Tribal sovereignty is at risk and historically racist tactics could be implemented once again in the name of child welfare – tribal rights and the ability to preserve their unique cultural identities, raise their own children and govern themselves now lies in the hands of the Supreme Court.

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), adopted by Congress in 1978, reversed decades of family separation policies involving Native American families, including efforts to remove children for specious and frequently racist reasons. It establishes basic requirements to protect Native American children from continued forced removal from their families, tribes, and tribal culture.

Child removal has been a key element in the U.S.'s dark history of tribal genocide. Mass graves discovered at indigenous boarding schools – where children who were forcibly removed from their families were prohibited from speaking their Native American languages and practicing their religions, and were often abused – have once again shined a light on America’s racist attempts of wiping out Native tribes physically or by forced assimilation. ICWA provides safeguards against forcible removal – individually, or en masse – of indigenous children.

Now, ICWA is slated to be reviewed by the Supreme Court this fall, a Court with a majority that has shown how eager it is to overturn long-standing law and precedent. If the Court overturns it, states would once again be allowed to remove Native children from their families and culture, placing them with non-Native families, while simultaneously depriving tribes of future generations, putting their very existence at risk.

The case before the Court arose as right-wing forces called into question the constitutionality of ICWA claiming it is “racist against whites”. In fact, removal has been used for more than 140 years to harm Native children and eradicate tribes altogether. Even today, Indian children in Minnesota, for example, are almost 17 times more likely to be removed from their families and placed in foster care than non-Indian children – demonstrating the absurdity of the right-wing racist argument.

Our legal system has repeatedly failed tribal nations in this country. Now, they’re going for the families. That is why we will rise and say NO to these racist attacks!

We support federal laws designed to preserve Native families and respect tribal heritage.

Sign the petition: Support the Indian Child Welfare Act, tribal sovereignty, and families!