A culture will die without its children. Yet the removal of Native American children from their homes and families has occurred at the alarming rate of 25% of all children. Many indian families have experienced the loss of children to non-tribal homes, even when a relative or other tribal member was willing and able to provide a safe, stable and loving home for the child. This has happened in Wisconsin despite the existence of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act. The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), signed into law in 1978, is one of the most litigated federal Indian laws of the past 35 years, and arguably the most important in the lives of native people and communities. It has unfortunately been misunderstood, misapplied and too often completely ignored. That history has led several to pass into law their own versions of ICWA in one form or another.