In Canada, the number of Aboriginal children taken into care by youth protection is three times higher than at the peak of the residential schools. More than half of the children in foster care are aboriginal, even though they represent only 8% of the country’s youth. Faced with this overrepresentation, Anicinape communities have been undertaking for nearly a year to free themselves from the DPJ to manage their youth protection service independently.
“We want to take our responsibilities. We are the best at taking care of our children. We want to provide them with a stable, safe living environment rooted in Anicinape culture,” summarizes Peggie Jérôme, director of Mino Obigiwasin. Born from the reunion of the communities of Pikogan, Kitcisakik, Lac-Simon and Long Point following the adoption of Bill C-92 in 2020, the organization’s mission is to set up a youth protection service specific to the Anicinapes, a project that the father of Mrs.me Jérôme when he was a chef.
This system would follow the same guidelines as Quebec’s Youth Protection Act. Thus, all reports will be followed by assessments using an appropriate grid. If the report is retained, the following steps will be specific to the Anicinape culture (meetings with the Family Council or the Council of Elders, for example). In the event that these voluntary measures do not solve the problems, there will be legal action. And if a placement is to be made, ideally it will be within an Aboriginal community.
This initiative has even more weight if we consider that in Abitibi, 35% to 40% of youth protection reports involve Aboriginal people.
Cultural reappropriation
On January 4, Ottawa signed an agreement in principle in which $20 billion is earmarked to improve the youth protection system in Aboriginal communities.
The self-determination of Aboriginal communities in this area had been strongly recommended in the Viens and Laurent reports, in order to ensure cultural safety — that is, social and health services with which an Aboriginal person feels safe.
However, the current clinical evaluation tools of the Direction de la protection de la jeunesse (DYP) do not take cultural differences into account. “The vision of the best interests of the child may differ between the Youth Protection Act and the law of a First Nation,” explains Alexis Wawanoloath, lawyer at Neashish & Champoux senc “Cultural safety should be more considered when making decisions, because removing a child from their community has devastating effects. »
A disconnection with one’s language, traditions and culture significantly affects self-esteem. “According to studies, a strong link with our culture and our identity has very positive impacts on the cognitive and psychosocial levels, while a poor image of one’s culture is associated with a higher suicide rate”, continues Alexis Wawanoloath. He believes that training offered to family law judges and lawyers could contribute to the understanding of the complex and cyclical issues faced by Aboriginal families.
Understand the realities
“Socioeconomic conditions alone cannot explain the phenomenon of overrepresentation. […] [Cela] can also be explained by colonial history, assimilation policies and strategies for integrating these children into Western society. This statement, taken from a report by the Viens Commission, highlights a fundamental distinction: the vulnerability of Aboriginal peoples is a consequence of various government policies and not a symptom of neglect.
From this perspective, Mino Obigiwasin’s mission is a way to break a cycle. Peggie Jérôme expresses it with sensitivity: “We are still healing our intergenerational traumas. Too much damage has been done, it has left a lot of scars. That’s enough, the suffering. Reclaiming our practices is part of a collective healing process. »
Alexis Wawanoloath shares this feeling: “When we place an Aboriginal child outside of his community, we reproduce what happened in the Roundup of the 1960s and with the residential schools. We are perpetuating a cycle of broken parenting skills. »
Both believe that socio-economic recovery is to be achieved within communities, but not at the expense of cultural security. “There may be positive and safe environments in a child’s extended family, but the criteria of the Youth Protection Act hinder this type of placement, for example if there are not enough rooms or if there is no ‘there is no window in a room’, specifies Mand Wawanoloath.
That’s enough, the suffering. Reclaiming our practices is part of a collective healing process.
“Obviously, when the neglect is repetitive, we put safety nets around the child, but the current system is very punitive, and it is not in our practices, notes the director of Mino Obigiwasin. We want to find a solution that will last over time. The villages I work with are my family. We all grew up together, we know where we come from. We understand each other. In fact, the Aboriginals prefer the term “community protection” rather than “youth protection”, which sums up the holistic approach they advocate.
Peggie Jérôme also invites non-natives to try to understand, looking with a different perspective: “We are going to make mistakes, like everyone else. But the mistakes that are being made now have too serious consequences. It’s our turn to try our way. »
Protect from birth
The systemic problems within the DYP result in a fear that hinders many Aboriginal women from asking for help, for example in situations of domestic violence or even when they are giving birth.
“I have heard a lot of stories of young women who gave birth alone at home because they felt safer there than in the hospital,” says Peggie Jérôme, before expressing her ambition to put set up a program of anicinape midwives.
When you place an aboriginal child out of his community, you reproduce what happened in the Scoop of the 1960s and with the residential schools
What these mothers fear are “baby alerts”. When a medical worker judges that a newborn is in danger, he can report the birth to youth protection services. Mothers then have their babies removed just minutes after delivery. This practice — which affects Aboriginal people more — is prohibited in all provinces except Quebec.
Take inspiration from the Atikamekw
Peggie Jérôme plans to meet the Atikamekw, when possible, to learn from their intervention system (SIAA). Since the establishment of their youth protection pilot project in 2000, court cases have decreased by 80% in their communities. In January 2018, after 20 years of negotiation with the provincial government, the Atikamekw nation completely freed itself from the DPJ, making it the first Indigenous nation in the country to be autonomous in this regard.
For its part, since April 2021, Mino Obigiwasin has hired 63 employees. “We have our own lawyer, we defend our legal cases. We take small bites at a time, but already, we can see the difference in the communities on the service offer. There is a slightly more anicinape color,” says Peggie Jérôme proudly.
“I accompanied a teenager a few weeks ago on a retreat in the woods. I saw it in her eyes, the moment she realized she was Indigenous and it all made sense. Our practices and traditions are important”, concludes the Anicinape.