Native American Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories

By (author) Rita J. Simon American University, Sarah Hernandez

Publication date:

15 February 2008

Length of book:

380 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

244x166mm
7x10"

ISBN-13: 9780739124925

Native American Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories presents twenty interviews with Native American adoptees raised in non-Native homes. Through the in-depth interviews they conduct with each participant, the authors explore complex questions of cultural identity formation.

The participants of the study represent a range of positive and negative experiences of transracial adoption. Regardless of their personal experiences, however, all twenty respondents indicate that they are supporters of the Indian Child Welfare Act and that they believe that Native children should be raised in Native households whenever possible. However, eighteen of the twenty respondents concede that non-Native families can raise Native children to be happy, healthy, well-adjusted adults. Through the interviews, Simon and Hernandez allow readers to better understand the different experiences of Native American adoptees.
Transcribed interviews allow the adoptees to powerfully and poignantly express the impact of their experiences, thus challenging readers to make their own meaning....The book is important because it tackles an ignored subject....Recommended. Two-star review.