Tansi;
I have always believed that children would be in a better situation, if they are raised as part of a family, rather than as "Children In Care" of government agencies. That being said, I have reviewed cases where the families have had motives, other than those in the best interest of the child, in their determination to adopt. I have also seen many adoptive situations where the families did their best, with Love and Respect, and included ensuring that the adoptive child was exposed to their Cultural roots. This applies to children of a number of different Cultural backgrounds, not just Aboriginal.
Recently, some Canadian child welfare departments have developed placement standards, which reflect Cultural sensitivity. In one of these government departments, I participated in developing foster care and adoption standards, which included "Priorities in Placement." Debbie has already described some of these.
Working in a region, which included seven First Nations, we chose to use standards, such as:
1) Same Nation, same Clan, same family.
2) Same Nation, different Clan.
3) Different First Nation, in region.
4) Different First Nation, different region.
5) Other Cultural group, approved through departmental process.
If the child was adopted by a different Cultural group, adoptive parents are instructed in ways of providing for Cultural awareness of placed child,
In past years, governments had several problems in foster care and adoption proceedures, often trying to remove Aboriginal children from their birth Cultures, as one form of assimilation. The "baby scoop" of the 60's was one of these efforts, in which many Aboriginal children were placed in non-native families. Many of those children are now making attempts to reconnect with their Cultures. Many First Nations, including the one where my Grandfather was from, are encouraging these people to feel welcomed back to their Aboriginal roots and acknowledge them as "returning Band members."
As Aboriginal people are gaining strength in our self-determination, we are now a part of the process of developing ways of dealing with many of the problems of the past. This is a huge challenge, which will not correct the past injustices, but will help to ensure that problems of the past will not be able to happen again.
Ric
