Adoption
At a glance:
- Series: American Indians Ready Reference
- Categories: Social Issues, Reform, and Protest, Social Science
- Subcategories: Native Americans, American Indians, Children, Family, Marriage, Kidnapping, Hostages, Prisoners
- Curriculum: American Indian History
- Geographical Location: United States
Article abstract: Native Americans had very different ideas about family from those now accepted in America; many more people were considered family to begin with, and adoption was a widespread practice
In most American Indian cultures, a family was not only the nuclear family but also parents, parents-in-law, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other related individuals who might need the “sponsorship” of a family. An example of one to be adopted would be a great aunt whose children had died or moved to another camp or tribe. Individuals who had been adopted became...
[The entire page is 543 words long]