ABSTRACT
As historian Marilyn Holt explains, the traditional extended family in tribal communities raised children collectively, which means that the untimely death of parents did not result in orphancy in the same way that it did in American society; rather, other family or tribal members would care for children without parents. Thus, despite the fact that American Indian extra-tribal adoptions most frequently get grouped under the category of "transracial" placements, the primary concern for tribes was not racial integrity as such but national sovereignty, an issue that went hand in hand with the cultural health of a vibrant, populous tribe. With the debates over African American transracial adoption fresh in the public consciousness, the argument based on psychological impact would have been familiar and persuasive; moreover, it fits with the "best interest" mandate of American child welfare, which privileges the individual child over other, more holistic concerns.
