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November 8 was the 40th anniversary of the Indian Child Welfare Act [25 U.S.C. Section 1901-1963], also known as ICWA. Throughout the late 1800s and 1900s, indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and sent to Indian boarding schools, either via provisions in treaties or by other methods. By the 1960s and 1970s, indigenous children in the United States were six times more likely to be removed from their families and put into foster care, even though indigenous Americans represent 1.7 percent of the population.

ICWA has two purposes: “to protect [native] families from the unwarranted removal of their children” and to empower tribal sovereignty by giving tribes the ability to make decisions regarding their own children. Anyone who has dealt with family law is familiar with “the best interests of the child” which is the gold standard of decision-making in child custody arrangements. ICWA provides additional guidance on the best interest of the native child. On this milestone anniversary, the Law Library offers a bibliography of resources in our stacks related to this important civil rights law.

Stella Yellow Shirt and Baby, Sicangu Oyate (Heyn Photo. 1899) Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. [//hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b41093 ]

Bibliography

For practitioners, Arizona State University’s American Indian Studies program offers a guide of locality-based guidelines, and the National Indian Law Library offers a similar bibliography.

KF8260.A328 1978 F33 2009 Fletcher, Matthew L. M., Singel, Wenona T, Fort, Kathryn E. eds. Facing the future : the Indian Child Welfare Act at 30.

KF8260.A328 1978 J66 2018 Gaines-Stoner, Kelly. The Indian Child Welfare Act handbook : a legal guide to the custody and adoption of Native American children. 3^rd ed.

KF26 .I527 1974f United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. Subcommittee on Indian Affairs. Indian child welfare program : hearings before the Subcommittee on Indian Affairs of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate, Ninety-third Congress, second session … April 8 and 9, 1974.

KF3735.Z9 C47 2016 Duquette, Donald N., Ann M. Haralambie, & Vivek S. Sankaran, eds. Child welfare law and practice : representing children, parents, and state agencies in abuse, neglect, and dependency cases.

KF8205 .A76 2014 Conference of Western Attorneys General. American Indian law deskbook. 2014 ed.

KF8205.P48 2012 Pevar, Stephen L. The Rights of Indians and tribes. 4^th ed.

KF8260.A328 1978 A15 2005 United States. Government Accountability Office. Indian Child Welfare Act: existing information on implementation issues could be used to target guidance and assistance to states: report to congressional requesters.

KIE110 .R53 2016 Richland, Justin B. Introduction to tribal legal studies. 3^rd ed.

KIE380 .I53 1981 Indian family law and child welfare : a text.

KIE1355 .A89 2010 Atwood, Barbara Ann, 1947- Children, tribes, and states : adoption and custody conflicts over American Indian children.

KIE2145 .G74 2017 Ratteree, Kathleen and Norbert S. Hill, eds. The Great vanishing act : blood quantum and the future of native nations.

E98.A15 F35 1972 Fanshel, David. Far from the reservation: the transracial adoption of American Indian children.