Foster care took over where boarding schools left off with Indigenous children, so the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed. But now that protection is under attack.
By the time I got to the end of this article all I could do was take deep breaths to slow my outrage. I've long dwelt on the fact that the United States of America in which I grew up was in reality based on a genocide, but this article (and I admit recent viewing of the Yellowstone prequel, 1923) have brought me awareness of how much deeper and ongoing that genocide is. I'll skip my outrage at the hypocrisy of the so-called "Christians" behind this, but the 2023 reach of the "Christian Nationalist" movement is increasingly outrageous and infuriating. I'm deeply saddened and increasingly disillusioned with Christianity and the country I grew up believing in. I will add this cause to the long list of issues for which I've sought to advocate. I may not be able to do much, but I'll do whatever little I can.
Every ally is appreciated. Sharing articles like this with your friends and family or supporting publications like The Big Picture that share these rarely covered stories is extremely valuable. Getting the information out to people, educating voters, is a major hurdle for minority cultures like mine.
Thank you for expressing your honest and understandable feelings. The challenge of our time is to be able to channel our collective outrage into action. I’ve stressed with my team that we want to make sure each “big picture” item we examine includes some hope, some way to take action and change things, even if it means simply sharing the work and educating more folks. We are happy to have you here as a part of this growing community!
I knew about the past horrific actions of the US government and US religious groups against indigenous communities. I was not aware of the continued horrific actions as regards US foster care. This is shameful and must stop. How can we be a nation of laws when we habitually ignore our treaties with the indigenous tribes. Thank you so much for writing about this and for providing links to groups that work against these actions. I truly do not understand this hatred, and there is nothing about it that is Christian, but it has to stop.
Many terrible things are done in the name of religion, and unless we make folks aware of it, they will continue unchecked. It’s my hope that we highlight these injustices and horrors so that they do not continue.
This is so sad! Like Patricia J said before me, I had no idea that White Christian nationalists even had their nasty fingers in this. I don't have much faith in our current SCOTUS, but I hope that even they can understand the sovreignity of tribes and that their views of family must win out over those of American religious nuts.
In mainstream media the Christian nationalists in these cases are always displayed as saviors who only want to give a poor unwanted child a home. Their movement is very media savvy.
Horrifying to realize how much has been omitted from the "history" that we were taught in K-12 as well as from the general news throughout our lives in the US. Most of what I've been learning about our country's history has only been in the past several years, and only because I started following history professors like Heather Cox Richardson and others on Substack. This new (to me) information on how even more badly indigenous people here have been treated, with the ongoing genocidal intent in breaking apart families fills my heart with sadness and outrage. I have no words. 💔
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi) for reading my piece.
Indigenous children attend those same schools and see their history either ignored or only lies being taught, then talking heads wonder why suicides are higher among Indigenous youth. Getting accurate history, not a whitewashed version, in schools is something people can tackle at a grassroots level with their local school board or state legislature.
Education is so important, even among those of us who consider ourselves well educated. I find myself still learning many things, even into my eighties.
Allies and intercultural cooperation and communication is vital to successful human survival, but coming in from a place of false superiority helps no one. The White savior misses valuable lessons and the people they want to help get help they usually didn't want or need.
Along these same lines, I invite readers to watch the TV show "Alaska Daily". It is a drama about the unsolved and unaddressed murders of Indigenous girls in Alaska. Season w has just started but it is best to start with season 1.
Yes, for Indigenous people in the USA and Canada, it isn't if you know a missing or murdered woman, girl or Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S). It's who or how many. We all know at least one. Mine is a high school friend name Virginia Pictou Noyes. A 26-year-old mother of 5 children including an infant, she disappeared on April 24, 1993 in Maine. Initial police reaction was "those people" disappear all the time.
Me too...No idea this was happening! Kinda goes to show just how far away Evangelical Christians are from a societal norm. This has to stop, and WE need to look into our state structures to make sure it doesn't happen within our states. Because obviously, the Federal government cannot be counted upon, and SCOTUS is so compromised they need to be ignored.
For-profit foster care is an abomination, in all 50 states, and overwhelmingly discriminates against all minority children. But trying to justify adoption based on the assumption that a christian family has more to offer a child than families with different belief systems is just racist in the extreme, and this bigotry disguised as self-righteousness is more than disgusting - it's immoral. Unfortunately, I'm under no illusion that SCOTUS will rule in favor of the child, since both christian nationalism and parental rights seems to be the default stances of the terrorist right.
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi) for reading my piece.
This SCOTUS has supported tribal sovereignty in some other cases, but Trump’s appointments were also handpicked by a Christian nationalist organization—the Federalist Society.
It is things like this that make my blood boil.You are correct,it's just another form of genocide,taking these kids away from their families and their culture and expecting them to"become civilized".Bullhockey!I for one am very tired of these so-called White Christianists forcing their religion on everyone else,and still after four hundred years trying to deny the soventry of the Tribal Nations that were here long before Columbus was ever even dreamed of.
White Europeans still trying to think and act as if only they matter,and that only their religion and culture matter,and everything and everyone else are by their default considered wrong.Its been that way for centuries,and not only in The Americas.The continent of Africa's nations have this same issue with the White Europeans,who also think they are superior to those people as well.
It is well past time for this to be resolved and permanently fixed,and the White folks to butt out of anything to do with how Tribal Nation peoples take care of their own.And also to keep their Christianist bullhockey to themselves,and to make sure it's coded that it can no longer be forced on any Tribal Nation person or group.We all know they hide behind their ideology to impose on Tribal Nations.Its been going on for over 400 years and it's long past time it is stopped.
Yes, unfortunately we still live in the age of "kill the Indian, save the man". What a bunch of crap. And as more people come to understand the truth in the context of reality, the more likely we are to be able to change it and "form a more perfect union"...
All people in the United States would benefit from decolonizing our mindset from our current Eurocentric, White, Christian focus as the cultural "norm" to choosing the best societal solutions based on their merits. We've made inroads on conservation, but White Christian nationalists are pushing back with efforts to sanitize education to its full White supremacist focus.
I have believed in the way to live is best said by the Lakota, "Mitakuye Oyasin"...all my relatives...in the sense that we are all humans, we are all in this together...I have never understood from my childhood why we can't just live like that.
Thank you. I'll be sharing this with everyone I know. We can only try to be allies for indigenous peoples. I have no faith in the current SCOTUS to view this as anything but "saving the poor Indian babies" and giving them to Christ. It makes me want to vomit.
Wow. That was a wake-up call for me, but am I surprised this has been going on? No, not really. Christian Nationalism has its tentacles into every aspect of American life. I’m just done with Christianity. Done.
Just as Canada 🇨🇦 made an accounting for past wrongs to indigenous children wrongfully taken from their tribes, so too must America 🇺🇸. Even Pope Francis wholeheartedly 🙏 asked for the tribes forgiveness during his recent visit to Canada 🇨🇦 . These so called fundamentalist predominantly white Christian nationalists attempting to proselytize by assimilated adoptions of children over the objections of their tribes not being given 1st chance to raise them is entirely wrong. Hopefully this lawsuit before the SCOTUS will reaffirm that, but with the Trump and McConnell stacked majority it's so hard to know what to expect unfortunately. All the more reason to increase the number of Supreme Court justices ⚖️ too, besides the other calamities they are inflicting on all of America 🇺🇸.
I thought there was always supposed to be native American representatives in Congress per treaties in the past 🤔 too. Thankfully Deb Haaland is the Secretary of the Interior, so that will hopefully help with reparations.
Thank you for writing and posting this most enlightening essay. I was aware that the foster care system in general is wanting but I had no idea that the fostering of indigenous children was so genocidal. The christian nationalists will not be happy until everyone (including atheists) is forced to follow their world view, but their removal and indoctrination of indigenous children is shameful and must be universally recognized as such.
The for-profit foster care system used in some states has been as successful as for-profit prisons. It's in the companies' profiting off these systems best interests to ensure family reunification and prisoner rehabilitation fails. Then government officials act surprised when it does.
By the time I got to the end of this article all I could do was take deep breaths to slow my outrage. I've long dwelt on the fact that the United States of America in which I grew up was in reality based on a genocide, but this article (and I admit recent viewing of the Yellowstone prequel, 1923) have brought me awareness of how much deeper and ongoing that genocide is. I'll skip my outrage at the hypocrisy of the so-called "Christians" behind this, but the 2023 reach of the "Christian Nationalist" movement is increasingly outrageous and infuriating. I'm deeply saddened and increasingly disillusioned with Christianity and the country I grew up believing in. I will add this cause to the long list of issues for which I've sought to advocate. I may not be able to do much, but I'll do whatever little I can.
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi).
Every ally is appreciated. Sharing articles like this with your friends and family or supporting publications like The Big Picture that share these rarely covered stories is extremely valuable. Getting the information out to people, educating voters, is a major hurdle for minority cultures like mine.
Thank you for expressing your honest and understandable feelings. The challenge of our time is to be able to channel our collective outrage into action. I’ve stressed with my team that we want to make sure each “big picture” item we examine includes some hope, some way to take action and change things, even if it means simply sharing the work and educating more folks. We are happy to have you here as a part of this growing community!
I knew about the past horrific actions of the US government and US religious groups against indigenous communities. I was not aware of the continued horrific actions as regards US foster care. This is shameful and must stop. How can we be a nation of laws when we habitually ignore our treaties with the indigenous tribes. Thank you so much for writing about this and for providing links to groups that work against these actions. I truly do not understand this hatred, and there is nothing about it that is Christian, but it has to stop.
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi) for reading my piece.
Many terrible things are done in the name of religion, and unless we make folks aware of it, they will continue unchecked. It’s my hope that we highlight these injustices and horrors so that they do not continue.
This is so sad! Like Patricia J said before me, I had no idea that White Christian nationalists even had their nasty fingers in this. I don't have much faith in our current SCOTUS, but I hope that even they can understand the sovreignity of tribes and that their views of family must win out over those of American religious nuts.
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi).
In mainstream media the Christian nationalists in these cases are always displayed as saviors who only want to give a poor unwanted child a home. Their movement is very media savvy.
Horrifying to realize how much has been omitted from the "history" that we were taught in K-12 as well as from the general news throughout our lives in the US. Most of what I've been learning about our country's history has only been in the past several years, and only because I started following history professors like Heather Cox Richardson and others on Substack. This new (to me) information on how even more badly indigenous people here have been treated, with the ongoing genocidal intent in breaking apart families fills my heart with sadness and outrage. I have no words. 💔
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi) for reading my piece.
Indigenous children attend those same schools and see their history either ignored or only lies being taught, then talking heads wonder why suicides are higher among Indigenous youth. Getting accurate history, not a whitewashed version, in schools is something people can tackle at a grassroots level with their local school board or state legislature.
Education is so important, even among those of us who consider ourselves well educated. I find myself still learning many things, even into my eighties.
White saviors ARE the worst. I despise the arrogance of so-called Christians who insist that everyone else has to live by their beliefs.
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi)!
Allies and intercultural cooperation and communication is vital to successful human survival, but coming in from a place of false superiority helps no one. The White savior misses valuable lessons and the people they want to help get help they usually didn't want or need.
Along these same lines, I invite readers to watch the TV show "Alaska Daily". It is a drama about the unsolved and unaddressed murders of Indigenous girls in Alaska. Season w has just started but it is best to start with season 1.
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi).
Yes, for Indigenous people in the USA and Canada, it isn't if you know a missing or murdered woman, girl or Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S). It's who or how many. We all know at least one. Mine is a high school friend name Virginia Pictou Noyes. A 26-year-old mother of 5 children including an infant, she disappeared on April 24, 1993 in Maine. Initial police reaction was "those people" disappear all the time.
Racial bias is killing BIPOC.
Me too...No idea this was happening! Kinda goes to show just how far away Evangelical Christians are from a societal norm. This has to stop, and WE need to look into our state structures to make sure it doesn't happen within our states. Because obviously, the Federal government cannot be counted upon, and SCOTUS is so compromised they need to be ignored.
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi).
Yes, state level—where the control of foster care rests—is the best way to tackle this issue.
For-profit foster care is an abomination, in all 50 states, and overwhelmingly discriminates against all minority children. But trying to justify adoption based on the assumption that a christian family has more to offer a child than families with different belief systems is just racist in the extreme, and this bigotry disguised as self-righteousness is more than disgusting - it's immoral. Unfortunately, I'm under no illusion that SCOTUS will rule in favor of the child, since both christian nationalism and parental rights seems to be the default stances of the terrorist right.
The “for profit” nature of the business really is distasteful at best, and harmful and destructive to hundreds of thousands of children at worst.
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi) for reading my piece.
This SCOTUS has supported tribal sovereignty in some other cases, but Trump’s appointments were also handpicked by a Christian nationalist organization—the Federalist Society.
It is things like this that make my blood boil.You are correct,it's just another form of genocide,taking these kids away from their families and their culture and expecting them to"become civilized".Bullhockey!I for one am very tired of these so-called White Christianists forcing their religion on everyone else,and still after four hundred years trying to deny the soventry of the Tribal Nations that were here long before Columbus was ever even dreamed of.
White Europeans still trying to think and act as if only they matter,and that only their religion and culture matter,and everything and everyone else are by their default considered wrong.Its been that way for centuries,and not only in The Americas.The continent of Africa's nations have this same issue with the White Europeans,who also think they are superior to those people as well.
It is well past time for this to be resolved and permanently fixed,and the White folks to butt out of anything to do with how Tribal Nation peoples take care of their own.And also to keep their Christianist bullhockey to themselves,and to make sure it's coded that it can no longer be forced on any Tribal Nation person or group.We all know they hide behind their ideology to impose on Tribal Nations.Its been going on for over 400 years and it's long past time it is stopped.
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi) for reading my piece.
We have a movement called decolonization that seeks to dismantle the Eurocentric, White supremacy slant of our institutions, especially education.
Yes, unfortunately we still live in the age of "kill the Indian, save the man". What a bunch of crap. And as more people come to understand the truth in the context of reality, the more likely we are to be able to change it and "form a more perfect union"...
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi).
All people in the United States would benefit from decolonizing our mindset from our current Eurocentric, White, Christian focus as the cultural "norm" to choosing the best societal solutions based on their merits. We've made inroads on conservation, but White Christian nationalists are pushing back with efforts to sanitize education to its full White supremacist focus.
I have believed in the way to live is best said by the Lakota, "Mitakuye Oyasin"...all my relatives...in the sense that we are all humans, we are all in this together...I have never understood from my childhood why we can't just live like that.
Thank you. I'll be sharing this with everyone I know. We can only try to be allies for indigenous peoples. I have no faith in the current SCOTUS to view this as anything but "saving the poor Indian babies" and giving them to Christ. It makes me want to vomit.
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi) for spreading the information about this issue. It's very appreciated.
Wow. That was a wake-up call for me, but am I surprised this has been going on? No, not really. Christian Nationalism has its tentacles into every aspect of American life. I’m just done with Christianity. Done.
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi) for reading my piece.
I agree that it is disappointing, but not surprising.
Just as Canada 🇨🇦 made an accounting for past wrongs to indigenous children wrongfully taken from their tribes, so too must America 🇺🇸. Even Pope Francis wholeheartedly 🙏 asked for the tribes forgiveness during his recent visit to Canada 🇨🇦 . These so called fundamentalist predominantly white Christian nationalists attempting to proselytize by assimilated adoptions of children over the objections of their tribes not being given 1st chance to raise them is entirely wrong. Hopefully this lawsuit before the SCOTUS will reaffirm that, but with the Trump and McConnell stacked majority it's so hard to know what to expect unfortunately. All the more reason to increase the number of Supreme Court justices ⚖️ too, besides the other calamities they are inflicting on all of America 🇺🇸.
I thought there was always supposed to be native American representatives in Congress per treaties in the past 🤔 too. Thankfully Deb Haaland is the Secretary of the Interior, so that will hopefully help with reparations.
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi) for reading my piece.
Fingers crossed on the Brackeen v. Haaland decision.
This is history that needs to be taught!
History and current events.
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi) for reading my piece.
Thank you for this article. Well researched, thought provoking, and eloquently stated. A vibrant call to action.
Philámayaye wopila (thank you very much in Lakȟótiyapi) for your kind words about my piece.
Thank you for writing and posting this most enlightening essay. I was aware that the foster care system in general is wanting but I had no idea that the fostering of indigenous children was so genocidal. The christian nationalists will not be happy until everyone (including atheists) is forced to follow their world view, but their removal and indoctrination of indigenous children is shameful and must be universally recognized as such.
Philámayaye (thank you in Lakȟótiyapi).
The for-profit foster care system used in some states has been as successful as for-profit prisons. It's in the companies' profiting off these systems best interests to ensure family reunification and prisoner rehabilitation fails. Then government officials act surprised when it does.