UTAH
Think Progress
BY RACHEL CAIN JUN 10, 2016
A member of the Navajo Nation filed a lawsuit this week against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) for inadequately protecting him from sexual and physical abuse he allegedly experienced during his participation in a Mormon foster program for Native American children. He is the fourth Navajo in recent months to sue the Mormon church for its neglectful oversight during the program—and more victims may still come forward.
The Indian Student Placement Program began in the 1940s and allowed Native American families to send their baptized children voluntarily to live with white Mormon families during the academic year, where they had access to better education. By the time the program ended in 2000, approximately 40,000 Native Americans from 60 different tribes, though predominantly Navajos, had participated in the program.
The program began at a time when the Mormon church believed it carried a responsibility to bring Native Americans to their faith. Many Mormons believed that Native Americans were the descendants of Lamanites, one of the lost tribes of Israel.
L.K., the latest victim to file a lawsuit, was in seventh grade when he says his now-deceased foster father sexually abused and whipped him. He confided in officials with the Indian Student Placement Program. They told him to stay with the family for the rest of the school year. The abuse continued.
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