Transcript Nenan Dane_Zaa Deh Zona

Nenan Dane_Zaa Deh Zona
Family Services Society
translation
“All of Us People working together
for our Families”
combines three Athapaskan languages
Nenan Dane_Zaa Deh Zona
The name, selected by our 14 member Nenan Board of
Directors, has profound meaning as it is inclusive of the
Beaver, Slavey, Cree and English dialects of the First
Nation and Aboriginal peoples of the Northeast.
This symbolizes and evidences our historic coming together in
the establishment of an Aboriginal Authority that will
enable us to reclaim our inherent right and responsibility
for decision making and service provision for our
Children, Families and Communities.
Nenan Dane_Zaa Deh Zona - Geographic Service Area
Treaty 8 Nations
The Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD)
presently has the legal responsibility and authority in
regard to child protection and support services to the First
Nation and Aboriginal peoples of the northeast.
The Ministry initiated a Transformation Agenda with the
introduction (circa 2006) of new Deputy Minister, Lesley
Du Toit, and identified as a guiding Vision statement,
"Aboriginal peoples exercising their rights to jurisdiction
over their children's well-being, through selfdetermination, have strong and healthy children, youth
and families."
Nenan representatives met with Ms. Du Toit
and MCFD officials in the summer of
2007 to discuss our historic and
unique coming together as First Nations
and Aboriginal peoples and
our unwavering self-determination and
unequivocal goal of
reclaiming jurisdiction and decisionmaking for our children, families and
communities through our establishment
of an Aboriginal Authority for the
northeast.
Nenan was successful in receiving support from the
Ministry for assuming all work associated with
establishing an Aboriginal Authority that will enable us
to reclaim our inherent right and responsibility for our
children and families in a manner that respects and
builds upon our traditions and culture, and which also
recognizes and honours the diversity of our
communities and peoples.
We will establish an unprecedented new level of
accountability with our peoples and communities as we
assume jurisdiction and the provision of services.
Our Board of Directors are from our communities and
have strong existing knowledge and relationships with
our peoples which will be a strength in making
informed decisions related to the best interests of our
children.
Additional support was secured from Dr Phillip Cook,
William White, and Vanessa Currie of the International
Institute of Child Rights and Development (IICRD).
Nenan was introduced to the Triple "A" Community
Empowerment engagement process and has received
training in the Pre-Assessment and Assessment phases
from the IICRD team
Nenan's Board Of Director's and designates are
presently engaging the respective target groups (i.e.
Children, Youth, Parents, Elders, Key Informants) in
each of our communities in the
"Assessment" process phase.
This is for the purpose of identifying the cultural assets
and strengths existing in each of our distinct
communities. "Action Plans" will then be developed
that are informed and build upon our community
strengths."
Nenan has embraced the Child Rights approach in
planning for the creation of a new child protection
response and support service delivery model that builds
upon the Convention On The Rights Of the Child,
notably, Article 30.
Nenan will empower and give agency to our presently
untapped resources and strengths which are our
culture, traditions, and the wisdom and guidance of our
esteemed Elders.
Our governance and cultural and traditional practice
institutions enabled our peoples to thrive on the
landbase of the northeast for over 10,000 years
(i.e. an archaeological site at Charlie Lake, adjacent to
Fort St John, has been determined to be dated just over
10,000 years).
First contact with non-Indigenous peoples occurred in
1793 when Alexander Mackenzie led an expedition
through our area en route to the Pacific Ocean.
This is only 215 years ago.
In 1899 seven of our Nations of the northeast signed
Treaty 8 with the governments of Canada.
At that time, our Peoples did not have any children "in
care“, as our children were protected and nurtured
within the guiding context of our respective cultural
and familial institutions.
A sad and tragic history followed which witnessed
deleterious efforts perpetrated upon our peoples
including such actions as: colonization and
displacement from our traditional lands, disruption
of our traditional ways of life, residential schools,
1960's adoptions (aka "60's scoop"), and coercive
harmful policies and legislation (Indian Act)
intended to assimilate our peoples.
What Followed In Relation To Child Protection
There are currently 146 Children and Youth in some
form of Ministry care in the Northeast.
115 are of First Nation and Aboriginal descent
which equates to approximately 71 % of the in-care
population being from our peoples and
communities.
The Aboriginal 0 - 18 year ago population is
approximately 22 % of the total overall 0 – 18
population in the northeast
(i.e. 4,139 of 18,262 total).
Nenan believes in the agency of children and youth to play a
key role in helping to inform the development of a new
Child Protection response and they are actively being
engaged and empowered via the
Triple "A" Assessment process.
Walking Tour activity with the children of
the West Moberly First Nation
Youth Photo Framing Empowerment Assessment (Feb
20, 2008)
Background: Interview with Louie Wokeley,
Halfway First Nation Youth
Vanessa Currie "So, can you tell us about some of the good things that
make you feel good in your life?“
Louie Wokeley "I love my gramma more than anything. She makes me
feel safe and she means everything for me. She doesn't drink."
Allen Cummings "Does she live here in Ft St John?“
Louie Wokeley "No, she lives in Halfway”.
Vanessa Currie "Can you tell us about some things you like to do?“
Louie Wokeley "Soccer, and hunting. I love going hunting on the
weekend, for moose or mostly elk with my mom (Sherry). This weekend
we're going to go. I get to cut, cook and eat. My gramma makes dry
meat, is good stuff!"
Grounding A New Child Protection Response In a Cultural
and Traditions Based Approach
An Old Path ... Back To The Future
We believe strongly in the child rights centered approach
where our children are supported in enjoying and
practicing their respective culture and language which is
integral to their healthy development and our respective
community well-being.
We are intensively engaging our Elders to learn and reestablish the agency of our culture and community assets
that served our people so well in the past, so that we
can develop a new Child Protection system which draws
upon these strengths for our future.
"Klin-se-za"
Also known as the "Twin Sisters," is a twin peaked mountain
of profound spiritual and cultural significance.
The mountains are sacred for the peoples and are a place of
protection, sustenance and well-being in times of
challenge.
Nenan Dane_Zaa Deh Zona Family Services Society
Thank you for taking the time to view this presentation.