From the Indian Adoption Project to the Indian Child Welfare Act: the resistance of Native American communities

Abstract

The right for Native children who are in the welfare system (foster care and adoption) to grow up within their community or in an environment which reflects Native American culture is guaranteed by the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. We may wonder the reasons why adoption became such a sensitive issue for Native American communities in the 1970s. Why could we consider the ICWA as one of the legislations that could exemplify the resistance of Native communities? If there is resistance, we may wonder to what? In order to better evaluate the significance of the adoptions which were carried out between the 1950s and 1970s, I am going to present the Indian Adoption Project, a contract that made possible the adoption of Native children by white families in the USA. Then, I will examine the social and political context and the conditions leading to the vote of the ICWA , before highlighting the expressions of resistance that lay underneath this federal law.

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