Tribal News 3
Adoptive parents find rewards in raising tribal children
For some tribal children, love and security is what they need the most
December 1, 1998
By Tracy Dugan, Editor
It is never an easy decision for a
couple to make a commitment to
adopt a child. For a married couple
who work at Spirit Mountain Casino,
though, it has been a dream come
true. The couple, who are both tribal
members, have almost completed the
adoption process. They started out
as foster parents for a tribal child who
lived with them for several months
before his biological parents decided
to terminate their parental rights. It
was then that they (foster parents) de
cided to make their foster son a per
manent part of their family.
"My husband and I spent the week
end with him, and just fell in love
right away," said the mother, 36.
(For confidentiality and privacy is
sues, she chose to remain anony
mous.) "He has been with us ever
since. He couldn't be more my son
if I carried him for nine months and
gave birth-to him."
The decision to adopt a child is one
of the most serious commitments any
potential parent can ever make. But
Carmen Mercier, who works in Com
munity Resources, along with other
Indian social service workers across
the country, are making an increased
effort to get interested tribal families
to adopt.
There are many questions adoptive
parents face: Do we want to adopt a
newborn? An older child? Do we
want our child to be the same race
and nationality as we are? Do we want
to have a relationship with our child's
biological parents? Can our child still
see her biological parents? Finding
out the answers to these questions and
many others is an important step in
determining whether you would like
to adopt a child.
It's a step some tribal parents are
willing to take.
Right now, the Tribe is beginning
to facilitate adoptions that take place
between parties who are both part of
a tribal household. Currently, there
are two families in the process of
adopting tribal children, but there is
a need for more.
Since 1989, the Grand Ronde Tribe
has successfully held tribal court pro
ceedings for Indian Child Welfare
(ICWA) cases, and has placed chil
dren in foster care in tribal homes.
Most of the time, the Tribe's Com
munity Resources staff works with the
biological parents of a tribal child with
the ultimate goal being reunification
of the family. If the parents need
counseling, drug or alcohol treat
ment, or anger management, the
caseworkers at the Tribe work with
these parents to complete their pro
grams. But there are times where parents
choose to terminate their parental
rights. So far, the Tribe does not have
a lot of experience in handling adop
tions, but has been working with the
state to oversee the process. The
Tribe does have the ability to process
adoptions, but none have been done
yet.
"The adoption of Indian children
is done through the state," says
Carmen Mercier "But when a tribal
member child needs a permanent
home, the state contacts us and asks
us to help find adoptive parents who
are also tribal members."
Mercier says that the Tribe advo
cates for open adoption so that the
children may have contact with bio
logical parents through letters and
photographs, or when old enough, if
a child desires to meet and get to
know her biological parents.
"In some cases," says Mercier, "a
close relative will legally adopt a
child. It works out well that way,
because we know the child is keep
ing her tribal ties, and is still raised
in her family."
So even though an adopted child
may not live with her biological par
ents, if she is adopted by a relative,
chances are she will have a relation
ship with one or both of them.
Obviously, the decision to adopt
should not be taken lightly.
The state of Oregon and other states
with a history of placing Indian chil
dren in non-Indian homes have for a
long time recognized the importance
of keeping Indian children connected
to their Tribe, and if possible, with
tribal families.
The Indian Child Welfare Act
(ICWA) of 1978, was specifically
designed to prevent the alienation of
Indian children from their culture and
heritage. For many years, Indian
children adopted into non-Indian
families suffered a loss of identity and
many times found themselves in
church, school, or other social set
tings where there was no other per
son like them.
Known as "Split Feather Syn
drome," this loss of identity has
manifested itself in adult Native
Americans who were placed in non
Indian homes before ICWA was
passed. Recent studies have been
conducted among adult Indians who
lived in these homes, and the find
ings were recently published in Path
ways magazine. Factors contribut
ing to Split Feather Syndrome in
clude: loss of Indian identity; loss of
culture, language, heritage, tribal af
filiation, and tribal ceremonial expe
riences; and the experience of grow
ing up being and feeling different.
But ICWA gave tribes a voice in
state court proceedings, and allowed
these proceedings to be transferred
to tribal courts.
The mother recently completing the
adoption of her foster son says that
she and her husband utilized Grand
Ronde Legal Services to satisfy the
state requirements, and papers have
just been submitted to the state. He
is only two years old, but this boy is
being adopted into a traditional tribal
family who has large gatherings and
celebrations, attends pow-wows, and
other functions within the Tribe.
"We would do this all again in a
heartbeat," she says. "Tribal chil-
1998 Adoption Trends
dren need to be with tribal families.
They need to be taken care of. My
husband and I feel that way. And our
extended families feel that way, too."
The couple says that they will even
tually try to adopt another tribal child.
But the' rewards that come from hav
ing a complete family circle are not
achieved easily.
"The adoption process itself takes
a long time," says Mercier. "It be
gins with pre-adoption and foster care
classes through the county in which
the parents live. Then there is an ap
plication and assessment process."
Mercier's job is to identify poten
tial adoptive parents and help guide
them through the process. She
helped this family in their adoption,
and wants to help other tribal parents
do the same. It is important to re
member, though, that adoptions, un
like foster care placement, are some
times done through the state. The
Tribe and its staff in Community Re
sources make the assessments and
recommendations.
"Tribal members who want to
adopt must agree to some serious self
assessment tests," says Mercier.
"Some of the questions people are
continued on page 7
THE 849 CHILDREN CAME FROM:
CHILD'S ETHNICITY
The ethnic background of
the 849 children adopted in
Oregon this year break
down like this:
WHITE: 618
AFRICAN-AMERICAN: 106
HISPANIC: 78
NATIVE AMERICAN: 28
ASIAN: 7
MULTIPLE MINORITY: 12
METRO REGION
338
WESTERN REGION
212
EASTERN REGION
77
SOUTHERN REGION
222
Data courtesy of SCR