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when did the boarding schools of the early 20th century go away, and native kids were taken under the guise of foster care? when did this change

Answer: 1978

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Why is this information about current discrimination not heard about/ shared in media as often as other things?

A: Only 13% of schools cover information about Native Americans that is current (or after the 1900's)  and Native Americans are almost completely absent from media and pop culture.  LINK

Additionally 40% of people didn't think Native American people still exist according to a survey and "People were less likely to support certain rights and social justice issues for Native people when they had zero perception and understanding of who we are. Invisibility and erasure is the modern form of racism against Native people." LINK

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Although I knew about the boarding schools, the taking of children and moving them into white foster homes was shocking and completely new to me.

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From watching the documentary I realize this video completely dismantles a single story because from the view point of white people they thought they were helping the "poor children" and saving them but in reality they were causing severe trauma to all the children taken from their homes and put into the adoption system

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When one person in the video said they were told to be ashamed of their culture, I was shocked because I couldn't believe the government even took away their rights to preserve their identity

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All throughout my childhood, which was calm, simple, and full of happy memories, children elsewhere were being taken from their homes to erase their culture and then deprived of familial love.

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i was shocked at how recent this all was happening, around 2013 it ended, which was only 7 years ago

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I was surprised how the government decided to isolate the Native Americans in boarding schools

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I was extremely suprised by this information because I was not aware that this was a CURRENT problem in the united states

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Was there more legislation that was passed after President Carter's law because it didn't seem to do anything
Info about that specific law: https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/jimmy-carter-signed-icwa-into-law-GtsQUN5tRkG1iNzMVHJP8g
It looks like there has been pushback pretty recently on the ICWA, which allowed for Native self governance. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/fifth-circuit-icwa/605167/ https://theintercept.com/2019/06/17/indian-child-welfare-act-goldwater-institute-legal-battle/

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1) Did Native American families ever pursue legal action when their children were taken away from them?
a: could not find an answer, but did find an article about white Texan couple that sued US interior department b/c they tried to adopt a NA foster child.
source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2019/11/09/tribal-families-get-priority-native-american-adoptions-an-appeals-court-will-decide-whether-thats-fair/
2) What is the population of Native Americans in Maine?
a: approx. 8,000 (Maine's    population is approx. 1.3 million)
source: US Census Bureau

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I knew that there were hardships that Native's faced in the past but I had no idea these problems were still going on too this day, and that they were still this awful.

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How has the government changed the situation that these Native American children are in?

https://www.nicwa.org/about-icwa/

The ICWA is an act passed in 1978 that suppressed the removal of Native American children from their homes.

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Q: After the committee in the video had presented their data and argument, did the government respond?

A: the only "action" I was able to find was the 1978 ICWA act, which is the very act that Maine was not abiding by when they put 1 in 3 native children in foster homes.

https://downeast.com/features/wabanaki-people-shattered/

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Something that I realized after watching this documentary is that you should never just listen to and believe one persons point of view, and that is what is dangerous about a single story. If you listen to the people in the child welfare system, they will claim they are trying to make a better life for the children, when in reality they are eliminating their culture and putting them through painful experiences.

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Are there any records of the kids being taken from their families so that they can reconnect?

We couldn't find any information about their records.

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I was shocked that the events were so recent and I didn't know that this was like such a big current issue.

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I was surprised that they considered taking children from their homes as "saving them"

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Question: How do native children and this welfare act play into the foster care system today?

foster care today:
- nearly 700 native american children in south dakota are being removed from their homes every year, sometimes under questionable circumstances
- the south dakota gov. are largely failing to place these children
- the native indian child welfare act was intended to put a stop to what was happening in the boarding schools that native children had been placed into
- the indian child welfare act says that states must do everything in their power to keep native families together but this isn't happening
- NPR says 32 states aren't abiding by this in some way
- states have financial incentive to remove children and in some cases more money is given when the child is native
- south dakota removes children at a higher rate than other states in the country
- native children make up less than 15 percent of the child population but more than half of the children foster care system
- private group home providers exist and get million dollar contracts
- most children in south dakota are taken under subjective circumstances

source: https://www.npr.org/2011/10/25/141672992/native-foster-care-lost-children-shattered-families

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non natives can adopt a child under certain circumstances:

- if the state can prove due diligence and that they've made a "reasonable" effort in looking for someone within the tribe to adopt, a non native may adopt. this is tricky because due diligence is a very loose term and this also makes it harder for adoption which leaves children in the system- there isn't really a win here.

- approval by the tribe, this isn't particularly common

- adoption agreement: if the childs biological parents voluntarily relinquish their parental rights

source: https://adoption.com/can-i-adopt-a-native-american-child-if-im-not-native-american

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legal challenges:

- a federal judge in texas ruled the indian child welfare act is unconstitutional on the basis of it being racially motivated and violating the equal protection clause

over 20 states in coalition with hundreds of tribes and advocacy groups have asked judges to uphold the law because they worry that native children will disappear into the system and be lost from their families and tribes

(unfinished)
source: https://apnews.com/article/21f54861d6384aa49306693f6ff56655

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negative examples:
(unfinished)
source: https://time.com/4269542/inside-the-agonizing-custody-fight-over-lexi-page/

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When we learned that boarding schools had been a part of American history, we were taught (by American government no less) that it was a thing of a past, just like we were taught racism, sexism, and religious discrimination were solely of the past. In reality, we never escaped these things, we jsut pushed them out of the light and basked in our ignorance.

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How has the treatment of Native American children got better or worse over time?

Studies show that in cases involving Native American children they have less of a chance to return to their home.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2018/10/11/40-years-ago-we-stopped-the-practice-of-separating-american-indian-families-lets-not-reverse-course/

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I knew that Native Americans were separated from their parents, I even did a report on Carlisle in 8th grade, but I didn't realize how big of an issue it still is. The fact that NA children are still 5x as likely to be put into foster care in Maine shocked me, I didn't realize that it was still such a big issue. (Upstander Project)

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The action taken from the government, which seemed to be practically disregarded by those who fostered Native American kids wasn't even as powerful as the meetings of the Wabanaki tribe where people shared their stories and experience with foster families.  This shows the power of actual togetherness rather than passing a law to temporarily evade a problem.

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What was the original act that started the wave of Indian children going into foster care? Was it its own act or just a remainder from the days of boarding schools?

- There was not an original legal piece that mandated Native children go into the foster care system apart from the boarding school system.

- The ICWA is supposed to limit the amount of Native children entering the foster care system.

- 25-35% of native kids are in the foster care system

- Still wondering how this continues after the ICWA

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Inside the Native American Foster Care Crisis Tearing Families Apart

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A shortage of Native foster families has led to pain, lawsuits, and echoes of a painful history.

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what did Native Americans do to resist against these unfair treatments?

American Indian Wars, from the 17 century to the early 20 century

https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/american-indian-wars

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Why don't we learn more about this in school when it has clearly had a massive effect on the Indigenous people in America?

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Are there any laws being put in place to stop this or is it flying under the radar?

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How did the adoptive and foster families feel like they were helping the children and how did they government make this seem good?
Or how did they connect back with their original families?

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It's terrible that the Native American women as kids felt that they should a harmful substance, bleach in order to be white and accepted by others.

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As there was an increase of Native American children being recognized as in need of help, it almost seemed "trendy" to adopt a Native American child.

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We were surprised to see the  unproportional rates that Native American children have been taken into foster care in very recent times.

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What steps has the government taken to stop and prevent this from  happening? have they talked with the tribes and come up with a plan or have they been ignoring them?

research:
Source-->  https://www.npr.org/2011/10/25/141672992/native-foster-care-lost-children-shattered-families

- " In 1978, Congress tried to put a stop to it. They passed the Indian Child Welfare Act...Native American children must be placed with their relatives or tribes"
- "But 32 states are failing to abide by the act..."
- "The state receives thousands of dollars from the federal government for every child it takes from a family"
A: the government is running investigations and has tried to pass acts to prevent the children being taken away from their culture, however many states ignored it and nothing has been done since then to decrease the amount of natives being taken away

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We were surprised to see that the system was titled as adoptive to sound better when in reality most of the children were sent into foster care.

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I was surprised that this is so recent, and that there isn't more news coverage about it in the media or education about it in school.

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This documentary was really alarming to me because I did not know that to this day Native children are 5x more likely to be in foster care than white children (in Maine.) We always think of the days of children being stolen away and locked in boarding schools as a long time ago, but this same concept of forced assimilation continues on under a new mask.

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Question: What is happening in other states if this is happening in Maine?
Research: https://www.npr.org/2011/10/25/141672992/native-foster-care-lost-children-shattered-families
"Nearly 700 Native American children in South Dakota are being removed from their homes every year, sometimes under questionable circumstances." So it is definitley happening in other states, sometimes on a larger scale

I dont know if this is a good source but: https://www.startribune.com/part-1-why-does-minnesota-have-so-many-american-indian-kids-in-foster-care/389309792/ "Minnesota has more American Indian children in foster care than any other state"

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It was upsetting to hear about the awful experiences that Native Americans faced when living in foster homes such as sexual abuse.

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I realized that the US government has created laws to discriminate those of the minorities, but the laws aren't well-known to the public because they aren't being taught in school.

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As the Native Americans shared their  traumatic foster care experiences, it really reminded me of group therapy. It's terrible to imagine the isolation that those people experienced, but it gave me a little hope that some of them have found each other and can begin to heal by sharing their stories. During their childhood they were completely cut off from their families, communities and culture, and I can only imagine how terrifying, confusing and lonely that must have been. I do think that being together will help to validate their experiences and gain the sense of community they lacked for so long.

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Something I realized while watching this video was how prolonged and hidden racism against American Indians is. With other races I feel that we are constantly thinking about it, which is not a bad thing, but is a testament to how racism impacts certain cultures in different ways. Because racism against Native Americans is much less physically violent today (or at least comparatively) our society does not recognize it as much. However, the intellectual and culture damage is just as severe. This made me think of how our classes and society approach topics of racism and what we choose to focus on.

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I never realized that the foster care system was even a bad thing, as I believed that it was meant to take in kids who had lost their families or were homeless; not kids with full, loving families

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I realized that native Americans are still being put through a cultural genocide and have to deal with the trama and continuation of the government devaluing their culture and their worth. It also needs to be more mainstream since this is still a current issue.

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Question: Are there steps being taken to prevent this now, or is it still happening easily?
research:
ICWA: requires tribes to be involved when government gives "services" to Indigenous children, makes it so that the tribe is notified within 3o days of the child being placed in foster care, however this law still seems like it allows for the federal government to take Native children from their family without any real reason -  source:

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Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA)

What is ICWA? The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 is a federal law designed to "protect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families." ICWA requires child protective services to actively involve tribes when providing intervention and services to Native American children and their families. Congress passed ICWA in response to alarmingly high rates of separation of Native American families, with the goal of preserving Native American families and culture. In 2009, to improve clarity and compliance with ICWA, Wisconsin signed into law the Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act ( WICWA). WICWA was then incorporated into Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 48 (Children's Code). Prior to passage of WICWA, Native American children in Wisconsin were about 1600 times more likely to be removed from their home by public social services than non-Native children. 32 states have state statutes related to enhancing or complying with ICWA.
Why is ICWA important?

Prior to ICWA, 25-35% of all Native American children were separated from their families and 90% were placed in non-Native foster homes, adoptive homes or institutions.

Today, a disproportionate number of Native American children are placed in foster care. While 2% of US children are American Indian/Alaska Native, they represent 8.4% of children in foster care.

In 2016, 7.2% (536) of the 7,482 children in out-of-home care in Wisconsin were Native American. 44% of Native children in out-of-home care were placed with Native American families.

How does ICWA help? Key points:

Federal law requires notification of relatives within 30 days of any child's placement in foster care, but ICWA also requires a Native American child's tribe be informed whenever a Native American child is removed from family. Tribal courts have the option of taking exclusive jurisdiction and can intervene in county proceedings.

ICWA requires that placements fit under its preference provisions, so caseworkers must try to place Native American children with their relatives, members of their tribe, or members of other tribes before alternative arrangements are considered.

ICWA requires the high standard of active efforts by the courts and child protection to work to preserve Native American families and culture.

ICWA applies not only to child protective services but also to guardianship and power of attorney cases.

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Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) - Kids Matter Inc.

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What is ICWA? The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 is a federal law designed to "protect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families." ICWA requires child protective services to actively involve tribes when providing intervention and services to Native American children and their families.

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What laws are the Senate trying to create to stop the removal of Native American children from their families?/ How is the Senate trying to advocate for the stolen Native Americans, today?

https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-haaland-introduce-bill-to-seek-healing-for-stolen-native-children-and-their-communities

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Was the taking of native children into white homes a systemic issue/ did the government enact this policy or was it more a trend of white people thinking they could "help" the native children?

Research: In 1958, Indian Adoption Project created by Bureau of Indian Affairs supported adoption of natives children by white families.
https://upstanderproject.org/firstlight/iap

St. John, native man who was adopted by white family, said, "I was the youngest of 16 children, grabbed at the age of 4, along with three older brothers—no paperwork, nothing." This sounds more like kidnapping rather than adoption.
https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/native-americans-expose-the-adoption-era-and-repair-its-devastation-Uinpv-VkFka0KeFfoMD4eQ

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Something I realized after watching the video was how little native American racism is talked about. Some of the things that were talked about in the video were things that I had never even knew about.

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I had never realized Native American children were being taken from their families for such a long time, hundreds of years ago, until after watching this video. The documentary not only focused on the children, but also the adults that were taken as children showing that act has such a long history and effect on Native American communities.

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Were foster parents incentivized to adopt Native American children? I don't really see why they would abuse them otherwise.