In a 7-2 vote yesterday, the U.S. Supreme court found the Indian Child Welfare Act to be constitutional.
The act was originally brought into court February 2022 to be reviewed. Plaintiffs argued the act was unconstitutional in terms of discriminating against race. However, a year later, the U.S. Supreme Court came to its decision on the basis that Native Americans are a political group not a racial group.
The Chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Austin Lowes said he completely agrees with the court because to be a member of a Tribe, people must obtain citizenship. Whereas being a member of racial group is simply based on race.
In response to being asked what his initial thoughts were to the act being upheld, Lowes said he was absolutely thrilled.
“We don't get a lot of victories in Indian country, and this is definitely one of them,” he said.
According to the Native American Rights Fund, the Indian Child Welfare Act was enacted 43 years ago to protect the wellbeing and best interests of Indian families and children.
Lowes said it was a message of disrespect to have the act brought into question. It goes against the Tribe’s sovereignty and displays a misunderstanding of why this protection was enacted to begin with.
“These protections are in place to address the larger issues of genocide that Native Americans have experienced in this country,” he said. “You know, there isn't anything more traumatic that can happen to children than being removed from your parents.”
ICWA was created in response to boarding schools removing Native American children from their families and the trauma it brought Tribal communities. Lowes said unless laws like ICWA are in place to protect this, “whose to say those things won’t happen again.”
“They (children) had their hair cut, they had their clothing removed, they had their language stripped from them,” he said. “And, you know, at the end of the day, they couldn't have their humanity stripped from them.
“We’re the descendants of all those survivors. And looking forward, I would expect there to be protections for our Native American kids and our families.”
Prior to becoming the chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Lowes was a child welfare caseworker. He said his experience working in the occupation gave him a broader perspective of the protections ICWA provides.
“I know firsthand what ICWA does, it saves Native American children's lives, and it preserves our families and that's a good thing,” Lowes said.
With this recent victory, he said he hopes to see no further challenges against the act. Additionally, he explained people need to understand why this act exists.
“… It’s to counteract genocide that took place to our Native American children,” Lowes said. “I mean, there's Native American children buried in the backyards of old boarding schools throughout this country.”
With ICWA protecting the rights of Native American children, parent’s rights to their children and the preservation of Indigenous culture, an argument can’t take place saying the act shouldn’t be around, Lowes said.
Looking to the future, Lowes said the Tribal community will always need to stand on guard in prospect of a challenge being raised against them.
“We always have to be prepared to fight for our families and our children,” he said.