Native child welfare law faces major Supreme Court challenge


              FILE -Rosa Soto Alvarez, of Tucson,, holds a flag of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe as she and other Native Americans stand outside the federal appeals court in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. Parts of a federal law giving Native American families preference in the adoption of Native American children were effectively struck down Tuesday, April 6, 2021 by a sharply divided federal appeals court, a defeat for tribal leaders who said the 1978 law was important to protecting their families and culture. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022 on the most significant challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native American children since it passed in 1978. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill, File)
            
              FILE - In this March 13, 2019, file photo, Tehassi Hill, tribal chairman of the Oneida Nation, stands outside a federal appeals court in New Orleans, following arguments on the constitutionality of a 1978 law giving Native American families preference in adoption of Native American children. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022 on the most significant challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native American children since it passed in 1978. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill, File)
            
              FILE - Chebon Kernell beats a drum and sings during a rally in support of three-year-old baby Veronica, Veronica's biological father, Dusten Brown, and the Indian Child Welfare Act, in Oklahoma City, Monday, Aug. 19, 2013. Brown is trying to maintain custody of the girl who was given up for adoption by her birth mother to a couple in South Carolina. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022 on the most significant challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native American children since it passed in 1978. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
            
              FILE - Participants listen during a rally in support of three-year-old baby Veronica, Veronica's biological father, Dusten Brown, and the Indian Child Welfare Act, in Oklahoma City, Monday, Aug. 19, 2013. Brown is trying to maintain custody of the girl who was given up for adoption by her birth mother to Matt and Melanie Capobianco of South Carolina. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022 on the most significant challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native American children since it passed in 1978. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
            
              FILE - Chebon Kernell, center, an elder in the United Methodist Church and a member of the Seminole Nation, prays at the start of a rally in support of three-year-old baby Veronica, Veronica's biological father, Dusten Brown, and the Indian Child Welfare Act, in Oklahoma City, Monday, Aug. 19, 2013. Brown is trying to maintain custody of the girl who was given up for adoption by her birth mother to a couple in South Carolina. The U.S. Supreme Court says Brown cannot use the Indian Child Welfare Act to press his claims. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022 on the most significant challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native American children since it passed in 1978. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
            
              Michelle Beaudin, council member for the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe in Wisconsin, poses for a photo at the National Congress of American Indians' 79th Annual Convention and Market Place in Sacramento Calif., Nov. 3, 2022. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments, Wednesday, Nov. 9 on the most significant challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act since it passed in in 1978. Beaudin, who has been a foster care parent and adopted her now adult daughter who is Ojibwe and Ho-Chunk, now supports the law as a way to preserve Native American culture and traditions. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
            
              Attorney Mary Katherine Nagle, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is seen during an interview with The Associated Press at the National Congress of American Indians' 79th Annual Convention and Market Place in Sacramento Calif., Nov. 2, 2022. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments, Wednesday, Nov. 9 on the most significant challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act since it passed in in 1978. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Native child welfare law faces major Supreme Court challenge