Both of my parents went on the Indian placement program. They were placed with incredible Latter Day Saint families who raised them as their own and to this day we are their family. I know it was so hard for my grandparents to send their children away, but they wanted their children to have a better life. They wanted them to have a good education, to have the gospel in their lives, and have a stable home life. Because my grandparents made this huge sacrifice my parents life and my life has been incredibly blessed!! Jesus Christ and his gospel are everything. Betty is absolutely beautiful inside and out. She has such a wonderful testimony!! Thank you for sharing this interview.

No politics no anger no demands just love and the spirit. Now this is a representative of the best Native Americans have to offer, beautiful.

My parents had 4 kids from the Indian placement program. Not all at the same time. We loved them all. We still keep in touch with them. They became family

Our family in Southern California had the blessing to participate in this wonderful program. My native brother is my Eternal brother and his children are just as much grandchildren to my parents as my children. Our family didn’t have much but we had love to share and our home had the spirit of the gospel. My native brother taught me so much about seeing so much good in other cultures. We fought like brothers and forgave like brothers. We did everything together and my life and his life will forever be blessed because of this program. I will never forget when he read the Book of Mormon and he read about how this book spoke to him from the dust. I felt like I was able to witness fulfillment of prophecy.

The only sisters I had were because of the Placement Program. (I have 3 biological brothers.) I love these sisters and have never forgotten the impact they had on my life. Kitty Colleen and Marilyn taught me so much about their culture, food, and traditions and I’ll be forever grateful for their friendship. Those 2 years were amazing! The negativity I’m hearing from some is puzzling, because my experience was just wonderful!

❤It was a wonderful program for our family. Our foster brother says it saved him from abuse from a person in his tribe.We gained a great respect for the posterity of Lehi. My sisters attended a Pow Wow last summer to see our foster brother dance. He won a big prize and they were so excited to see him dance. We love him and his people. It gave us a real experience with the Book of Mormon.

We were a young poor family yet wanted to participate as a foster family. It was a wonderful experience for us.

Her testimony brought me to tears. I feel she is so right. People like her who have testimony need to be the ones to bring it to their own people.

The feeling I get as I watch this is so much more peaceful and content than what I felt with Midegah. I watched so many of his interviews, and he was more deferential to the Church with active members, but criticized lots of policies, particularly vetting policies like issuing temple recommends, when speaking with people who were more open to that. He resents people questioning his authority and motives, as if frauds don’t exist on the internet. He is charming and very good looking, and makes people want to protect him. My ex was the same way, and he was evil. This woman speaks the truth humbly and kindly, and doesn’t ask us to prop her up; she knows who she is. She humbly defers to the church instead of insisting her traditions are superior. She doesn’t contradict the leadership of the Church, and adds her story to all of ours. Thank you for showing us a real person, a Dene woman who is our sister in Christ; what a contrast to that guy.

What a sweet spirit! This was like a breath of fresh air admist all the heavyness/hatefullness of the times. God bless you, my dear sister.

Betty is the real deal! She is a light to her people, but so much more! I met her this spring and we had the opportunity to hear her and others interpret the petroglyphs out by Price canyon. She was prepared and baked fry bread for one and all , feed every person and embraced us with her testimony, absolutely inclusive in every way! She also played the flute on site. It was magical

I was an only child and was in high school when a girl in the Indian Placement Program came to live with us. She was a year younger than I was. She adored my parents and called them mom and dad. Her children grew up calling them grandpa and grandma. When we were teens and I would have friends over, my sister would go to her room. I thought she didn't like my friends and that made us less close. It was years later that I learned that she would leave when my friends came because the previous family she had lived with for 3 or 4 years had told her to do that when their children's friends came over. I feel so bad I didn't know this years sooner. My husband and our children and I moved many miles away and we didn't see one another much for 20 years. Today we only live about 10 miles from one another. Neither of us can can drive in our old age, so we talk on the phone and help one another do temple work for our distant relatives. I can't see to find the names, and she can't drive either. I have a friend and neighbor who takes me to the temple weekly and I often have names from my sister that I do the work for. Consequently we frequently chat on the phone and always end our conversation with "I love you." We have grown closer in our old age. I'm so glad she came to us and only wish she had been able to do so before going to another family. I think we would have been much closer, but we do love each other as sisters.

Love the interview. The Indian placement program was such a blessing for may wonderful Native Americans. Betty is such a fantastic representative of the great Lamanites in this world. Thank you for having Betty on your podcast.

Yaahteeh! I grew up in Montezuma Creek, Utah (Navajo reservation). Dad and Grandpa were oil field welders. Being white on the reservation was normal to me, and I have friends I grew up with and they are friends forever. Sis LaFontaine. When you said children need to know they are a child of God and that He loves them... that pierced me to the bone. I felt that testimony and I know it's true. Thank you for sharing your placement program story. I always missed my placement friends during the school year and looked forward to summer when they would be home, and I could see them again at Church on Sunday.

Thank you, Sister LaFontaine. You are a beautiful person, and I loved your message and story and testimony. Thank you for speaking up for the LDS Indian Placement Program. My family never participated as a foster family, but I had many good Navajo friends through the years. I always hoped they'd be back the next school year. They appeared happy to participate, and it seemed like a good program. The cultural exchange was good for us too, and I learned to love The Dine' or The People (Navajos) and still do.

What a lovely woman with a beautiful testimony. I appreciated her witness for Christ and the Book of Mormon as well as her sharing of her native culture. Thanks for having her on your podcast, Greg.

Betty, I love you and your testimony. I have always felt a deep love for the Native American people and then I discovered that my 5th great grandmother was a full Cherokee and I come through her son. At that time it was against the law for Europeans to marry Natives but because they had a son they had to get divorced. That son had a daughter and I come from that line. As much as I hated the Covid lockdown it was a blessing because I started studying genealogy. Thank you for blessing me today with your story and your music.❤

She is so right . About some of us being members for years and never being truly converted. I've been a member for Fifty five years of my sixty five years. And it wasn't till these last few years that I truly started to understand what our father in heaven really wants of us. And actually started studying the scriptures and the history of our church. I'm so blessed by our father in heaven to have known so many people who have guided me and showed me what to do. How I'm so grateful for our father I. Heaven.and Jesus Christ.

I served in Rapid City South Dakota Mission and was fully engulfed in the program and it was inspired and brought joy into many children’s life, so sad it has been demonized.

I don't know why I'm crying, but she touched my heart! Thank you

Beautiful! Sister LaFontaine is an example of the pure love of Christ. Loved hearing her positive and pragmatic insight with the program. Thanks for the uplifting start to the morning, Greg. Right up there with the "Verse of the Day" and "Quote of the Day"😉

My husband and I served a 16 month mission to the Navajo Nation in 2008 - 2010. It was a wonderful experience. We loved the people, especially the children. We learned so much from the people and the land.

While serving in the Phoenix mission during the 80s, I learned to live the Native Americans. One of my favorite companions was Navajo. Truly a blessed people.

I attended the Ute Powwow and bought some food and looking for a place to sit and eat, there was a table with an empty chair. the other five chairs were being used by 5 women. It turned out that they were navajos and were visiting for the ute pow wow. It took about 10 seconds to get acquainted with them. then for the next half hour I joked and laughed with them as they mercilessly teased each other. I laughed the whole time they were there. Then they left and I realized that I was alone and missed them terribly. They had more fun in that half hour than I had all day. They are a happy loving people and your guest is a perfect ambassador for the Navajo people. Thank you for sharing her with us.

Thank you Gred for showing the other side and getting a 1st hand experience so we can see the whole picture. Thank you Betty, for sharing your story and your testimony ❤

Hello Greg! I meant you at Firm Foundation BofM two conferences ago. Love your podcast, and thank you for having Betty Lafontaine on, what an inspiration. Thank you Betty for sharing your experiences and testimony. I too, am a product of the Indian Placement Program. There are many many of us out there that has been blessed by this program. Yes, there are some that did not work out for them, but I believe there are far more positive then negative. Those that speak out against this program, speak with some sort of agenda. Spiritual blessings have come to not just students, but also to foster families and the parents and grandparents of those placement students. The love and sacrifice of parents and grandparents(many of us were raise by grandparents) to send their kids out for a better education and opportunity, this was all voluntary. Thank you for this podcast.

If one does not understand the words.... you cannot escape the testimony of the flute. :>)

What a beautiful woman. I’ve never heard a personal story/testimony of the Placement Program. Betty’s testimony has strengthened me and my own testimony. Thank you. I have to tell you also Greg, that you are such a special, kind man. CWIC media is wonderful.

This was such a great interview. Sister LaFontaine, thank you for sharing your experience and testimony. You represent what was hoped for in the Indian Placement Program. I loved the flute! Such a beautiful tone in the flute.

I have a Navajo "Uncle" (my dad's foster brother from the Indian placement program who came when he was 8 I believe) who is just as much of an uncle to me as my other uncles, and he still comes to family events to this day. 💗

Wow! We had two placement sisters. I often wonder where they are. One of them saved the life of a girl at a swimming pool while she was with us. Betty is such a beautiful grateful person. Thank you for having her share her experience!

My teen Native sister and brother are still so loved. I learned about 2 other cultures. We learned from each other. Both of them went on to live good lives...get advanced education...one in the church and one who eventually left the church. Yes, there were challenges, but there was also great love...a new love. Having grown up with native children, having native children live with us felt right. My parents were very aware of the difficulties that native families faced, just with slight differences for each child. I love that your guest explains the meshing of good cultural traditions with the gospel. Beautiful!

I have an uncle that was part of the beginning of the IPP. He has alway been amazing to me. I can't emangine him being part of any of the horrors being told these days . Another uncle and his family always had an indian placement child or two. The recount Betty has told is the type of things I ever heard. One stayed with them for 8 years . When one wanted to go home because she was so homesick there was no problem. Each experience for each person is different I love the gospel and respect what it does.

My Grandpa/Grandma wanted me to go on the Placement. They told me they're getting old/might not be able to raise me. So, I did. What's been the greatest gift was hearing Grandpa John singing Cheyenne songs in the early morning in LD-MT. After, high school friend wanted me to go to BYU. Her family became my family. Yeah, even tho I had 2 sets of foster family in the ward I attended when I got a job. We never visit or did they send over an invitation. I was blessed anyway.

My grandmother was one of the corner stones of that program in its early days. She did amazing things for many kids. Kay Cox was her name. I'm very proud of her for it.

Betty thank you for sharing your story. Your words touched my heart so much. When I was growing up, there were usually kids who were in the placement program in my ward in Seattle. They became one of the family of who they were living with, and part of our ward. Some of them came back year after year, and they were missed when they weren't there. Although it seems there may have been problems for some in the program, I'm glad that the program worked and helped many others. Now I'm a school teacher and I am always excited when I have a Native American child in my class. I try to make sure they feel included and some of their culture is shared with the class. Thank you for your beautiful flute playing, once again you touched my heart.

I love this woman! Ever since I was a young girl, I've had an affinity for the indigenous Indians, like they were my family. My mother felt the same way.

Betty has a wonderful testimony and what a delight she is. My husband has an Indian brother who would come every year for the school year. Stan was a great member of his family. He would often come and spend time with the family for decades after until his parents passed away. His life on the reservation wasn’t very stable so it was positive for him to see a healthy family.

Thank you for this. My grandmother was part of the organization of the Indian placement program. I had a Native American brother that came and stay with us during school season.. He was my brother, from another parents.. but I loved him as much as I loved my other siblings.

I’ve personally met many many people who were in the Indian Placement Program. They have only said great things about their experience!!

I loved loved having 3 brothers and 1 sister growing up in the 70’s with these wonderful children who grew up with us in the Indian Placement Program! Life changing for all of us!

Thank you for you sweet spirit and testimony Sister LaFontaine!

As you said Greg, it’s powerful to hear a testimony from a Native American. I feel the same way hearing a testimony from a Jew. The natural branches have so much strength. This was a great discussion.

She’s a beautiful women with a strong and beautiful spirit, loved the flute at the end. Hope you have more Native American on.😊

What a powerful message from a sweet, reassuring voice! Great interview.

Great episode. Thank you, Greg! We lived in Arizona for many years and my husband taught school on a White Mountain Apache reservation. He was so impressed with how spiritual the Apache people he worked with were. This episode was so interesting and heartfelt.

Thank you for such an inspiring interview! When I was 13 my parents decided that we had been blessed with lots of room in our home and that we were going to share with a lamanite brother. He was 10 years old the same age as my brother. His name was Bruce, and we truly had a brother from another mother. My parents gave him the same love that the rest of their children felt. It was such a beautiful thing to watch Bruce bond to our family. I feel like he loved us like we loved him. We had Bruce for 3 years. Every year he came really thin and seemed frightened, but it didn't take long for my mom to fill him with food and love. When our family went to pick him up for our forth year we found out the devastating news. A few weeks prior,Bruce had been found murdered and left in a ditch. Our hearts were broken. Watching my parents weep over our brother was so hard! We were never able to get additional information. I'm just so thankful for all that I learned from Bruce, for the love our family felt from Bruce and the love we were able to give.

Thank you Betty for your beautiful words. I am humbled and grateful to hear from you. I remember our stake in Vancouver Canada hosting young people in the program. My mother was a young woman’s teacher and grew to have a lovely relationship with one of the young girls .When it came time for them all to leave we met at the stake centre and my mother had brought a beautiful dress and wrapped it up to give to her student. They hugged and cried as they said goodbye. The families who hosted these youngsters people were strong members and we sang God be with you till we meet again as they boarded the bus. I think most people in the program benefited from their participation. I don’t believe the church owes apologies for their service in this program.

Thank you, Betty, for sharing your heartfelt testimony and life story. Thanks, Gregg, for having Betty on your show. Watching from New Zealand ❤

Having Served my mission on the Rez in Tuba City I can testify of the blessings of the placement program. Many of the people gained a better education and moved into college for degrees to take the skills back to the people. Beautiful testamony Sis.LaFontaine.

Thank you Sister LaFontaine for your testimony through words and music. I’m feeling ill today and missed church and this helped me feel so much better!

What a wonderful interview! Thank you!

I gained a Native American cousin from this program. I bumped into him in 2019 and asked him if he felt the program had done him wrong since I had started hearing such accusations. He stated he hadn't had a problem with it.

I really loved listening to and learning from this this morning. Betty has such a wonderfully uplifting spirit that radiates from her. We had a few Native American children live with families in our ward in the Bay Area in California. I was a teenager when they were about 10 so I didn’t pay too much attention to it all but it I recall feeling love for the kids that came and stayed awhile. Our ward always felt like one big family.

I loved the flute music at the end ♥️ What a lovely guest. Her testimony radiates from her!

What a beautiful story Betty tells of her life, in the Indian Placement program. Thank You Kindly.

My foster sister did well and came back every year even after the program ended. Her parents were very happy about her education and opportunities. She lives on the Res now. I think she's doing pretty good.

Thank you so much. It is great to know the good that has come out of this program. I would like to know more about it. I have wondered about it and know so little. A friend of mine, she and her husband, were killed when their plane crashed while transporting some students, either going to or from the reservation to this program.

What a BEAUTIFUL WOMAN, Betty is!! ❤❤ And she has such a beautiful and strong testimony!! I've often worried, (as a white person, growing up in and around LDS folks, and I had a few friends who were in the church foster program),.. I worried as I grew up, whether or not the program affected their lives in a positive way or not. My friends were always so quiet spoken and even very subtle in their behavior. They never spoke much, let alone speaking about their homes they'd come from, or what it was like. Or even whether they missed their homes or not. I assumed that most of the kids were taught totally different social graces and behaviors which entailed being quiet and subdued, to not draw attention to themselves. I respected that and let it go. I'm happy to hear that Betty and her siblings all had positive experiences in the program! 😊 I've always loved the Native American cultures, ever since I was a little girl. It wasn't really until going into my teens that I paid enough attention to understand that the Bof M was literally about them! And it just made me love them more! Does the church take part of tithing or other misc donations people give to continue helping the people on reservations? What are all the services does the church offer them?

What a wonderful piece. We love our Navajo (Dine) brothers and sisters. Truely an inspired program! I miss living in Gallup.

Great interview. Love hearing her positive experiences

What a beautiful testimony she has! Thank you for having her on Greg, allowing us to hear another life 8f a Native Amerucan! I just find this so very spiritualky moving and excitinh!

Thanks for doing this episode Greg. I have uncles and aunts who were in the Indian placement program, or at least adopted uncles and aunts. We knew them as our aunts and uncles. They were being molested and neglected while they were on the Indian reservation, and they were exposed to alcohol and drugs. And it is sad that they had to be taken away from their traditions, is it better that they would’ve stayed and learned their traditions, but also continued to be molested and encouraged to drink alcohol? The thing is that most of the Native Americans have some sort of prophecy that warned their people about staying away from alcohol. But many of them did not listen. they took the poison and the bait and because of it, their posterity was affected, and so the Lord had to intervene by allowing his church to take them away from their homes. This ideally was not the best option, but it was better than what they would’ve had otherwise. Because they would’ve ended up just destroying any semblance of tradition they had under the guise of alcohol and sin. Chief Midegah needs to realize this. He is wrong in this point.

Greg, Thank you so much for hosting Betty and letting her share her experience. This was a great story and testimony of the power of God.

My uncle's family had an Indian daughter through this program. They treated her like family and still get together during the Christmas season and summer to meet up. I was very young when this happened and I grew up thinking she was their biological child that like their older children didn't live at home anymore and was doing college.

Love Betty’s story before, during and after the Indian Placement program

I felt a lovely spiritual connection to Sister LaFontaine ❤

Thank you! I grew up with an older sister that came to our family from the Placement program. We love her . Still is part of our family.

Greg, Thank you for sharing Sis LaFontaine with us! My grandfather ran the Totso trading post on the Navajo Reservation and we spent many wonderful summer days there.

Just lived this!! What a wonderful woman, Betty, thank you. ❤️

Thanks so much for this conversation!! It is so important. Betty, your words went straight to my soul 🥰

Thank you for the followup. The last one had some stated errors and this one cleared some of those up. I saw this program up front and it's potential was amazing.

The beautiful flute ! Thank you Betty and Greg

She is such an inspiration. I appreciate her great attitude and her testimony. My brother had a foster son from the reservation. He eventually married and brought his wife and family back to our very small farming town. There was much good that was done by the placement program.

I had no idea this was a thing. I’m not sure how I didn’t know that this happened. That’s awesome. What is more loving than bringing a child into you home. That’s real love.

I cried through this interview thank you sister

Our family participated in the IPP. John Billy came to live with us. He was a Navajo that was my age. He stayed with us for every year of my high school years.

Thank you for sharing your experience Betty! You are beautiful!

Our "Indian Sister" Hellen, to this day, still visits us and has maintained a multi-years relationship with our family. She especially loves our mother who has kept the relationship open and ongoing.

I love the Navajo people. I was in the MTC with a Navajo Sister missionary her name was Sister Tacheenee! She tried to teach me Navajo but I was a lost cause. My son served part of his mission on the Navajo reservations in Arizona and spent much time trying to help those with alcohol problems. There will always be those who will demonize that which is of God! Thank you for this very inspiring episode!

👋 hi😊. I'm Betty's younger sister (the little 8 year old😇 she mentioned). I attest to everything that my sister spoke of. She's such a great Dine' Asdzaa. I'm proud of you, sister. Yes, the Indian placement program was a great experience. Thank you for sharing your testimony. Love you, shaadi (sister)❤

So awesome! Thanks Greg I really felt the spirit during her interview.

My beautiful friend Betty! Beautiful testimony, thank you so much for sharing this with the world!

Great episode. She has such an important life story to tell.

What wonderful webs of connection across the church, run through this great Sister and her Family

Need to listen to this one. My family is from farmington, New Mexico. When we moved to utah years and years ago I remeber my parents doing this when I was a young girl. One girl was like a sister. We had her for two years. One girl was a real trial. She didn’t stay for long. We still have some contact with the first girl through Facebook but she didn’t stay in the church. She was a good friend and we loved her like a sister. As a side note my son got to return to Farmington for his mission. It was a special experience for him to teach on the reservation. I’m sorry I’m commenting before listening. Years ago the church also produced a series of short videos that had something to do with the native Americans. Life is a wonderful journey. I loved watching those. I wish I could find those again.

Thank you for this incredibly informative discussion, her testimony is beautiful.

So glad that is back in the hymn book ❤

Such a beautiful and humble soul, I enjoy this interview very much! Thank you to both of you ❤

I didn't know what to expect when I clicked on this video, and I was pleasantly surprised. Hearing her testimony and how her family has gone in to serve in the church and in their tribe. I believe that is what the program was about. I felt the Spirit as she played "Come Thou Fount.". It was the lift I needed today.

I am a personal witness of the love and compassion of the families and the kids that were placed in our home. We loved them and their families. They were a huge positive influence in our lives as we grew up together. They returned to their home each year and then returned. We are still close and we love them like our own siblings. They have gone on to become beautiful productive adults with wonderful children. I personally was left with an eternal love for the native people. They have a divine spirit.

Oh Betty, I just love your faith and your testimony. I love your understanding you have of your life at home as a little girl and your life as a child in the placement program. It makes me cry because of your testimony. You have a marvelous mother! She wanted the best for you.

I have heard both sides of the coin from families who participated in hosting. Betty thank you for sharing your testimony. It is powerful and strong. ❤

Very wonderful that this sister had such an overwhelmingly positive experience! It was uplifting to listen to her. Fascinating! 😊🎉❤ My heart goes out to those who encountered abuse in their experiences. 😪

On the Indian Placement Program vs the Indian Schools, such as the one that was in Brigham City Utah. I would like to learn more about those who went to the schools. I had relatives who fostered indian children. It was a very good thing for their family and the children. I'm unclear on how well the students in the schools did.

What a sweet, powerful testimony she has. Made me stronger. Thank you.

My experiences with two Navajo foster sisters who were a few years older and later a brother a few years younger than me was very positive from my perspective . The sisters returned to the “res” and lived productive lives but sadly the brother after returning to Crown Point died in a car accident.

One of your best presentations!❤

Follow you often bro. Greg and this is one of my favorite episodes. Very uplifting and encouraging. Keep up the good work. 👍🏻

What a beautiful woman. I’m so thankful to be able to hear her testimony. ( and musical talent) 💗