I Lost My Family: Grief, Loss, and Identity Formation of Adopted and Fostered American Indian Individuals

American Indian individuals, families, and communities have experienced historical waves of separation from relocation to boarding schools to systematic child removal. Fostered and adopted American Indian individuals experience numerous losses that can lead to poor mental and physical health outcomes. Studies addressing American Indian experiences of grief, loss, and identity development are scarce and are limited to small samples utilizing qualitative methods. Grounded in identity theory and ambiguous loss theory, this mixed method study addressed a gap in the literature by exploring experiences of grief, loss, and identity formation following foster care and adoption of American Indian individuals. Secondary data from the Experiences of Adopted and Fostered Individuals Project were used to compare the experiences of grief and the impact of adoption on identity for American Indian (n = 129) and White individuals (n = 166). A chi-square test revealed the relationship between race and grief was statistically significant, X^2(1, n = 295) = 6.23, p < .01, with American Indian participants more likely to report experiencing grief. The extent to which participants who were adopted perceived adoption affected their identity was also significantly higher for American Indian participants (M = 4.31, SD = .99) than their White peers (M = 3.82, SD = 1.23), t(268) = -3.48, p ≤ 001.Thematic analysis was used to examine open-ended survey data, which revealed four themes: (1) loss, which describes the types of losses American Indian fostered and adopted individuals reported experiencing, (2) identity, which describes challenges and meaning making associated with identity formation (3) risk factors, which describes factors that may create challenges to processing grief, loss, and identity formation, and (4) protective factors, which describes factors that may be helpful in managing challenges associated with grief, loss, and identity formation. The findings suggest an explicit connection between loss, grief, and identity formation for adopted and fostered American Indian individuals, as well as specific outcomes and resiliency factors.