Preserving Tribal Identity
Video Transcribed: All right, so what is ICWA? Hi, I’m Ty Smith, an Oklahoma attorney with Wirth Law.
This is an important one for you if you are a member of one of the federally recognized tribes, or if you are simply trying to adopt someone who is a member of the federally recognized tribes. And ICWA stands for the Indian Child Welfare Act, ICWA. And it’s a federal law that governs the removal of, and the placement elsewhere of American Indian children. Okay? And this law came about after the federal government recognized that native children were being removed from their homes and placed in typically white houses at a much higher rate, and typically based on evidence that was either non-existent or very, very shaky to be the most diplomatic. Very, very, very shaky poor evidence. Okay. And the law creates a federal standard for the removal and relocation of children of tribal descent. Okay? And it creates special requirements for the parental rights of the alleged deprived child to be terminated.
And it is designed once more to protect the best interest of the Native American child and ensure that they maintain a relationship with their parents, who, of course, are members of a federally recognized native tribe. And she, the child, therefore, has a better chance of maintaining the cultural relationship with their tribe. Okay? It’s kind of seen as a way to protect federally recognized tribes from being systematically destroyed from within, just because the ways and traditions of these tribes are not, if they’re not maintained, they die out. Okay?
So of course it does that, but it also clarifies that tribes, have exclusive jurisdiction and sovereignty over members, tribal members who live on tribal land. Okay. And establish a process by which you can transfer cases off of tribal land onto tribal land. Okay? Now, this creates added protections for members of a tribal population, but of course, it also creates additional obstacles for an individual who is looking to adopt a child who is a member of a federally recognized tribe.
And so it can create frustrations if you are not one of those individuals. But it’s important to keep in mind the objective of the law is to try to protect a people group that was traditionally very, very tread upon by the federal government. If you have any further questions about ICWA, typically this stuff comes along in regard to adopting a child, especially a foster child. I’d be glad to speak to you about this. Once more, my name’s Ty Smith, a family law attorney in OKC. I’m with Wirth Law Office. You can find me at theOklahomacityattorney.com. You can call my office at (405) 888-5400, and I’d be glad to speak to you about anything in regard to family law and criminal law.
