Improving Foster Care for Native American Kids

I know some time that it is hard to work with primitive and cultural people but it could be beneficiary if the Federal Government can revisit some of the old inimical treaties, which they made in the past for the befit of humanity. For instance, if reservation is eradicated, the Native American children can then have access to better life and associate freely with the rest of the world by cross pollinating ideals and cultivating friendships. In that way, the life of the Native American could be improved instead for them hiding in a primitive custom.

I had the pleasure of taking an elective class called, “Native American Spirituality.” Dr. Chris Monta Nupa led the class and I learned of the horrible things the Europeans did when they came to this land. I understand that it was the age when it was deemed “OK” to take land and conquer other people and lands; I do however know that we should be along enough in our civilization to know that we had done a horrible thing and we should honor the treaties that we put forth.

I still cringe when I read and hear these things because so many of us have ties to the indigenous people of the United States. We have a duty to protect people but we fail to protect those that were here in the first place. A child should never be forced from their home to have a new religion and world thrust upon them.

I’m native and I have been told stories where relatives from the distant past were sent to boarding schools which is a disturbing chapter in American and Native American history. I suppose my deeper connection to this story is that within my extended family I have five cousins that are adopted, they are native too but from different tribes and my cousins have no connections with their biological families or their native tribes. Only two of my cousins were actually placed in foster care for a time the other three were adopted as infants. Within my personal experience my cousins probably are much better within our family because they are loved and didn’t have to grow up in dysfunction or poverty. I know contextually it is much different from what is being experienced in South Dakota and the legal issues regarding tribes are very murky, I hear about it all of the time because my brother is a lawyer who focused on American Indian legal studies during law school. The best question is what is in the best interest of the children? I’m sure the state has been over stepping its bounds but has the tribe really done everything it can to ensure its children have an ability to thrive. I don’t know everything about the South Dakota tribes or their capabilities to provide for their youth, thus I’m not going to make assumptions but at the same time is the strictest adherence to the federal law always the best policy? I’m not sure how well Wisconsin works with tribes on placement of American Indian children and even though my cousins are in Native homes I fear the absolute following of the letter of the law would have prevented my cousins from being brought into my family. I agree Native children should be aware of their heritage and culture and state policy should not be allowed to a erode the fabric of a society but the interest of children and their health must come first. I understand what many see as neglect might be poverty but if the extent of the poverty is so profound that a child’s life is in danger then what is fair for the child. This brings up the issue of the poor being disproportionately affected by state and federal laws, which creates other discriminatory issues but again one needs to sideline their pride and say what is best for the child and not ones hubris.