Indian Placement Program

During the earliest days of the LDS Church in Utah, Mormons often raised Native American children in their homes. Leader Brigham Young advocated buying children held by Native Americans and Mexican traders as slaves (a legal practice in the Utah Territory prior to the American Civil War), freeing them from slavery, and encouraged Latter-day Saints to educate and acculturate the children as if they were their own.[5]

LDS theology suggests that the Native Americans have a special status. It held that Native Americans had two distinct phenotypes: "Nephites, light-skinned, "righteous and civilized people;" and Lamanites, "idle, savage and bloodthirsty," for which they were "cursed by God" with dark skin."[3] Although this is a prevailing view, there are alternative perspectives about whether the distinction referred to in the Book of Mormon actually referred to skin color. These differing views are more complex than popular and simplistic characterizations portray. For more, see Brant A. Gardner, "What Does the Book of Mormon Mean by 'Skin of Blackness?'"[6]

The Indian Student Placement Program (ISPP) of the late 20th century developed from an informal placement in 1947 in Richfield, Utah by the LDS Church. A 16-year old Navajo teenager, Helen John, asked permission to stay in the city to go to school. As a result, Golden Buchanan and Miles Jensen organized an informal placement program under the direction of Spencer W. Kimball, who was the chairman of the church's Committee on Indian Relationships. With her parent's permission, Helen was allowed to stay with the Buchanan family, whom she knew in Richfield. This arrangement was not an official program, but it was the basis for the Indian Placement Program that would later be established. The Buchanans agreed to take in other children as well,[7] and that year three students were placed into the unofficial program. These arrangements continued, and by 1954 there were some 68 Native American students (mostly from the Navajo Nation) placed into foster homes in four different western states.[8]

The ISPP worked to instill Western notions of industry through the imposition of an ethno-religious identity. The Lamanite identity defined Indians as culturally and spiritually apostate Israelites destined for latter-day restoration through an internalized Protestant work ethic. Although some rejected this theological identity others found it a point of strength and empowerment as they attended schools and participated in specific ISPP efforts to develop Western leadership patterns among Native American participants.[9]

The ISPP was defined as an "educational opportunity," as opposed to foster care. Its objective was the "assimilation and "whitening" of Indian children as a divine imperative outlined in the Book of Mormon."[3] The church members believed that, "by educating and assimilating Indian children into Mormon culture and religion they could be "lightened," thereby breaking their Lamanite (or dark-skinned) "curse" and restoring the prophecy of their redemption."[3] In 2013, the LDS Church officially renounced this folk belief.[3]

The success of these students led to the church establishing a formal placement program in July 1954, under the Church Social Services,[8] which was part of the Relief Society. Under this program, a social worker was assigned to each Native American foster child. A reception center was built in Richfield to accommodate the large numbers of participants. Buses and other transportation were arranged to bring children to the center where they would be fed, receive medical examinations, and be introduced to their foster families.[7] Students participated from the Navajo Nation and other tribes in the Southwest, as well as some from other parts of the United States.

When the program became institutionalized, there were some complaints that LDS missionaries were assigned to recruit new participants. In 1956, the Bureau of Indian Affairs received complaints that the placement program was being used to increase the church's proselytizing efforts. The governments of Utah and Arizona in March 1957 met with church representatives to address the issue. As a result, caseworkers rather than missionaries were given the responsibility of making the final decision for acceptance of students into the Indian Placement Program.[7]

In order for children to participate in the program, their parents had to request their placement. Foster parents were recommended by local bishops and were expected to provide free room, board, and clothing for the Native American children. These children had to be at least eight years old, baptized as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and be in good standing in the church and in good health.[8]

In October 1960, Kimball discussed the program at the General Conference. He said that Natives who participated in the program were gradually turning lighter, becoming 'white and delightsome.'[10] "The day of the Lamanites is nigh," Kimball said, claiming that Navajo placement students were "as light as Anglos" and, in one case, several shades lighter than parents "on the same reservation, in the same hogan, subject to the same sun and wind and weather."[10] The Church has moved away from other race-based qualifications that, while practiced, were never accepted as doctrine and have been repudiated by the church. See, e.g. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, "Race and the Priesthood."[11] Additionally, racial references in scripture headings, not considered doctrine, have been removed.[12]

Some families had their children baptized in the church in order to gain the opportunity to go to school off the reservation. To avoid this, in the 1950s and 1960s, the church added new requirements for acceptance of children into the program. In 1969, the Unified Social Services was established in the church; this became the administrative body to run the Indian Placement Program. In 1973 it was renamed and organized as LDS Social Services.[7]

By 1972, nearly 5,000 Native Americans were living in foster homes through this program. Some students went on to study at Brigham Young University, earning college degrees. In 1971 they created a performance group of singers and dancers called "The Lamanite Generation." Among their pieces was "Go My Son," a song referring to the "ladder of education."[13]

In 1972 local priesthood leaders were given the responsibility for recruiting and screening new students. Due to strong criticism and rising Native American activism, the program had nearly been discontinued in 1977. The US government commissioned a study under the Interstate Compact Secretariat, which oversaw educational efforts. It heard much praise from Native American families for the program.[7] After assessing the program results and hearing testimonial from participants and foster families, the church decided to continue it.[8]

After 1972, the number of students that participated in the program decreased. By the late 1970s, the number of participants in the Indian Placement Program was around 2,500. In response to the improvement of local schools developed on the reservations in preference to boarding schools, in the 1980s the Indian Placement Program limited participants to high-school students; the number of students dropped to 500 in 1990. In 1996 there were virtually no more participants, although the last graduated in 2000.[7]

In the 1970s, the Indian Placement Program was directed to emphasize creating stronger bonds and increased communication between the natural families and the selected foster families. The goal of the program was to "introduce Native Americans to mainstream values and social roles without demanding the abandonment of the old for the new."[8] According to the Maxwell Institute of BYU, it attempted to help Native Americans receive more formal education and training, while helping them maintain their identity.[7]

On March 22, 2016, two members of the Navajo Nation, (plaintiffs "RJ" and "MM") filed a complaint in Navajo Nation District Court (a tribal court) against LDS Family Services and against the Corporation of the President, alleging sexual abuse during their foster placement in the IPP from 1976 to 1983.[15][16] Their complaint was amended April 21.[17]

On May 31, 2016 a third Navajo plaintiff ("BN") filed a lawsuit alleging abuse from 1965 to 1972.[18] On June 6, a fourth plaintiff ("LK") sued in Navajo Nation District Court.[19]

Also on May 31, attorneys for the LDS Church petitioned for declaratory judgement in the United States District Court for the District of Utah (not the tribal court), seeking both a declaration that the tribal court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the Church, and an order enjoining the lawsuit from proceeding in tribal court. Because the Church's suit was filed against the Navajo plaintiffs in the District Court, the Church becomes the plaintiff in the federal jurisdiction.[20] On June 3, LDS Church attorneys expanded their motion to Judge Robert Shelby in District Court to include plaintiff BN, and amended their response to seek a federal order restraining the tribal court from proceeding.[21]

In November 2016, Federal district court judge Robert Shelby denied the church's motion to dismiss and ruled that it first had to "exhaust all remedies" in Tribal Court. Shelby wrote that:

"[...] it was necessary to allow the Navajo Nation courts to develop the factual record, because "the existing record is significantly incomplete concerning the nature and scope of the agreements [between the LDS Church and the defendants], and any nexus between those agreements and the alleged conduct" alleged in the Doe Defendants' complaints."[4]

By ordering the Mormon Church to first exhaust its legal remedies in tribal court, Shelby said that the Navajo Nation judicial system would then be able to assess the facts of the case and whether jurisdiction was on the table. Further, it would allow the Navajo courts time to analyze the complex legal and factual issues at hand—thus advancing Congress's explicit policy in promoting tribal self-governance and the development of tribal court jurisprudence.[4]

This ruling is considered a major victory for tribal jurisprudence.[4]