The United States’ favorite pastime is to fail its youth, especially those in foster care. If that youth is Native American, the government is delighted in the chance to culturally genocide them. Many Native youth are taken and never allowed to experience any cultural hallmarks. Although the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) exists, it is often not more than a mere small suggestion when placing a child. Minnesota claims to take children away in order to provide them a better life. However, they often fail to have their actions align with their words.
We need to keep fighting for ICWA to be enforced not only in Minnesota, but nationwide. Native American youth are drastically overrepresented in foster care. In the Minnesota youth population, Native children make up 1.7%. Yet in foster care, they make up nearly 26% percent. That is the highest disproportionate rate in the entire United States. How many of those children are placed in Native households? How many children’s identities are forced to be suppressed? How many children are going to endure additional trauma and face damage to their self-worth?
Another factor is tribal enrollment. Many Native children in foster care may not be enrolled in one of the federally recognized tribes for many reasons, such as entering the system before being enrolled, council bias, blood quantum, etc. Blood quantum is a tool of cultural genocide. Many of these children are raised in Native households, but are then taken out of these cultural places due to a lack of enrollment. This is a failure on all fronts. A single situation like that happening is too much. All Native children must be protected, not just enrolled children.
Every time I was placed, it was in a non-Native household. When I was put into foster care, the government removed me from my Native grandmother and placed me with my white father who was a rapist and pedophile with prior convictions. After some predatory events occurred, I was put into foster care with my three half-siblings. The two younger children were placed differently, and I only saw them a few times after that. Then, my brother and I were placed four times. Each of those four times, I was placed in a non-Native household.
Worst placement was the placement I was at the longest. It was with an elderly woman who was extremely racist, alongside holding many other outdated and harmful beliefs. She had no shame in repeatedly voicing these beliefs. When I mentioned this behavior to her superiors in the system, it was brushed aside. To hide her bigotry, she had me fill out her diversity foster parent forms and do the online training sessions.
It was a rural small town placement, and I was the only Native student there. The school used old terminology and spread hateful phrases. When we were learning about the Reconstruction era, the history teacher said, “American Indians have diabetes, alcoholics, and smoke the peace pipe.”
I was made to feel alienated. So I began to hide from my identity. The last placement was my Native aunt adopting me out of the system. Many Native fosters will never get to experience their culture until they age out of foster care. Even for me, it’s been a fight to regain self-confidence with my cultural identity.
My story is only one of the many failures of the system. I wonder about the other Native fosters who had to experience the same or even worse for longer. How much longer will we tolerate the mistreatment of our vulnerable youth? I demand for Minnesota to take actions to enforce ICWA. I demand for Minnesota to make changes. I refuse to accept merely the words of officials. Until they do, I will never stop fighting for ICWA.
