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Slavery, Transracial Adoption, and the Indian Child Welfare Act

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Slavery, Transracial Adoption, and the Indian Child Welfare Act UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ INDIGENOUS GENOCIDAL TRACINGS: SLAVERY, TRANSRACIAL ADOPTION, AND THE INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in HISTORY OF CONSCIOUSNESS with an emphasis in AMERICAN STUDIES by Soma de Bourbon June 2013 The Dissertation of Soma de Bourbon is approved: _____________________________ Professor Angela Y. Davis, Chair _____________________________ Professor Renya Ramirez _____________________________ Professor Amy Lonetree ____________________________ Tyrus Miller Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Copyright © by Soma de Bourbon 2013 Table of Contents ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. V DEDICATION ...................................................................................................................... VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ VIII INTRODUCTION MOVING AWAY FROM OUTCOME .............................................................................................. 1 DOMINATED BY OUTCOME .................................................................................................. 11 CRITICAL ETHNIC STUDIES UNDERCURRENTS .................................................................... 29 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................... 35 AN ACCOUNTABILITY NOTE ................................................................................................ 39 CHAPTERS ............................................................................................................................ 43 CHAPTER ONE WHITE PROPERTY INTERESTS IN NATIVES ............................................................................. 47 THE NATIVE SLAVE: A CONSTITUTIVE CONTRADICTION IN AMERICA ............................... 49 “THE LARGEST LAND TRANSACTION IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD” ........................... 60 COLONIZING INDIGENOUS WOMEN’S BODIES ..................................................................... 72 NOT-BLACK SLAVES: THE EAST COAST FREEDOM CASES ................................................. 81 RIPPLES OF SLAVERY: THE THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT AND NATIVE AMERICAN REPRODUCTIVE CONTROL ................................................................................................... 94 CHAPTER TWO UNFIT INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND THE INDIAN ADOPTION PROJECTS ................................. 105 CONFLATING HISTORIES .................................................................................................... 106 BOARDING SCHOOLS .......................................................................................................... 112 THE INDIAN ADOPTION PROJECTS ..................................................................................... 123 THE LOST TRIBE OF ISRAEL ............................................................................................... 128 COLONIZATION AND BORDERS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS IN CANADA AND AUSTRALIA ... 134 iii CANADIAN ADOPTION PROGRAMS .................................................................................... 140 CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS AND THE ASSOCIATION ON AMERICAN INDIAN AFFAIRS .... 142 NATIVE WOMEN: RESISTING PUNITIVE REMOVAL AND INCARCERATION ........................ 147 GENOCIDE .......................................................................................................................... 163 CHAPTER THREE IDENTITY CONTROL: THE EXISTING INDIAN FAMILY EXCEPTION ...................................... 167 ICWA: A DIVERGENCE FROM TERMINATION POLICIES OF THE 1950S ............................. 171 CODIFICATION OF FEDERAL POWER OVER NATIVE CHILDREN ........................................ 175 ICWA MECHANICS ............................................................................................................ 178 MISSISSIPPI BAND OF CHOCTAW INDIANS V. HOLYFIELD, ................................................ 187 THE UNEQUAL APPLICATION OF ICWA ............................................................................ 191 ARE YOU INDIAN ENOUGH? THE EXISTING INDIAN FAMILY EXCEPTION ........................ 203 THE NUMBERS: WERE STATE COURT JUDGES SUCCESSFUL IN DERAILING THE SPIRIT OF ICWA? ............................................................................................................................... 209 CHAPTER FOUR WHITE DESIRES: THE INDIAN, NOT-BLACK CHILD .............................................................. 216 HEALTHY WHITE BABIES AND ANTIRACIST WHITE SAVIORS .......................................... 218 PROPERTY INTERESTS ........................................................................................................ 224 THE INDIAN, NOT-BLACK CHILD ....................................................................................... 234 THE CHRISTIAN ALLIANCE FOR INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ................................................ 244 MOTIVATIONS BEHIND CAICW ........................................................................................ 247 CAICW AND THE EXISTING INDIAN FAMILY EXCEPTION ................................................. 249 REDLINING RESERVATIONS: “JUST NOT A PLACE FOR CHILDREN AT ALL TO BE” ............. 255 CONCLUSION SURVIVANCE .......................................................................................................................... 262 SANDY WHITE HAWK ........................................................................................................ 265 FOR THE FUTURE ................................................................................................................ 271 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................ 276 iv Abstract Indigenous Genocidal Tracings: Slavery, Transracial Adoption, and the Indian Child Welfare Act by Soma de Bourbon Indigenous Genocidal Tracings: Slavery, Transracial Adoption, and the Indian Child Welfare Act is a feminist, interdisciplinary history that traces the genealogy of U.S. property interests in Indigenous people from enslavement to the continued transracial adoption of Native children. The interconnection of Native history with that of Black Americans is interrogated, paying critical attention to the ways in which both communities continue to suffer overrepresentation in prisons, jails, juvenile detention centers, reproductive control programs, and child welfare systems (foster and adoptive care). In contrast to the work on Native transracial adoption (TRA) that has focused almost exclusively on outcome, the dissertation argues that Native TRA constitutes a group-based harm and situates it within the active process of settler colonialism and genocide. Specific attention is paid to slavery, land dispossession, boarding schools, adoption programs (such as the Indian Adoption Project and the Mormon Placement Program), and the creation of “unfit” women and “unwanted” children. Drawing on the Association on American Indian Affairs archives, Indigenous Genocidal Tracings v argues that the ways in which putatively “unfit” Native women fought back were the impetus for one of the most important federal Indian laws ever passed by Congress, The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The dissertation’s chapters investigate the history of ICWA and the ways that state courts continue to violate ICWA’s intentions by circumventing it through judicially created exceptions such as the Existing Indian Family. Through personal interviews with members of the Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare (CAICW), an organization that works to defeat ICWA, the author highlights the way CAICW’s work can be seen as an example of the current landscape of ownership over Native people. Indigenous Genocidal Tracings ends with the work of the First Nations Repatriation Institute and its Director and co-founder Sandy White Hawk to illustrate not only the amazing survivance of Native people, but also the fact that Native people continue to find Native-centered ways of ameliorating the harmful effects of transracial adoption and colonization. vi Dedication To my brother David de Bourbon, whose love continues to guide me 1964-1979 vii Acknowledgements I am indebted to my children: Kaya, Fiona and David for being in my life and for always believing in the strength of their mother. They have endured ten years of graduate school, even when they wished it was over, and continued to love and support me. My other two children, Lily and Shane (my niece and nephew), have also put up with this never-ending regime of school. Other family members have also offered their love: my mother, Elaine, my sisters, Rain and Antara, and my brothers, Arjun and Kiva. In particular, my sister Rain has been by my side through this process, and if it were not for her emotional support, I would not have had the courage to finish this degree. My partner, Paco Flores, considered completing this dissertation a priority for our family, for that, I am grateful. Without Paco’s steadfast belief in the importance of this work, I would not have been able to sustain through the trials and tribulations of finishing a dissertation with three children. Angela Y. Davis has gifted me with her time and wisdom. She has read every draft of my dissertation and consistently compelled me
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