Examining Native American Support for Federal Indian Policy: Evidence from the Indian Child Welfare Act

From environmental policy to family law to law enforcement, Federal Indian policy affects nearly every facet of daily life for Native Americans. And yet, despite its significance, little is known about either the state of Native American attitudes toward Federal Indian policy or the factors that bolster or undermine support for these policies. In this paper, I examine Native Americans’ support for Federal Indian policy by investigating attitudes toward one of the most important and consequential pieces of Federal Indian policy, the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Analyzing data from an original survey of 522 Native Americans conducted in May 2023, I show that support for ICWA is profoundly influenced by attachment to Native American identity and largely unaffected by partisanship. Additional analyses examining Native Americans’ support for a different issue—affirmative action—further suggests that Native Americans differentiate their support for Federal Indian policy from other policy areas.