Their Stories: The Experiences of Non-Native Adoptive Parents Who Adopted Native Children During the 1960s through 1980s By: Leona Huntinghawk A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK Faculty of Social Work University of Manitoba Winnipeg Copyright @ 2012 by Leona Huntinghawk Abstract In recent literature, it has been stated that Native children adopted into non- Native homes do not fare well emotionally or culturally (Carriere, 2007; Richard, 2004). But to place ourselves in another era; the decades of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, where the child welfare systems were overrun with Native children needing to be placed in long term homes, begs us to examine the systemic and political structures at play. Also, to examine the homes that these children were placed in and embrace a different perspective: the stories of the non-Native adoptive parents. This research study delves into the adoption experiences of eight non-Native adoptive parents and empirically examines their stories, resulting in many significant similarities and common themes with the main one being, the situation that these families found themselves in at times was not ideal but they transcended adversity to the best degree they could. Native children are no longer adopted out to non-Native families at the high rate as they once were. The political atmosphere of today differs significantly from the era that became known as the ‘Sixties Scoop’. However, this study may contribute to the body of literature surrounding Native/non-Native adoption and could impact long term fostering policy and practice if the data were to be extrapolated into today’s context. ii Acknowledgements One does not complete accomplishments such as this alone so I wish to acknowledge the individuals whose unconditional support allowed me to write this piece of research. To my thesis committee members: Corbin Shangreaux, Eveline Milliken and most recent addition, Laurie Anne Johnson. Your unwavering support and unlimited belief allowed this graduate student to put one foot in front of the other. Your incredible research knowledge and skills, combined with your teaching experience benefitted me greatly and for that, I am so humbled and grateful. Corbin, you are a true visionary. Learning from you, professionally and academically, has been an honor for me. To my mentor and advisor, Dr. Kathy Jones: we started off as BSW student and Field Instructor. For the past 13 years, nobody has made an impact on this student’s life as you have. To begin a career is a shaky experience but I had you in my corner. Your outlook on life and incredible resiliency are an inspiration to me. I continue to strive every day to be the social worker that you taught me to be. To my best friend, Melanie, who I met in Grade 6 and we have been inseparable since. Thank you for the late night chats via phone or email. When I wanted to give up, you kept me going. You always see me in a different light than I see myself. Laughter is the best medicine and you are truly the funniest person that I have ever met. You are my soul sister and the greatest friend that anybody could ask for. To my parents, Betty and Harold Nelson: I have always known how proud you are of me and it has been the foundation to my journey. Thank you for always letting me come home, no matter how old I get, and just be your girl. The five of us are a treasured unit: Mom, Dad, Justin, Leona and Lisa. For my Uncle Delbert and Aunt Jacquie, whose love resonates with me still. You are both on the Other Side but there is not a day that I do not think of you and smile. I like to think that I would have made you proud. Our spirits will meet up again one day. To my mother Caroline: you gave me life and I honor you for that. The adversity that you have faced throughout your lifetime has made you stronger than you know. We are anishinaabe ikwe carved from the same stone. Don’t forget that, Mom. To my beloved father, Douglas Neil Blackbird: I miss you Dad and I know in my heart that you would have swelled up with pride to see this day. You may have gone to the Spirit World too soon but know that I honor you by keeping your memory alive. I am forever my father’s daughter. Most importantly, for Shawn, the one who walks beside me and whose shoulder I rest upon. And for my daughters, Sierra Nitanis and Emma Elizabeth: the two of you remain my greatest accomplishments and you continue to reward me every day by growing and thriving. Stay true to yourselves. Mommy is incredibly proud of the two very distinct spirits that you are. iii DEDICATION: FOR NED AND NANCY, SARAH, BILL AND BONNIE, DAN AND CHARLOTTE, AND SHANNON WITHOUT YOU, THIS DOCUMENT WOULD NOT HAVE COME TO FRUITION THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR FAMILIES WITH ME AND I AM GRATEFUL FOR GETTING TO KNOW EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU YOU SHOWED ME THAT LOVE DOES INDEED TRANSCEND ALL ADVERSITY AND THESE CHILDREN?...........YOUR CHILDREN ARE YOURS FOREVER NOT TO DISREGARD THE PATH FROM WHICH THEY CAME BUT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PATH THAT LED THEM TO YOU -Leona iv Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. iii Dedication ................................................................................................................................ iv Prologue ................................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER ONE – Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 i. Research Question ........................................................................................................ 1 ii. Location ....................................................................................................................... 2 iii. Methodology: A Brief Overview ................................................................................. 3 iv. Definitions .................................................................................................................... 5 v. Objective and Rationale of the Study ........................................................................... 8 CHAPTER TWO .................................................................................................................... 13 I. Literature Review ....................................................................................................... 13 i. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 13 ii. Topic of Adoption ................................................................................................... 14 iii. Biological Parenting vs. Adoptive Parenting .......................................................... 15 iv. Cross Cultural Adoption .......................................................................................... 18 v. Culture and Child Placement ................................................................................... 20 vi. Bonding and Attachment ......................................................................................... 22 vii. Impact of Colonization ............................................................................................ 24 viii. Historical Context to Native Adoption .................................................................... 26 ix. Current State of Native Adoption ............................................................................ 29 x. Non-Native Parent/Native Child Adoption ............................................................. 30 CHAPTER THREE - Research Methods ............................................................................... 36 I. The Research Design ................................................................................................. 36 i. Method ..................................................................................................................... 36 ii. The Participants ....................................................................................................... 37 iii. Locating the Participants ......................................................................................... 37 iv. Consent .................................................................................................................... 38 v. The Interviews ......................................................................................................... 38 vi. Interview Questions ................................................................................................. 39 vii. Transcriptions .......................................................................................................... 42 v viii. Ethics ....................................................................................................................... 42 ix. Analysis of Data ...................................................................................................... 44 II. Summary .................................................................................................................... 45 CHAPTER FOUR – Research Findings ................................................................................. 47 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 47 Part I. The Participants – Brief Narrative Overviews ............................................................. 47 i. Ned and Nancy ........................................................................................................ 47 ii. Sarah ........................................................................................................................ 49 iii. Bill and Bonnie ........................................................................................................ 52 iv. Dan and Charlotte .................................................................................................... 55 v. Shannon ................................................................................................................... 57 Table 1.1 –Brief Demographic Profile of Adoptive Parents ............................................... 62 Table 1.2-Overview of Adoption Dynamics ....................................................................... 62 Part II. Major Themes of this Study ........................................................................................ 64 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 64 Theme 1: Adoption – Challenges Where Challenges Were Not Expected: The Placing Agency’s Lack of Support and Resources .............................................................................. 65 i. Lack of Emotional Support from the Placing Agency ............................................... 65 ii. Lack of Connection with the Placing Agency ............................................................ 69 iii. Lack of Information and Training from the Placing Agency ..................................... 70 Theme 2: Parenting – Challenges, Successes and Resiliency ............................................. 71 i. Challenges: Preparation to be an Adoptive Parent ..................................................... 72 ii. Challenges: The Actuality of Being an Adoptive Parent ........................................... 75 a. Self-Blaming ........................................................................................................... 76 b. Racist Attitudes ....................................................................................................... 79 c. Reunification ........................................................................................................... 81 iii. Successes in Parenting: The Small Steps and Big Rewards ....................................... 87 iv. Aspects of Motherhood .............................................................................................. 90 v. Resiliency in Adoptive Parenthood ............................................................................ 92 Theme 3: Culture and Child Placement .............................................................................. 96 i. Placement in a Non-Native Home .............................................................................. 96 ii. Bonding, Attachment and Loyalty ........................................................................... 102 vi iii. Summary .................................................................................................................. 104 CHAPTER FIVE – Discussion Points and Conclusion ........................................................ 106 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 106 Section I – Discussion Points Regarding Adoption .............................................................. 107 Discussion Point #1 – Ensuring That the Adoption Process, Timeframe and Post Adoption Services Are Adequate ...................................................................................................... 107 Discussion Point #2 – Ensuring More Sensitivity and Cultural Competence Training for Social Workers .................................................................................................................. 109 Discussion Point # 3 – Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Prevention, Diagnosis and Intervention Services to be Provided to Adoptive/Foster Parents of Children with Special Needs .................................................................................................................... 112 Discussion Point # 4 – Child Being Given Their Own Advocacy Lawyer ....................... 114 Section II – Discussion Points Regarding Cross Cultural Adoption (Native Children to Non- Native Long Term Homes) ................................................................................................... 116 Discussion Point # 5 – More Support, Training and Resources to Adoptive/Foster Parents 116 Discussion Point # 6 – Why Do Adoptees Search? Consideration of the Benefits of Open Adoptions and/or Supportive Reunifications .................................................................... 120 Discussion Point #7 – More Culturally Appropriate Placements for Native Children Waiting to be Adopted or Placed in Long Term Foster Care ........................................... 123 Appendices ............................................................................................................................ 126 Appendix I – Recruitment Poster for Study ...................................................................... 126 Appendix II – Interview Questions ................................................................................... 127 Appendix III – Informed Consent Form from Participants ............................................... 128 Appendix IV-Available Resources for Participants .......................................................... 135 References ............................................................................................................................. 137 vii Prologue Early in my child welfare career, I witnessed a young Native family’s struggle against a mandated First Nations child welfare agency regarding their decisions about a child in the agency’s care. The struggle began over their daughter who, alongside her twin, had been born six weeks premature with serious medical concerns. Because the parents were young, had three other young children and lived in a First Nation community four hours from Winnipeg, the child had to be moved to a Winnipeg hospital where she could be closely monitored and treated for her illness. The issue that emerged early in the development of the case plan was the role of the grandparents of the child in care. A Caucasian couple had adopted the father of the child in 1976 when he was a 1 year old foster child. Both the young father and young mother required a lot of guidance. The young father, adopted very young, had never had any contact with his birth family through the years of his growing up and upon meeting once he reached the age of majority, he discovered the family dysfunction that brought him into foster care years before. In his world, his adoptive parents were his only parents and his main supports. It was a natural process in this family for his parents to assist in the role of grandparents. viii The struggle began when the First Nations agency became involved. It became clear to the family that the assigned child protection worker and his supervisor (both Aboriginal) were not prepared to acknowledge the role of the non-Native grandparents in case planning for this Aboriginal child in care. Rather than seeing the grandparents as a natural support for these young parents, the assigned child protection worker dialogued directly with the parents despite the fact that he knew that both parents had cognitive delays and were young, inexperienced and overwhelmed by the situation. The worker, a middle aged Aboriginal male, insisted that the parents sign a one year Voluntary Placement Agreement (VPA), to place their daughter in temporary foster care due to medical reasons. The parents claimed later that they did not know what they were signing nor did they have the input of their family or friends at the time. The adoptive parents had seventeen years of experience working with foster children and a close family friend who was a child welfare worker. Not knowing their rights and without a concrete agency plan in place, the young parents signed the Voluntary Placement Agreement. The agency’s case plan consisted of the child being moved to a foster home once she was stabilized and it was deemed safe to do so. The agency had located a foster mother in Winnipeg who was a non- practicing licensed practical nurse (LPN) and it was felt that she could adequately care for the child’s extensive medical needs. ix At the expiration of the initial one year Voluntary Placement Agreement, another one year VPA was placed in front of the parents. When they resisted, they claimed that the assigned social worker told them that he would take the child permanently into foster care. They reluctantly agreed to her remaining in foster care for another year but made it clear to the social worker that they wanted their daughter returned to their care at the end of this final VPA. The placement of the child in a foster home was in itself upsetting to the young parents. They had to visit their daughter in a strange city, far from their home community, with their three other small children in tow. Often, the visits took place in hotels and they felt uncomfortable and out of place. They persevered however, hopeful that their daughter would be returned to them soon. Their daughter, at this point, was much better but still had numerous doctor and specialist appointments. She required a carefully planned diet and needed much care and attention because of the ‘slow start’ that she got off to. They loved her and felt that they could not give her the attention and medical expertise that the foster parent could. Travelling to Winnipeg for her many medical appointments was beyond their financial or practical means. Upon the expiration of the second Voluntary Placement Agreement, the social worker notified the young parents that the agency would be seeking a Permanent Order of Guardianship for their daughter, x