- Details
- By Native News Online Staff
North Dakota House Bill 1536 passed the state legislature yesterday, April 25. The bill codifies ICWA into state law, meaning if the Supreme Court were to make changes to the federal law, it would not apply to North Dakota law unless the North Dakota Legislature chose to amend the law adopted in HB 1536 in a future legislative session.
Congress passed ICWA in 1978 after a national effort to address the widespread practice of removing American Indian children—members of federally recognized tribes—from their homes and placing them with non-Native, white families.
The law requires caseworkers in each state foster care system to make “active efforts” to keep Native children with their biological family or within their respective tribe—if they are enrolled or acknowledged by a tribe. If a child in question cannot be placed within the family, caseworkers must give preference to placing recognized Native children in other homes identified as Native American or American Indian.
HB 1536 was originally introduced in the state legislature in January by Representative Jayme Davis( D-Rolette), an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.
“ICWA, as it is written today, honors tribal sovereignty, but most importantly, Indigenous children, our lineage, and our culture,” David said in a statement. “A repeal or significant changes to ICWA by the U.S. Supreme Court could have significant negative impacts on American Indian and Alaskan Native children’s ability to be placed with family members or their tribe determining a placement in the best interest of them as Native children.”
More Stories Like This
Boarding School Experience Caused One Woman to Question GodOhio History Organization Seeks to Establish Intertribal Cemetery to Bury Thousands of Native Ancestors
Photos from "The Road to Healing" Tour in Minnesota
US Army to Return 5 Native Ancestors to Their Descendants This Fall
‘Road to Healing’ Will Visit Boarding School Survivors in Minnesota on June 3
Native News is free to read.
We hope you enjoyed the story you've just read. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.
Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. Most readers donate between $10 and $25 to help us cover the costs of salaries, travel and maintaining our digital platforms. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to join the Founder's Circle. All donations help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.
Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.
