INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT
The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), passed by Congress in 1978, intended to limit the historical practice of removing Native American children from their tribe and family and placing them in a non-Indian family or institution (25 U.S.C.A. §§ 1901–1963). The stated purpose of the act is to “[p]rotect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes.” The act seeks to achieve these goals through three principal methods: by establishing minimum federal stan-
dards for when Indian children can be removed
from their family; by placing children who are
removed in a foster or adoptive home that
reflects the unique values of Indian culture; and
by providing assistance to family services pro-
grams operated by Indian tribes.
The impetus behind the passage of the
ICWA was a widespread recognition of the fail-
ure of the federal government’s historical policy
of removing Indian children from their family
and tribe and attempting to assimilate them into
white culture by placing them in a white family
or institution. Since the late 1800s, a large per-
centage of Indian children had been taken from
their home and placed in a boarding school off
their tribal reservation in order to teach them
white culture and practices. In many cases gov-
ernment authorities removed Indian children
from their family because of vague allegations of
neglect, when in fact the children’s treatment
reflected cultural differences in child rearing
practices, and not neglect or abuse. In addition,
the practice of removing Indian children from
their tribe placed the very existence of the tribes
