Members of Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory say their people's connection to culture and country are in danger, if Indigenous children continue to be placed in non-Indigenous care.
Currently holding hearings in Alice Springs, the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory has heard evidence regarding the rates of forced removals of at risk Aboriginal children from their families.
By law, placement with extended family and the broader Indigenous community must be considered above other options.
But Territory Families senior child protection Officer Kirsten Schinkel has admitted her department didn't prioritise placing Indigenous children with kinship carers.
The grandfather of a boy who was taken into care says his grandson lost his cultural identity after being removed when he was just seven years old.
Appearing before the Commission as C-O, he's described how difficult it's been to introduce the boy, now aged 18, to a culture he doesn't understand.
Arrernte (AH-run-DUH) elder Margaret Kemarre (keh-MAH-rah) Turner told the inquiry Indigenous children are raised by all members of a community, not just their biological relatives.
She argues kinship care should be looked at more closely when considering where to place vulnerable youngsters.
Ms Turner says once a person leaves a community, it's very difficult for them to rejoin.
The Royal Commission will finish hearings in Alice Springs in early June, and will then move to Darwin.
