Thinking about our children

Page 5

Recently, my wife and I went to a general band meeting. We went to this band meeting because one of the topics for discussion was child welfare.

Neither of us are very happy with the child welfare arrangements that First Nations communities have. In this column, I want to encourage readers to stretch their minds when they are thinking about what we are going to do about looking after the children in our communities.

My wife understands Canadian law. She's not happy with the state of the law regarding First Nations child welfare. Even our so-called "Indian Child Welfare" organizations all focus on ideas and interests such as child protection,foster care, etc. These are not good First Nation's ideas. They come from that other system of thinking and being. Yet, we as First Nations are buying into this system. Taking over services from the provinces and then delivering those services in the same way that the provinces delivered them does not ensure that we have made those systems "Aboriginal."

Our family knows a thing or two about "child welfare" because we have been involved in this system for the last six or so years. We raise my sister's girl after she was apprehended in Alberta. Since January, we have been caring for my great- nephew.

It was not a very difficult decision to look after our relatives. The first time we were asked to look after one of our young relatives, both my wife and I believed that it was our responsibility as uncle and as aunt to help raise those kids. My wife is always saying that "Indian law is nothing more than family law." She means that all the rules which we are to follow for a good life are based on kinship. It is the connections from our family relationships that tell us what our responsibilities - not rights - are as First Nations citizens.

Maybe it wouldn't have been so easy to make the decision, if we knew then what we know now. But we still think we made the right decision based on our beliefs as First Nations people. However, it's been really hard. It's been harder than it needs to be because the rest of the family and community don't think the same way as we do about kinship as a responsibility. This is the legacy of colonialism, including residential schools.

My sister is often angry at us because we are raising her daughter.

Sometimes she acts as though we stole her daughter from her. Obviously, this isn't the truth. Unfortunately, it doesn't make our road any easier. That is followed by more family commotion which has an effect on the entire community (multiplied by the number of families this has happened to). Just taking the kids away from unsafe homes is not enough.

It doesn't fix all the layers of the problem and sometimes it even makes more problems. I think that following other people's rules about child welfare is just another one of the ways that colonial relations are still being forced on our families and communities. This needs to stop.

When our child welfare institutions just mimic the provincial system, we are missing the answers that exist for our families that are based on our traditions. Without strong, healthy families, we cannot raise children who are able to be the best that they can be. This means that our futures are still clouded by the realities of colonialism and oppression. I want to encourage everyone to think about how these issues effect you.