Lauren van Schilfgaarde Posts

Addressing the Oliphant in the Room: Domestic Violence and the Safety and American Indian and Alaska Native Children in Indian Country

by Lauren van Schilfgaarde | Dec 8, 2022 | American Indian Law

In this paper, we argue that Section 904 is far too narrow to protect child victims of domestic violence and ancillary crimes in Indian country and must be amended to allow tribal courts to exercise special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction in Indian country.

Using Peacemaking Circles to Indigenize Tribal Child Welfare

by Lauren van Schilfgaarde | Sep 19, 2022 | American Indian Law, Children and the Law

This Article outlines the ways in which the modern tribal child welfare system has been structured to compartmentalize families and perpetuate historical federal policies of Indian family separation. This Article then suggests that circle processes are a framework for re-Indigenizing the tribal child welfare system to not just improve outcomes, but to also honor the interconnected, responsibility oriented worldview of Indigenous communities.