- 5/30/2007 10:13:17 PMParenting Class - 3rd WednesdayTonight we listened to an advocate for Indian Affairs. In our area of the country, the local tribe is the Oneida's. From what I understand about them, they are broken into two groups: one in North East Wisconsin and another in up-state New York. In college, I had to take a foreign language so I took Oneida. One thing that came out of that class was the state of the Oneida language. They estimate that between the 2 tribes, less than 100 people can actively speak the language. It's dying.
The Oneida's have some basic and genuine concerns about adoption. The speaker covered a lot of Native American history at a high level and I was reminded of how poorly they were treated over the last 150 years. One of their greatest concerns was, "we have already lost too many of our children." This comment was made in regards to the massive number of children who were taken from Native American homes for the sake of incorporating them into our white-anglo culture. It made me think of the movie, "The Education of Little Tree". Looking back at the atrocities done to their culture is enough to turn your stomach.
That being said, the Oneida's (as well as most all American tribes) are very interested in what happens to their children. The tribe as a whole will not release the authority to adopt one of their children to a family outside the tribe until all tribal avenues have been pursued. This makes sense to me, especially considering another of their concerns: "Our children represent our future".
Well said.
