Latest Issue of The First Peoples Child & Family Review
Table of Contents here.
This issue includes Finding their way home: The reunification of First Nations adoptees by Ashley L. Landers, Sharon M. Danes, and Sandy White Hawk.
Finding their way home: The reunification of First Nations adoptees
Abstract
Entire generations of First Nations people have been separated
from their birth families and tribes by historical acts of relocation,
boarding schools, and the adoption era. Reunification is an essential
component to rebuilding the First Nations population. It is echoed
across tribes captured by the phrase, “generation after generation we
are coming home” (White Hawk, 2014). The purpose of this study was to
investigate personal and social identity indicators that contribute to a
satisfactory reunification for 95 First Nations adult adoptees who were
separated from their birth families during childhood by foster-care
and/or adoption. Retrospective survey data originated from the
Experiences of Adopted and Fostered Individuals Project. The overall
model of satisfactory reunification was statistically significant, and
explained 16.6% of the total variance. The study’s findings revealed two
social identity variables were statistically significant in relation to
the reunification experience – high social connection to tribe
(positive relationship) and reunification with the birthmother (negative
relationship). First Nations adoptees have not only a biological/birth
family to return to, but also a tribe, and ancestral land. Components of
social identity are particularly important for the reunification
process of First Nations adoptees. Reconnection with extended family and
social connection to tribe play a critical role in bettering the
reunification experience from the adoptee’s perspective.
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