The focus of the research is the relation between Native rights and children's rights under the Indian Child Welfare Act. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled recently that there is limited territorial jurisdiction in Alaska. Native Alaskans are expressing autonomy within this legal opportunity now available. The Department of Justice has begun working with tribal political structures to work out tribal legal authority. One focal area of debate has been child welfare. In addition, the State of Alaska has now ceded concurrent authority and jurisdiction over child welfare to tribal governing bodies when the children are Native. These federal and state decisions have just taken effect so their practical consequences are being realized immediately. The early child welfare cases will most clearly demonstrate which of several possible foci will form the core of future research. The investigators are working with the Tlingit Indians, a Southeast Alaska Native community. The Tlingit have been leaders in self-determination and their social system contrasts with the dominant Western legal tradition in many important ways. The community is currently involved in a dynamic conversation regarding the roles and responsibilities of local tribal governments in relation to state and federal mandates. The researchers will attempt to answer several questions including: what mechanisms for resolving child welfare problems are under consideration and why? What effects will community choices have on child welfare? What problems do they face in balancing local needs with those of the state? The investigators will gather critical information via legally informed, ethnographic research. The research will allow the PIs to explore definitively the problems in accessing data in the native community. This research is important in understanding the relation between law and society in general and the conflict between indigenous and state legal systems in particular. %%% The focus of the research is the relation between Native rights and children's rights under the Indian Child Welfare Act. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled recently that there is limited territorial jurisdiction in Alaska. Native Alaskans are expressing autonomy within this legal opportunity now available. The Department of Justice has begun working with tribal political structures to work out tribal legal authority. One focal area of debate has been child welfare. In addition, the State of Alaska has now ceded concurrent authority and jurisdiction over child welfare to tribal governing bodies when the children are Native. These federal and state decisions have just taken effect so their practical consequences are being realized immediately. The early child welfare cases will most clearly demonstrate which of several possible foci will form the core of future research. The investigators are working with the Tlingit Indians, a Southeast Alaska Native community. The Tlingit have been leaders in self-determination and their social system contrasts with the dominant Western legal tradition in many important ways. The community is currently involved in a dynamic conversation regarding the roles and responsibilities of local tribal governments in relation to state and federal mandates. The researchers will attempt to answer several questions including: what mechanisms for resolving child welfare problems are under consideration and why? What effects will community choices have on child welfare? What problems do they face in balancing local needs with those of the state? The investigators will gather critical information via legally informed, ethnographic research. The research will allow the PIs to explore definitively the problems in accessing data in the native community. This research is important in understanding the relation between law and society in general and the conflict between indigenous and state legal systems in particular.
