Carol A. Hand

This morning, it occurred to me that it might be helpful if I provided some background for my previous reblog, Go FISH!

In designing a critical ethnographic study of Ojibwe child welfare, I gave some thought to the meaning of “critical” in this context. Where should one focus a “critical gaze” if the purpose is to discern the ways in which hegemony over Native American tribal communities has been imposed and perpetuated? Most research only considers contemporary consequences rather than the complex historical structural forces that have left a distressing legacy of harm. Many “blame” tribes, counties, or states for the continuing over-use of child removal and non-Native placements as the preferred responses to situations of child neglect and abuse.

I decided it was crucial to consider the federal government’s past and present role as well, and interviewed Theresa Edwards (not…