The Choctaw Nation will support its Tribe, families

On June 15, the Supreme Court issued their opinion in favor of ICWA and tribal sovereignty, ensuring that Tribal families will continue to be protected.

In 1978 Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) to right the extreme historical injustices committed against Native children and their families. The law remains a critical part of protecting Native American heritage and tribal sovereignty. We are glad to see the Supreme Court recognized the important benefits of ICWA and allowed the law to stand.

The Choctaw Nation will continue to support children and families through its foster care system, Indian Child Welfare team, tribal attorneys and over 100 tribal services.

Faith, family, culture. Those three words are the very foundation of the Choctaw Nation.. It’s how we live, thrive, and survive as a Nation.

Keeping Choctaw families together is the most important service we can provide to our Tribe. Making sure our Tribe is strong and resilient is how our Nation grows and remains great.

Recently, ICWA was challenged by state governments, politicians, and special interest groups who oppose tribal sovereignty. The U.S. Supreme Court in November convened to hear the states’ argument that ICWA is unconstitutional, because it is a “race-based” classification system and advocated that the U.S. Supreme Court should strike down ICWA and its protections for Tribal families. The decision in favor of ICWA issued by the Supreme Court is an important one for tribal sovereignty and tribal culture.

Before ICWA, the Association on American Indian Affairs research found that “somewhere between 25 and 35 percent of all American Indian children had been placed in adoptive homes, foster homes, or institutions. Around 90 percent of those children were being raised by non-Indians.”

Many of those children would never see their families, or Tribe, ever again.

To combat children being removed from their Tribal families, ICWA was passed with three main components:

1. It requires Tribal courts to hear child placement cases when possible and allows a child’s Tribe to take part in all state court child removal and placement proceedings.
2. If a Native child must be removed from the home, a system of placement preferences must be followed with the first preference being extended family members, followed by other Tribal members, then other Native families, and finally non-Native homes approved by the Tribe.
3. It allows a Tribal government to have a say in who adopts a Native Child in cases where both biological parents lose custody.

Additionally, ICWA requires child welfare workers to provide “active efforts” that encourage family reunification, such as drug treatment, parenting classes, and counseling. These components have made ICWA the “gold standard” by many child welfare advocacy groups and it is argued these efforts should apply to any child in the foster care system.

The U.S. Supreme Court understands that ICWA is not only a right for Tribal families, but it is our right as a sovereign Nation. It is not a race issue, but a way to ensure that Choctaw families can make it together. As a Nation, we are better together and ICWA allows a chance for Choctaw families to get the assistance they need as a family with the help of their Tribal neighbors and family.

ICWA remains the federal government’s primary effort to keep families together and keep children with their Tribe. ICWA is instrumental in supporting Tribal sovereignty by supporting the Tribe’s ability to maintain social and cultural health and provides them with the ability to protect its most vulnerable population, children.

The Choctaw Nation will continue to support its Tribal families and children.