Doctoral Dissertation Research: Child Welfare, Identity, and Legal Practice in Native Alaska

Fogelson/Brown9904930本项目将审查阿拉斯加土著身份主张与依赖文化差异概念的法律执行之间的关系。具体地说，它考虑了阿拉斯加土著村庄Koyukuk的部落法院如何就相互竞争的几套权利--儿童权利和土著权利--进行谈判，试图在印度儿童福利法(ICWA)的案件中保持自主权。1978年的联邦法令ICWA将土著儿童福利案件的管辖权移交给部落法院，尽管阿拉斯加州拒绝这种移交。结合对土著身份、儿童福利和法律实践的关注，这项研究将有助于理解法律中体现的文化差异概念的变化如何影响土著社区对自己提出主张的方式。该项目历时12个月，将包括档案研究、法庭观察和在科尤克和费尔班克斯收集的访谈。研究将在州和联邦行动的背景下批判性地分析部落法院的做法。该项目试图了解国家和族裔文化的基本概念如何影响法院判决，以及在阿拉斯加实施《消除一切形式种族歧视国际公约》如何创造一个讨论文化差异和平等的论坛。

Fogelson/Brown9904930This project will examine the relationship between claims of indigenous identity in Alaska and the implementation of laws that rely on notions of cultural difference. Specifically, it considers how the tribal court of Koyukuk, an Alaska Native village, negotiates competing sets of rights - children's rights and native rights - in its attempt to maintain autonomy in Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) cases. ICWA, a 1978 federal statute, transferred jurisdiction of native child welfare cases to tribal courts, although the state of Alaska resists this transfer. Combining concerns of indigenous identity, child welfare, and legal practice, this study will contribute to understandings of how changing concepts of cultural difference, embodied in law, impact the ways in which indigenous communities make claims about themselves. Spanning twelve months, the project will include archival research, court observations, and interviews collected in Koyukuk and Fairbanks. Research will critically analyze tribal court practices within the context of state and federal actions. This project seeks to understand how underlying notions of national and ethnic cultures shape court decisions and how the implementation of ICWA in Alaska creates a forum in which to argue about cultural difference and equality.