster care involving Pacific Islanders. Foster care was made to rectify the situation of children who are in the system. However, despite the intentional needs, more cases don't follow this very principle. Tabiando explores the issue of children being placed in homes that aren't suitable for caring for a child. These households often are abusive, the environment isn't suitable, or there isn't enough love and care within them. Tabiando goes on to argue that there should be an extensive security check of a family that is looking to foster. These security checks include background checks and health inspections monthly for foster families. To add to that solution, Tabiando recommended that there should be resources for the foster children to have. These resources include therapy or simply a support system. It has been shown that instability in a child's life is clearly reflected in their school life by opening opportunities for bullying and dropping grades. Tabinando mentions resources and organizations that are available for children in foster care and those who have aged out. Those organizations include Olive Crest, an organization that provides counseling, safe homes, and education not only to the children but to the parents as well.

Tabiando, Amie. "The Issues Surrounding Foster Care." Northwest Asian Weekly, Aug, 2010, pp.20-11. ProQuest. httpos://www.proquest.com/newspapers-issues-surrounding-foster-care/docveiw/2553651401se-2.

lanai96763.com, "Lania Children". May 30, 2017.

Gregoire, Lisa, " The Childrens Aid Society of Ottawa Sign". May 25, 2016.

Nunavummiuq reflects on parallels of generational trauma with the foster care system: Moses Totalik considers himself to be a stolen child and calls the foster and guardianship system residential school 2.0

By Kira Wronska Dorward

Moses Totalik speaks on his experiences being in foster care. When he was younger, he lived in his hometown in Nunavut, Canada. When he was two years old, he was taken because his mother died of cirrhosis due to a life of addiction. For the majority of his life, Totalik lived in the system, moving from home to home. He later mentions that he visits his family in Nunavut once a year. The connection is still there, but it's noticeably weaker. He mentions that in one group home located in Alberta, he was compelled to speak only English, and he lost his language. Now, at almost thirty years old, it still haunts him that he can't understand his elders and needs a translator. He makes the stark comparison to when he was younger and could have a full conversation with his Grandfather in Inuktitut. Now his grandfather says he no longer recognises Totalik when he speaks. Totalik believes that it is a judgment and meant it because his Grandfather was forced to attend a residential school. Totalik draws the parallels between foster care and residential school, as foster care took him just like residential school took his Grandfather and abused and suppressed them. Now, Totalik goes to therapy and has been diagnosed with PTSD because of what he went through during his youth. As a solution, Totalik suggests that there needs to be more listening to those who have been affected for foster care to improve.

Wronska Dorward, kira. “Nunavummiuq Reflects on Parallels of Generational Trauma with the Foster Care System: Moses Totalik Considers Himself to Be a “Stolen Child”, Calls the Foster and Guardianship System “Residential School 2.0.”” Nunavut News; Iqualuit, 30 Sept. 2024, pp. 1–5. Ethnic NewsWatch Collection, www.proquest.com/ethnicnewswatch/newspapers/nunavummiuq-reflects-on- parallels-generational/docview/3111175209/sem-2?accountid=39531. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.

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