SACRAMENTO, Calif — The Supreme Court released a decision Thursday leaving the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act in place. It gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native children.
According to the Associated Press, before the Indian Child Welfare Act was enacted, between 25-35% of Native American children were being taken from their homes and placed with adoptive families, in foster care or in institutions. Most were placed with White families or in boarding schools in attempt to assimilate them.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote "the issues are complicated" in the majority opinion, noting “bottom line is that we reject all of petitioners’ challenges to the statute.”
Only Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented, with Alito writing the decision “disserves the rights and interests of these children.”
Meanwhile, in his concurring opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch discussed the importance and impact of the decision:
“Often, Native American Tribes have come to this Court seeking justice only to leave with bowed heads and empty hands. But that is not because this Court has no justice to offer them. Our Constitution reserves for the Tribes a place—an enduring place—in the structure of American life. It promises them sovereignty for as long as they wish to keep it. And it secures that promise by divesting States of authority over Indian affairs and by giving the federal government certain significant (but limited and enumerated) powers aimed at building a lasting peace. In adopting the Indian Child Welfare Act, Congress exercised that lawful authority to secure the right of Indian parents to raise their families as they please; the right of Indian children to grow in their culture; and the right of Indian communities to resist fading into the twilight of history. All of that is in keeping with the Constitution’s original design."
ICWA requires states to notify tribes and seek placement with the child’s extended family, members of the child’s tribe, or other Native American families.
National and state Native American lawmakers immediately reacted to the decision.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland tweeted a statement that says, in part, “Today’s decision is a welcome affirmation across Indian Country of what presidents and congressional majorities on both sides of the aisle have recognized for the past four decades. For nearly two centuries, federal policies promoted the forced removal of Indian children from their families and communities through boarding schools, foster care, and adoption… Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978 to put an end to those policies."
Assemblymember James C. Ramos, California’s first and only California Native American elected to the legislature, released the following statement:
"California’s tribes today join other Native Americans across the United States in celebrating the reaffirmation of our sovereign right to raise our children in tribal communities where they can maintain their tribal identity, culture and traditions…No one can underestimate the trauma of genocide, the forced separation of children from their parents, the creation of boarding schools and other crimes aimed at eliminating or assimilating Native Americans in California and the nation. We have survived the attacks on our existence and our culture, and we will continue to resist attempts to deny our rightful place on this land as sovereign people.”
Some of the state's Native American organizations and tribes also shared their thoughts.
Wilton Rancheria Chairman Jesus Tarango released the following statement:
“Today Wilton Rancheria joins with all of Indian Country as we celebrate the Supreme Court’s decision in the landmark case, Brackeen v. Haaland! As Chairperson, I am proud to say that Wilton Rancheria joined with 496 Tribal Nations, 62 Native organizations, 20 states and the District of Columbia, 87 congresspeople, and 27 child welfare and adoption organizations in signing on to 21 briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)... This case was not simply poised to attack our Native children and communities by removing important safeguards currently provided by the law, it also stood to have a negative and lasting impact on our ability as tribes to self-govern. This overwhelming 7-2 decision not only demonstrates a fair and unbiased view of the efforts to preserve and protect Native American families but also further affirms and protects tribal sovereignty.”
Chairman Charles Martin of The Morongo Band of Mission Indians released the following statement:
“Morongo is very pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision today, strongly affirming the constitutionality of protecting Indian children and Tribal families. Once again, the court has found the Indian Child Welfare Act is constitutional and in alignment with decades of legal precedent. Hopefully, this ruling will put an end to the ongoing legal attacks from ICWA opponents who continue to try to send us back to the dark days when one of every three Indian children was taken from their homes, families, and cultures without cause. We appreciate the opportunity to partner with the Cherokee Nation, the Navajo Nation, the Oneida Nation and the Quinault Indian Nation in this effort, and we thank the more than 485 tribes across the country, including all 109 federally-recognized tribes in California, for standing with us to defend ICWA. We also extend our deepest thanks to the California Attorney General’s Office, as well as dozens of bipartisan members of Congress, along with child advocacy and social service agencies across the nation, for joining us in this fight to protect Tribal sovereignty.”
The California Tribal Families Coalition also shared their thoughts, saying in part:
“Today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling is a major victory for tribes in California and across the nation, and most importantly, it is a victory for tribal children, tribal families, and the future of tribal nations. Today’s ruling was especially meaningful for California, which hears the most ICWArelated cases per year as home to the nation’s largest Native American population.”
Read the full statement here.
In 2021, ABC10 spoke with two Native Youths about what it means to be Native and grow up in the culture. To read the full article about “What it means to grow up Native American,” click here.
Other notable reactions to the decision
President Joe Biden released a statement on the decision. It reads, in part:
"I stand alongside Tribal Nations as they celebrate today’s Supreme Court decision. This lawsuit sought to undermine the Indian Child Welfare Act – a vital law I was proud to support. The Indian Child Welfare Act was passed to protect the future of Tribal Nations and promote the best interests of Native children, and it does just that. The touchstone law respects tribal sovereignty and protects Native children by helping Native families stay together and, whenever possible, keeping children with their extended families or community who already know them, love them, and can help them understand who they are as Native people and citizens of their Tribal Nations. The Indian Child Welfare Act safeguards that which is most precious to us all—our children. Today’s decision from the Supreme Court keeps in place a vital protection for tribal sovereignty and Native children."
You can read his full statement here.
Gov. Newsom's office also tweeted a statement saying:
"The Indian Child Welfare Act has for decades helped ensure that Native American children remain connected to their cultures. Today, the Supreme Court declined to upend this law. California will continue to be a strong partner to Tribal Nations in the spirit of truth & healing."
You can read the full Supreme Court ruling here.
