Native/Indigenous Families

This webinar will focus on Native American communities and examine how power operates within early childhood systems—and within ourselves. Understanding the policy landscape and the historical harm experienced by Native American children, families, and communities is essential, but meaningful partnership also requires examining bias, positionality, and the ways institutions continue to shape access, authority, and decision-making.

The majority of Native people now live in urban areas, yet systems often continue to center reservation-based narratives. We will explore the legacy of federal relocation policies, the rise of Urban Indian Organizations, gaps in funding and service eligibility, and the strengths of intertribal networks that sustain culture and kinship across cities.

The separation of Native children from their families was not accidental—it was policy. In this session, we examine specific policies designed to break apart Native families—and their direct connections to contemporary early childhood, child welfare, and family services advocacy.