Office of the Chief · Nation Law Library
Indian Child Welfare Act
A starter brief on the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 — jurisdiction, notice, active efforts, and placement preferences — and how the KiKiallus Nation asserts standing to protect its citizens and their children.
Filed with the Bureau of Recordation · Public preview open · Full brief for Nation citizens and pass-holders
Public preview
Summary
The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), 25 U.S.C. §§ 1901–1963, was enacted by Congress in 1978 in response to the systematic removal of Indian children from their families and tribes. ICWA establishes federal minimum standards for the removal of Indian children from their families and for their placement in foster or adoptive homes. It sets exclusive tribal jurisdiction over Indian children domiciled on the reservation and provides for transfer of jurisdiction from state to tribal court in most other cases.
In Haaland v. Brackeen (2023), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the core ICWA framework against equal-protection, Tenth Amendment, and non-delegation challenges. The Court reaffirmed Congress's plenary authority over Indian affairs and preserved ICWA's placement preferences and tribal-court transfer provisions.
The full brief covers: (i) ICWA's jurisdictional framework and the "Indian child" definition; (ii) mandatory notice to the tribe and the tribe's right to intervene at any point in a state proceeding; (iii) "active efforts" as distinct from "reasonable efforts"; (iv) the § 1915 placement preferences and their order; (v) the tribe's right of transfer to tribal court and grounds for objection; and (vi) the KiKiallus Nation's coordination protocol with state ICWA units.
Full brief
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Includes step-by-step protocols for state notice, transfer motions, intervention pleadings, and the Nation's intake pathway for suspected ICWA cases.
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