Mark Fiddler News Today

Thursday’s ruling upholds an adoption law that tribes see as critical to their cultural survival after decades of children being stripped from families. Dissenting justices say it puts tribal welfare over the best interests of the child.

"Do white children in Minnesota have greater protections from abuse than Indian children? Yes, they do... ."

What is the purpose of the Indian Child Welfare Act? And when it comes to children, should tribes govern themselves? 

The Catholic Church's role running boarding schools that separated Indigenous children from their family resonates as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case that that could overturn the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act.  

The case challenges a law meant to protect American Indian children from being removed from their families.

What is the best interest of the child? That’s the question at the core of every child welfare case. When it comes to Native adoptions, the fate of the law that set the standard for four decades now rests with Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court will hear cases from three families challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act. Under the ICWA, decisions about adoption -- which in other circumstances are made by state courts or governments that consider the best interests of the child -- are shifted into tribal hands when an American Indian child is involved.

The case, Brackeen v. Haaland, threatens the federal law protecting the bond between Native American children and their families and tribes