Indigenous leaders delighted with Supreme Court ruling on adoptions

And in New Mexico, which is home to 23 federally recognized tribes, State Representative Derrick Lente, a lawyer and member of Sandia Pueblo, said he was “delighted with this outcome.” He added: “This ruling is a huge victory for tribal nations in protecting the idea that we are distinct sovereign communities within the United States.”

The ruling was particularly noteworthy, Mr Spring said, given ongoing debates over the legacy of Native American boarding schools, which adopted explicit assimilation policies to separate Native children from their families and cultures, and in some cases took custody of children in protracted custody battles.

“Indigenous children have long been the target of attacks by federal and state policies,” said Mr. Spring, adding that his grandparents were forced to go to boarding school far from their families. “Enforcing this law protecting children demonstrates the need to defend ourselves in courtrooms and legislators across the country.”

Stephanie Benally, a Navajo social worker in Utah who specializes in placing Native American children in Native foster homes, said she gathered her own children for a group hug when news of the ruling broke. She also cited a recent case where she helped a Navajo foster family adopt two siblings, both Navajo. The family has also taken it in and is preparing to adopt an older sibling.

Ms. Benally, who is Navajo herself, says she now sees that family at community events where the children are exposed to Navajo culture and traditions, and the Navajo language. In other cases, she said, non-Native parents might have asked about “taking the kids to a powwow or reading them a book” about their heritage.

“But culture is much more than that,” Ms. Benally said. “Keeping a group of siblings together, immersing kids in their own culture and finding value in that is something that placing kids in Indigenous families can really accomplish.”