Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978

Perhaps the most significant threat to the continuing existence of Native American tribes as culturally distinct, self-governing nations has been the forced removal of American Indian children from tribal communities into boarding schools and non-Indian homes. Although both an explicit tactic by federal and state governments to foster the assimilation of Native Americans into mainstream society and the result of well-meaning social workers who lack knowledge about tribal cultures, the removal of American Indian children from the reservations has resulted in the disruption of traditional family life and has hindered the transmission of tribal values, customs, and languages to future generations of Native American people.

In the 1970s, after decades of failed assimilation policies that left Native American communities culturally and politically fragmented, tribes began to achieve moderate levels of success in winning recognition of their sovereign rights to exclusively govern their reservations and their members without interference from the states. Tribes argued that a crucial part of this sovereign authority was the ability to protect their most valuable cultural resources, their children, from being taken away and raised in ways that are incompatible with tribal cultural values. As these arguments were consistent with the federal government's post-assimilation era policy of tribal self-determination, Congress responded with the enactment of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in 1978. Specifically acknowledging the importance of protecting the stability and security of Native American tribes and further asserting that it is in the best interest of Native American children to be raised in culturally relevant settings, ICWA implemented sweeping jurisdictional and substantive requirements for all child placement proceedings involving American Indian children. Although not immune from controversy, ICWA's implications for tribal and state authority [Page 715]regarding the welfare of American Indian children have been considerable. Indeed, many assert that ICWA is one of the most significant pieces of legislation dealing with Native Americans that has ever been passed. This entry describes the legislation, its context, and its consequences.