Tribes in South Dakota are looking for ways to handle child welfare matters on their own amid complaints about the state's treatment of Indian children.

Indian children make up 13.8 percent of the state population yet they represent 56.3 percent of the foster care population, the Lakota People's Law Project said in a report. Of the 440 Indian children in foster care as of July 2011, 87 percent were placed in non-Indian homes while 39 Indian foster homes went empty, according to the group.

“The statistics are like a punch in the mouth,” Chase Iron Eyes, an attorney who is helping tribes with child welfare issues, told The Grand Forks Herald.

The tribes hope to secure federal funding for their child welfare service programs. They also plan to work together to ensure strong management and oversight.

“We’d rather cut the state out of that process,” Iron Eyes told the paper. “Because of our history in South Dakota, there’s always something divisive happening between Indian and non-Indian people, and that creates tension.”

Get the Story:
In South Dakota, tribes fault state for undermining federal law aimed at saving kids and culture (The Grand Forks Herald 6/4)

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