Indigenous leaders are praising a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding a law that keeps adopted Native children among their tribes. It’s seen as a major case in defending tribal autonomy.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren calls the Indian Child Welfare Act “a vital tool for protecting Navajo families and communities” and that the court’s decision is victory for all Indigenous children and nations. Navajo Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley echoed those sentiments by saying the 7-to-2 decision honors the sovereignty of First Peoples.
The 1978 law gives preference to Native American families in adoption cases. It was intended to stem hundreds of thousands of cases of children being separated from their tribes and raised outside of their cultures and traditions.
The law was challenged by a Texas family who had adopted a boy born to Navajo and Cherokee parents. They were backed by the Goldwater Institute that said the welfare act subjected children to a less-protective set of laws.
Tribes, however, argued the welfare act protects the cultural and familial ties of Indigenous children.
