It is not enough to
know that a child is Native American and thus subject to the Indian
Child Welfare Act.
We must
ask:
which of the more
than 500 diverse Native tribes does the child belong to?Are
his family members—parents and extended family—from the reservation or
are they living in cities or rural areas?Do they
follow traditional practices or a mix of traditions in their faith?
Is the Asian child’s
heritage Hispanic, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, East Indian or
Malaysian?What faith is practiced in the home?Do
they follow traditional practices of health care?
Is the Lebanese
family Muslim or Christian?It is not enough to know
that the family is Arab.