Adoption Law

"For over 100 years, thousands of Aboriginal children passed through the Canadian residential school system. Begun in the 1870s, it was intended, in the words of government officials, to bring these children into the “circle of civilization,” the results, however, were far different. More often, the schools provided an inferior education in an atmosphere of neglect, disease, and often abuse.

"Children, Tribes, and States explores child welfare, adoption, and custody conflicts involving American Indian children with a particular focus on jurisdictional and placement disputes between states and tribes. Atwood examines the policies driving the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 against the backdrop of current ICWA controversies in state courts. In addition, she explores tribal-state competition in inter-parental custody disputes, a contentious arena that falls outside the purview of ICWA.

"The adoption of Aboriginal children into non-Aboriginal families has a long and contentious history in Canada. Life stories told by First Nations people reveal that the adoption experience has been far from positive for these communities and has, in fact, been an integral aspect of colonization. In an effort to decolonize adoption practices, the Yellowhead Tribal Services Agency (YTSA) in Alberta has integrated customary First Peoples’ adoption practices with provincial adoption laws and regulations.

Examines a broad range of child welfare policies impacting native children and their families in the U.S. and Canada, including foster care, child protection, adoption, services to keep families together and supporting data. Most chapters contain a separate section for each jurisdiction (Canada and the US) written by a different author(s). An appendix includes a timeline for each country detailing major policy development of child welfare policies related to native children. Contains author biographies and an index.

"This book is dedicated to informing social workers and other helping professionals in how Métis people are affected in the child welfare system. Métis peoples today negotiate a form of displacement that has occurred over generations although most Canadians are unaware of this history. The forced removal of children through child apprehension and adoption has been an integral part of displacement, perpetuating further family disruption and dislocation.