The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today in Haaland v. Brackeen against overturning the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) that has kept most Native children with Indian families since 1978. Research led by , assistant professor of human development and family science at The Ohio State University, and , director of the , shows that Native adoptees and fostered individuals are more likely to be abused, suffer from depression and consider suicide than other adoptees. Their was submitted to the court in an effort to preserve the legislation.
“We know that is helpful,” Landers said.
Their research also showed that before the passage of the ICWA, up to 35% of all American Indian children in the U.S. had been separated from their families, and 90% percent of their foster or adoption placements were in non-Native homes.
White Hawk, who was taken from her Lakota tribe at 18 months and adopted by a white woman who abused her, is the subject of the documentary film “.” Additional background on the ICWA, White Hawk and her collaboration with Landers is available and on this .
Both Landers and White Hawk are available to be interviewed.
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