The recent Haaland v. Brackeen Supreme Court ruling serves as a stark reminder of South Dakota’s flagrant violation of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). But the numbers say it all.

* 700+ Native children removed from their homes each year.

* Native American children form just 15% of the child population but constitute over 50% in foster care.

* A staggering 90% are placed with white families, sidelining tribal foster homes.

This skewed reality eerily echoes the dark days of boarding school abductions from the late 1800s when Indigenous children were ripped away from their families. They were denied their traditions, forced into unfamiliar languages, and re-christened with Christian names. Despite the passage of ICWA in 1978 to halt such transgressions, South Dakota stands out as the most glaring offender.

A 2011 NPR report underscores a grim incentive: South Dakota gets up to $79,000 per child annually (numbers likely much higher 12 years later) for retaining Indigenous children in foster care. Concurrently, an alarming spike in prescribed pharmaceuticals, including adult-only antipsychotics, to Native foster children correlates with a surge in suicides among them.