A Generation Removed: The Indian Adoption Project
The Federal Program That Separated Native Children from Their Tribes

About this book:

From 1958 to 1967, the federally funded Indian Adoption Project systematically placed thousands of Native children into white homes, severing ties to culture, language, and tribal identity under the guise of "child welfare." *A Generation Removed* exposes the calculated machinery behind this quiet tragedy—tracing a direct line from the boarding school era’s "Kill the Indian, Save the Man" philosophy through the termination policies of the 1950s—to reveal how social work standards were weaponized to dismantle Native families. Through meticulous research and searing personal testimony, this book lays bare the devastating human cost of a policy that mistook poverty for neglect and assimilation for salvation.

But this is not only a history of loss; it is a chronicle of fierce resistance. *A Generation Removed* follows the extraordinary rise of a Native-led movement that turned grief into political power, culminating in the landmark Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978. Witness the legal battles, the grassroots organizing, and the unyielding demand for tribal sovereignty that forced the U.S. government to acknowledge a Native nation’s inherent right to protect its own children. It is a David-and-Goliath story played out in courtrooms and congressional halls, driven by adoptees searching for home and grandmothers refusing to let another generation disappear.

Today, as ICWA faces renewed challenges in the highest courts, this history has never been more urgent. *A Generation Removed* connects the past directly to the present, illustrating how the fight for Native children is the front line in the battle for tribal survival. Unflinching yet profoundly hopeful, this essential volume honors the resilience of those who survived the separation and the activists who ensure it never happens again. It is required reading for anyone committed to justice, truth, and the enduring strength of Indigenous families.