'An affront to sovereignty': SCOTUS to hear oral arguments on Indian Child Welfare Act

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‘An affront to sovereignty’: SCOTUS to hear oral arguments on Indian Child Welfare Act

Nora Mabie 19 hrs ago

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear oral arguments for a case challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act, which controls how Native children get placed in foster or adoptive homes.

Legal experts, tribal leaders and advocates say if the Supreme Court were to eliminate or undermine the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), the consequences would be dire for Native Americans in Montana. They argue Indigenous families would be separated at higher rates, tribes would risk losing members to assimilation, and other protections for Native Americans — including tribal sovereignty itself — could be at risk.

“ICWA is probably the only thing in Indian Country that is universally supported and that tribes agree upon,” said Chrissi Nimmo, deputy attorney general for the Cherokee Nation, a defendant in the case.

Plaintiffs in the case include Indiana, Louisiana and Texas along with seven individuals, including non-Native couples and Altagracia Socorro Hernandez, the mother of a Native American child who was ultimately adopted by one of the couples. Four tribes, the Cherokee Nation, Oneida Nation, Quinault Indian Nation and Morongo Band of Mission Indians, intervened as defendants.

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By Nora Mabie
Indigenous Communities reporter

Nora Mabie is the Indigenous Communities reporter for Lee Montana.

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