Posted by cynthia on February 05, 1999 at 13:24:50:
In Reply to: tough questions posted by rpcman on February 05, 1999 at 11:00:53:
Thanks a million. I can't help thinking that MOST of these "foster care" arrangements ended in unhappiness, if not total disaster. Poor kids. Do you happen to know how wide-spread the practice was? Was it just us, here in the West, or national? And just a few tribes (probably where there was a strong missionary presence) or more? Seems my friend was Blackfoot, but I can't swear to it.
cynthia
: : Any thoughts about how to track her down? Did the church keep records they might share, do you think?
: I would guess the answer to these last two questions would be no and no. You will probably want to start by contacting the surviving foster parent. One of the three we had living with us contacts us on rare occassions (like once or twice in the past twenty years). Other than that phone books and the internet are probably your best search tools.
: : And do you know of any collections of stories of these kids? Any contacts among Native Americans who have spoken out on this horror??
: Not off hand. I think there may have been some things on the subject in _Sunstone_ a while back.
: : Did the kids have to be Mormon before the placement, or not?
: I don't remember. I'm thinking that some were not Mormon before placement but most ended up Mormon.
: : How about the families of the kids? Agreeable, or not?
: That was an area that the foster families didn't really have access to. I imagine they were agreeable or the kids wouldn't have been 'given away' for a year or more.
: : Do you know what kinds of BS the church filled Indian parents with, to get them to give up their kids?
: I don't know.
: : It must have been SOME line the church was giving them.
: Probably something along the lines of better education that will ultimately allow your kids to bring money back to the family.
: : Do you know why the church stopped this practice?
: It was a horrible failure for the most part. The girls would frequently get pregnant at very early ages. One girl we had ended up in jail. A boy we had ran away about a dozen times within about a month before being sent back (we were in fifth grade together). Many became very depressed. The first girl we had didn't say a word for the first few months. She ended up liking us though and stayed for about three years. After returning to the reservation she got bored, came back to California and married her high school boyfriend, had a few kids, and then walked out on him. Haven't heard from her since.