Dear Ones,
It was my distinct honor to be present in the State Capitol, with other supportive clergy, when the House passed the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act. As described in the law, the purposes of this act are to “(1) protect the long-term interests, as defined by the tribes, of Indian children, their families as defined by law or custom, and the child’s tribe; and (2) preserve the Indian family and tribal identity, including an understanding that Indian children are damaged if family and child tribal identity and contact are denied. Indian children are the future of the tribes and are vital to their very existence.”
One thing this means is that, even when families are struggling or in crisis, tribes have the right to provide for their children within the norms of the tribe, and social services are bound to respect tribal decisions. Indigenous children will no longer be removed from family custody, with “family” defined in indigenous ways, extended and including aunts, uncles, and cousins as primary family. A Western understanding of the “nuclear family” as primary simply will no longer apply. Thus, children will not lose family connections, language, customs, and culture.
It is one step in repairing the damage done, damage that lingers in broken connections, by the residential schools of the 19th and 20th centuries. And it is a way of acknowledging the plurality within our society—that there is not one way to define identity and family, and that life-giving differences need to be understood, valued, and respected. Through my presence at this historic, unanimous vote, we at UUFM affirm our commitment to relationship with indigenous peoples, to acknowledging past harm and participating in repair, and to seeking to be ourselves good relatives.
May you seek and find the ways that you can directly be a good relative, in faith that you are loved, you are worthy, you are welcome, and you are needed. May you feel it so and may it be so.
Blessings and warm wishes, Rev. Rita