Date of Award
12-2017
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Executive Leadership
First Supervisor
Kim VanDerLinden
Second Supervisor
Sally Wagner
Abstract
Promoting transracial adoptions became common in attempting to assimilate American Indians into European American culture. These adoptions were authorized by the United States Government through the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act. This research focused on how American Indian transracial adoptees developed a Haudenosaunee cultural identity after being adopted by a European American family. The ethnographic study was conducted with Haudenosaunee adult adoptees to explore their lived experiences. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were used to guide the conversation about the degree to which each participant developed a cultural identity as a Haudenosaunee. Qualitative methods were used for data analysis. The study discovered four themes which were: traumatic beginnings, relationships, identity development, and cultural transcendence. These themes validate the Haudenosaunee adoptee’s life experiences. A result of this study a policy change for Indian Child Services Welfare Act (ICWA) is recommended. Also in the field of social work further cultural competence training is recommended especially those involved with transracial adoptions. Lastly, the need for more research about this topic needs to continue to keep expanding the knowledge of how indigenous communities have demonstrated cultural resiliency.
Recommended Citation
Lyman, Tricia, "An Ethnographic Study about the Lived Experiences of Transracial Adoption from a Haudenosaunee Adult Adoptee Perspective" (2017). Education Doctoral. Paper 334.
https://fisherpub.sjf.edu/education_etd/334
Please note that the Recommended Citation provides general citation information and may not be appropriate for your discipline. To receive help in creating a citation based on your discipline, please visit http://libguides.sjfc.edu/citations.