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Preferred term

Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978  

Definition

  • Perhaps the most significant threat to the continuing existence of Native American tribes as culturally distinct, self-governing nations has been the forced removal of American Indian children from tribal communities into boarding schools and non-Indian homes. Although both an explicit tactic by federal and state governments to foster the assimilation of Native Americans into mainstream society and the result of well-meaning social workers who lack knowledge about tribal cultures, the removal of American Indian children from the reservations has resulted in the disruption of traditional family life and has hindered the transmission of tribal values, customs, and languages to future generations of Native American people. [Source: Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society; Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/Indian_Child_Welfare_Act_of_1978

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