Native Silence is a solemn account of the legacy of forced adoption on Native American children, torn from their tribal communities and placed in foster care and boarding schools. Joyce, a recovered drug-addict and now mental-health worker, and Paulette, a mother who 'doesn't associate' with the Natives in her town, were two such children. Their stories reflect the struggle that they and many others faced growing up as Native American within larger non-Indian culture.