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Abstract
First Nations communities are seeking to improve current service delivery models and create alternative evidence-based strategies. A First Nations child welfare organization has prioritized further understanding of reunification and parenting, including identification of successes and barriers to reunification, and service needs within communities. These priorities were addressed with a community-based participatory research model and guided by a Research Advisory. Results were analysed using a blend of grounded theory and thematic analysis techniques. Participants indicated that…
This resource guide was developed by Child Protection Services of Prince Edward Island, Canada; the Department of Community Services and Seniors; and Prince Edward Island’s First Nations. It offers a fairly comprehensive guide to engaging with the Aboriginal community on Prince Edward Island, including a history of the Mi’kmaq people, a list of community-based services and organizations, an overview of Mi’kmaq spirituality, a guide to aboriginal culture (including views on parenting), a description of cultural practices and beliefs, an introduction to the Mi’kmaq language, a history of the…
The First Peoples Child & Family Review is published twice yearly by the First Nations Caring Society of Canada (FNCFCS). The First Peoples Child & Family Review proudly presents this Special Edition on Custom Adoptions in partnership with the Siem Smun’eem Indigenous Child Wellbeing Research Network at the University of Victoria. This edition contains research articles, agency experiences, cultural perspectives and personal stories that highlight custom adoption from a historical and contemporary perspective.
This special edition of First Peoples Child and Family Review…
Abstract
Following a historic meeting of staff with Alberta Children's Services and the Yellowhead Tribal Services Agency (YTSA) a pilot program, the YTSA Open Custom Adoption Program was developed. The agency initially researched existing adoption models in the Northwest Territories, British Columbia and the Cheyenne Nation in the United States. An advisory committee comprised of one Elder from each member First Nation community was struck to provide guidance and direction throughout the project. From 2000 to 2010 YTSA placed over a hundred children in adoptive homes and there were no…
Abstract
This paper forms Part 1 of a two-part discussion paper on Indigenous custom adoption. Zeroing in on the entangled histories of adoption and colonization, it outlines a short history of adoption in Canada, examines the impact of forced, closed, and external adoptions on Indigenous adoptees, and traces the move toward more open statutory adoptions and greater cultural connection and continuity in adoptions. This historical review sets the stage for Part 2 of our discussion paper, “Honouring Our Caretaking Traditions,” where we highlight the connections between customary laws…
Abstract
This paper forms Part 2 of a two-part discussion paper. Part 1 outlined a short history of adoption in Canada, examined the impact of forced, closed, and external adoptions on Indigenous adoptees and families, and traced the move toward more open statutory adoptions and greater cultural continuity in adoptions. Having zeroed in on the entangled histories of adoption and colonization in Part 1, here we explore traditional and contemporary practices of Indigenous custom adoption and caretaking. We first recount Western understandings and impositions, then feature Indigenous…
“Lax kw’alaams is a Tsimshian community on British Columbia’s northwest coast. Since 2010, all 37 Lax kw’alaams children in care, including those who live outside the community, have been identified and supported by a group of Elders who call themselves the Na gan ts’i’stk Grandmothers. Among other forms of emotional support and cultural connection they offer (which the Grandmothers themselves describe in this article), the Grandmothers have invited the children and youth to learn traditional seaweed gathering and meet their extended families in Lax kw’alaams.”
The First Peoples Child and…