"For a hundred years, white people in America thought that the way to deal with Native Americans — those few who survived displacement — was to assimilate them, persuade them to abandon their cultural heritage and adopt European ways.

And even though that belief was officially rejected decades ago, too much of it apparently remains among child welfare agencies in Utah, where American Indian children are four times more likely to be in foster care than children of other backgrounds.

Few American Indian children are taken from their natural families because they are being abused. Two-thirds are removed, instead, due to case workers deciding they are being neglected. But how much of that determination is based on cultural differences? "

Get the Story:
Editorial: Indian children (The Salt Lake Tribune 3/29)

Also Today:
American Indian children too often in foster care (The Salt Lake Tribune 3/25)