{"id":1371749,"date":"2023-12-05T06:35:19","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T06:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/?p=306730"},"modified":"2023-12-05T06:35:19","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T06:35:19","slug":"the-raw-and-never-ending-grief-of-native-american-mothers-whose-children-have-been-separated-from-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/12\/05\/the-raw-and-never-ending-grief-of-native-american-mothers-whose-children-have-been-separated-from-them\/","title":{"rendered":"The Raw and Never-Ending Grief of Native American Mothers Whose Children have been Separated From Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Native American mothers whose children were separated from them \u2013 either through child removal for assimilation into residential boarding schools<\/a> or through coerced adoption<\/a> \u2013 experience the kind of grief no parent should ever feel. Yet theirs is a loss that is ongoing, with no sense of meaning or closure.<\/p>\n

While some families have eventually been reunited, far too many languish in the child welfare system, where Native American children are overrepresented<\/a> as a result of discrimination and racial bias, structural racism and increased exposure to poverty<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A panel I attended years ago in California was composed of three birth mothers representing three generations of Native American women who had lost a child to foster care or adoption. While each story was unique, they had one thing in common: a never-ending grief that had stayed with them long after they were separated from their children.<\/p>\n

I still vividly recall that, with a lump in her throat, one of these mothers said, \u201cI can still hear my baby crying.\u201d Those mothers and their stories left a lasting impression on me and my colleagues, which was the catalyst for a new line of research for us. After listening to the panel, my collaborator Sandy White Hawk, a Sicangu Lakota elder of the Rosebud Tribe in South Dakota<\/a>, responded, \u201cWe have to do something for our birth mothers. We cannot let them pass to the other side carrying this grief.\u201d<\/p>\n

I am an assistant professor of human sciences and I conduct research<\/a> in partnership with the First Nations Repatriation Institute<\/a>. This work focuses on the health and well-being of Native American families that have experienced family separation by way of the foster care system and adoption.<\/p>\n

For the past 10 years, we have explored the outcomes<\/a> of fostered and adopted children<\/a> and what happens<\/a> when families are reunified<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Foster care and adoption<\/strong><\/p>\n

The adoption era refers to a period of time beginning in the 1950s with the Indian Adoption Project<\/a>, a collaborative effort<\/a> between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Child Welfare League of America. It aimed to promote the adoption of Native American children into non-Native homes<\/a> and has been criticized as another attempt at forced assimilation into non-Native American culture and the destruction of Native American families<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The adoption era<\/a> continued until the enactment of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978<\/a>, which aimed to protect the best interests of Native American children by establishing federal standards for their removal and placement<\/a>. An estimated 25% to 35% of Native American children were removed from their families prior to the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Indian Child Welfare Act<\/a> protects Indian children by prioritizing placement<\/a> with extended families, within the tribe or with an Indian family.<\/p>\n

The child welfare system tracks when children leave the system through reunification<\/a> with family of origin. Reunification can occur after aging out of foster care at age 18 or being adopted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To date, there is no way to consistently track how many fostered and adopted Native American children have reunited with their family of origin<\/a>. However, our team\u2019s studies suggest that more than 80% of Native American people who were fostered or adopted eventually reunify<\/a>.<\/p>\n