Our Children/Our Future: Examining How Indigenous Peoples in the US Assert Self-Determination and Prioritize Child Wellbeing

Our children are our future. As noted in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), “There is no resource that is more vital to the continued existence and integrity of Indian tribes than their children”. Native Americans have always fought for and prioritized child wellbeing and will continue to strive for self-determination. Primarily focusing on Indigenous people in the area now known as the United States, this article first discusses the historical underpinnings of Native American experiences in child welfare systems and the ways Native Americans have historically exercised self-determination in child protection matters, including resistance to boarding schools and child removal, and strategies to retain authority with ICWA. Next, it offers examples of exerting self-determination to repair past harms of child welfare systems and relational severance, and prevent future harms, through efforts involving truth and reconciliation, homecoming ceremonies, child-environment reconnection and protection, legal systems, and social work education initiatives. Centering content in ways that are relevant for Indigenous Peoples, it then explores how child welfare systems can be transformed to ensure Native Peoples’ rights to raise our children within our families, cultures, and communities, with emphases on cultural strengths and relational understandings.