Listen to thisThis study uses an Indigenous Storywork methodology and a Métis Beadwork methodology to invite Indigenous youth who identify as female to share their experiences of relocation while in foster care. The research findings are analyzed through Blackstock’s Breath of Life Theory and reveal the themes of disruption and difficult transitions; and the temporal implications of relocation for Indigenous youth in care. The important connection to family and culture as a determinant of health is discussed in relation to the participants experiences. The findings highlight the urgent need for the Government of Canada to end the humanitarian crisis for Indigenous children in Canada by enacting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. Implications for child welfare policy and practice are discussed, emphasizing the urgent need for child welfare policies to consider children and youth within the context of their family and community.
Keywords
Indigenous Child welfare and policy, Child protection, Indigenous children, relocation, Storywork, Métis Beadwork
Introduction: Locating Ourselves
We begin by raising our hands to show our deep appreciation to the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations for providing us with a place to live, study and teach, and acknowledge that we are “uninvited guests” (Kellipio, personal communication, November, 2017) on their traditional, ancestral, unceded, and overlapping territories.
My name is Cheryl Inkster. My father’s side of the family is Métis and from the original Métis and Scottish settlements along the Red River in Manitoba. I am also of Polish, Ukrainian, and Dutch descent. For my graduate work, I investigated the tensions that I experienced navigating my former role as a youth worker who attempted to assist Indigenous youth to adapt to their new environment and preserve connections with their home communities. I would like to thank the youth who participated in this research as well as Elder Scholar Dr. Richard Vedan for his guidance.
My name is Amy Parent and my Nisga’a name is Noxs Ts’aawit (Mother of the Raven Warrior Chief). My mother’s side of the family is Nisga’a from the House of Ni’isjoohl and we belong to the Ganada (frog clan). On my father’s side, I am French Canadian and German. I am an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University and had the pleasure to work with Cheryl during her graduate work.
Our collaboration for this article is a small effort to support the tireless work of Indigenous youth activists (Shannen Koostachin, Kendra Levi-Paul, Ta’kaiya Blaney) and our colleagues (Blackstock, 2010, Johnson, 2011; Bezanson, 2018; Foster, 2018) by adding our voices to the urgent call for the Government of Canada to end the humanitarian crisis for Indigenous children in care.
Displacement and relocation are experiences that occur all over the world, but little attention is paid to the experiences of relocation among Indigenous youth residing in Canada (Berman et al., 2009). Relocation experiences represent a turning point in a person’s life and have considerable consequences for Indigenous people’s mental health, identity, and social networks (Walls & Whitbeck, 2012). This article presents the findings of a graduate study on the relocation experiences among Indigenous youth who identify as female in the Canadian foster care system that have been relocated to the Lower Mainland from rural northern communities (Inkster, 2017). The following sub question was selected for this article: What stories do female youth narrate as important in their relocation process? The stories that were gathered from this question are analyzed in relation to the Breath of Life Theory discussed below. Children play an important role within Indigenous worldviews and we encourage readers to be open to what the girls in this study have to share.
Breath of Life Theoretical Application
The Breath of Life Theory (BOL) developed by leading Indigenous child and youth advocate, Cindy Blackstock (Gitxsan Nation), is applied and discussed in relation to the research findings. BOL is an emerging theory that builds on First Nations ontology (Blackstock, 2007; Blackstock, 2009) and the theory of everything (TOE) in physics (Blackstock, 2009). There is diversity among Indigenous cultures that cannot specifically be captured in BOL as it draws on the general character of First Nations knowledge. However, there are commonalities. First Nations ontology is the result of the teachings and experiences of Indigenous peoples which are dynamic, context specific, and based on generations of wisdom that have been passed down through oral tradition (Battiste, 2002). BOL suggests that a theory of everything for humanity should be explored in western theoretical scholarship and Indigenous child welfare scholarship and practice (Blackstock, 2011). Due to the holistic nature of theory of everything principles, it is a better match for First Nations ontology than other Western social science theories such as: ecological theory, anti-oppressive approaches, and structural theory (Blackstock, 2009). Blackstock explains the connection that she draws between BOL and the TOE:
There are significant differences between First Nations and western worldviews particularly in relation to time, interconnection of reality, and the First Nations belief that simple principles often explain complex phenomena such as the universe or humanity. Physics’ theory of everything departs from the ontological norms underlying many western social science theories by proposing that all matter and time in the universe can be explained by a small set of interdependent physical principles set at precise values (p. 73).
BOL works with the relational worldview principles developed by Cross (1997) to categorize the four domains of cognitive, physical, spiritual, and emotional. The relational worldview principles allow for an interconnected reality, expansive concepts of time by acknowledging the importance of ancestral knowledge, and multiple dimensions of reality (Blackstock, 2011). Time, culture, and context are assumed to shape the principles and explain the diversity in human experience. BOL basic premise is “that structural risks affecting children’s safety and well-being are alleviated when the relational worldview principles are in balance within the context and culture of the community” (Blackstock, 2011, p. 2). BOL is applied to the culture and context of the participants experiences of relocation. As Indigenous researchers working with Indigenous methodologies, we see the BOL theory as being thoroughly intertwined with our methodology.
Literature Review: Indigenous Communities and Child Welfare in Canada
Indigenous children are overrepresented in the Canadian child welfare system (Fluke et al., 2010; Galley, 2010; Tait et al., 2013). According to the most recent Census (Statistics Canada, 2016), Indigenous children under 14 make up less than 7.7% of all Canadian Children but comprise 52.2% of all children in foster care (Government of Canada, 2018). Large numbers of Indigenous children are raised away from their families, culture, and communities due to being placed in non-Indigenous foster care and adoption placements (Tait et al., 2013). The term foster care includes placing children in the care of families, group homes, or residential settings (Pecora et al., 2010). A report by the British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth (2017) states, “Indigenous children and youth comprise 64 per cent of all children and youth in care in B.C.” (p. 4). While in the Northwest Territories (NWT), an annual report from the Director of Child and Family Services (2017) notes 79% of Indigenous child placements were within their communities for the 2016-2017 year (Government of Northwest Territories, 2017). The exact number of Indigenous children in care that are relocated to the Lower Mainland was not publicly available.
The latest wave of Indigenous children in care have now been referred to as the “millennial scoop” (Foster, 2018) and like previous generations of Indigenous children and families they continue to be deeply impacted by Canadian colonial policies of state sanctioned violence. Historically, the Indian Residential School System (IRSS) operated in Canada from 1831-1996 by leading religious institutions and the Government of Canada. These schools aimed to assimilate Indigenous children into a Eurocentric worldview (Duran and Duran, 1995), as part of a larger agenda of cultural genocide aimed at dispossessing Indigenous peoples from their lands and culture (de Leeuw, 2009; Bhandar, 2016). Residential schools are no longer in operation in Canada, but it is estimated 150,000 children attended residential schools (Miller and Marshall, 2012). Later, in the 1960s, the “Sixties Scoop” followed where larger numbers of Indigenous children were forcibly placed into state care or adoption by non-Indigenous families, often without consent from their families (Sinclair, 2007).
Recently, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada was established in 2008 and the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) was put in place to begin addressing the negative effects of this history. In 2016, Canada officially adopted the UNDRIP and its forty-six articles that apply to Indigenous peoples. The TRC was created to inform people about the history and impact of the Indian Residential School systems (TRC, 2012). The commission documented the experiences of those affected by the experience of Indian Residential Schools and prepared a final report and 94 Calls to Action (TRC, 2015) which will be discussed further in the discussion section.
There are currently more Indigenous children in the Canadian child welfare system than there were in the height of residential schools (Bennett, 2016). This is due to historical and intergenerational events and trauma that is pervasive and contributes to the conditions and challenges in many Indigenous communities today (Campbell and Evans-Campbell, 2011). Collective trauma has been experienced by many Indigenous communities and traumatic experiences are often generationally transmitted, affecting the children and grandchildren of those originally traumatized (Bombay et al., 2009). The intergenerational trauma that was created from the IRSS continues and is extended into the child welfare system (TRC, 2015; First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, Assembly of First Nations v. Attorney General of Canada, 2016). If the status quo of the child welfare system in Canada does not change, the number of First Nations children in care will continue to rise (Blackstock, 2008; Johnston and Tester, 2014).
One response to the number of Indigenous children in care has been the implementation and support of Jordan’s Principle which is a principle used in Canada to resolve disputes in jurisdictions or between governments regarding the payment of government services for First Nations children and emphasizes the importance of putting children first at the center of child welfare practices (First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, 2018). The principle is named after five-year-old Jordan River Anderson from Norway House Cree Nation who died while waiting to receive treatment due to a financial responsibility dispute between the federal and provincial governments. Jordan’s Principle is in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (non-discrimination) and Canadian domestic law (no differential treatment on the basis of race). Canada is legally responsible for Jordan’s Principle. In June 2015, the third of the TRC Calls to Action urged the Government of Canada to fully implement Jordan’s Principle.
Relocation
Relocation involves the loss of “home” and the disruption of social ties. There are few Canadian studies on the experience of uprooting on girls (Berman et al., 2009). Youth are relocated from remote northern communities in Canada to the Lower Mainland, an urban centre in B.C. In this study, relocation is defined as a process which unfolds over time and not just the event of moving. Relocation involves the physical relocation, displacement, spiritual dislocation, and cultural transition from Indigenous northern reserve communities to urban non-Indigenous dominant culture communities.
Girls’ knowledge is rarely included in research and policies that affect them and colonial institutions have treated Indigenous females very differently than males (de Finney, 2014), particularly when examining the impacts of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada (Razack, 2016; Smylie and Cywink, 2016; Savarese, 2017). In Canada, the results of the Indian Act disproportionately disadvantaged and continues to disadvantage Indigenous women (Bourassa et al., 2004) in areas of band membership criteria, land ownership, reproductive health, and being objects of or excluded from research (Bourassa et al., 2004; 2014; Smith, 1999). For these reasons, researching female Indigenous young people’s experiences of relocation within the child welfare system is essential.
Methods
Ethics Approval
Approval to conduct this study was obtained from both Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) Research Ethics Board (REB) and the selected community agency’s Research Committee. The project adhered to research and privacy related requirements in provincial and federal legislation. Consent and assent were addressed with extra care and due to the potentially upsetting nature of the subject and interviews were structured for safety.
Indigenous Storywork/Métis Beadwork Methodology
Indigenous methodologies centre Indigenous epistemologies and ontologies in the knowledge making process, address the educational, cultural, social, and political priorities of engaging Indigenous communities in research, and play a pivotal role in the decolonization and self-determination processes underway in Indigenous communities (Parent, 2014). This study’s design was guided by Indigenous research methodologies, particularly through Sto:lo scholar, Jo-ann Archibald’s Storywork methodology (2008; Archibald & Parent, 2019) and a Métis beadwork methodology (Inkster, 2017).
Archibald (2008) developed seven Storywork principles (respect, responsibility, reciprocity, reverence, holism, interrelatedness, and synergy) to create a Coast Salish methodological framework for making meaning from First Nations stories in education and research contexts. Story research should enable people to meaningfully talk about their Indigenous knowledge which can be “effectively used for education and for living a good life and to think about possibilities for overcoming problems experienced in their communities” (Archibald, 2008, p. 81). It is for these reasons that storytellers were invited to share their personal life experience stories of relocation. Elder Scholar, Richard Vedan (Secwepemc First Nation), who is an Associate Professor Emeritus from the University of British Columbia’s School of Social Work was also invited to support our Storywork process to ensure that our work maintained high ethical standards.
A Métis beadwork methodology was developed to complement our Storywork methodology. Cheryl felt it was important to detail her personal journey of reconnecting with Métis culture through her process of learning beadwork. Cheryl connected with Métis artist and knowledge holder Lisa Shepherd to guide her understandings of Métis beadwork and apply related beadwork teachings to the research process (article forthcoming). Beaded figures are used in the findings to provide visual representation to the analysis process. The beadwork process follows the interconnected phases of analysis that Cheryl worked through to create meaning from the stories. The Breath of Life theory helps to breathe life into the beadwork methodology by creating space for the girls to share their stories. Combining both Storywork and Métis beadwork methodologies ensured the cultural values of respect, responsibility, reciprocity, and reverence were carefully woven throughout the entire process and connected to the Breath of Life Theory and research design.
Inviting their Stories
Storytellers were recruited through a Lower Mainland community agency that provides residential care for Indigenous youth from northern rural communities. The following criteria were used for eligibility to participate: (a) be between age 11 to 25; (b) female; (c) self-identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, or Inuit); (c) residing in a residential care placement; (d) relocated from a northern rural community to the Lower Mainland as a youth in care.
Four open-ended, in-depth interviews were conducted with four female youth/storytellers, Kayla, Ashley, Farah, and Jade (pseudonyms). Storytellers were 11 to 18-years-old and they all lived in separate homes within the same community agency program. The time the girls had spent in the Lower Mainland ranged from one and a half to four years. Some storytellers did not share exactly which community they relocated from in the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. Some shared that they relocated from Yellowknife and the Dene community of Behchokǫ̀, also known as Rae-Edzo. Behchokǫ̀ had a population count of 1,874 according to the 2016 census (NWT Bureau of Statistics, 2016). Yellowknife is the capital city and largest community in the Northwest Territories. Rae and Edzo are sister communities located 110km away from Yellowknife, NWT.
Knowledge Holder Interviews
Knowledge holder interviews were conducted prior to meeting with the girls to learn contextual information and to guide the study. The first professional knowledge holder interview conducted was with an employee from a Lower Mainland social service agency that the storytellers were involved with. The second professional knowledge holder interview conducted was with the Director of Social Programs from the Department of Health and Social Services within the government of the Northwest Territories. A third knowledge holder interview was conducted for personal and cultural reasons to support the development of a Métis beadwork methodology. To privilege the voices of the storytellers in this article, the informant interviews will only be used in circumstances where further contextual information is needed.
Analysis (Meaning Making)
Archibald’s (2008) Storywork principles informed the meaning making and interpretation of the girls’ stories. We connected with the stories of the girls emotionally, physically, intellectually, and spiritually (Archibald, 2008). Being present in interactions with storytellers by talking, listening, and feeling as well as meditating on their stories after the interviews helped to form some thematic notions that were later verified by the text of their transcripts (Archibald, 2008). Stories were audio recorded and transcribed. Nvivo software was used to assist with managing the stories and creating initial demographic codes. The interview transcriptions were broken down into episodes. A timeline of events for each storyteller was drawn to aid in understanding the stories. Themes were generated for each individual interview and across interviews.
BOL theory was applied to the analysis in the final stages to develop a cohesive interconnected understanding between the personal stories that the girls shared and larger structural policies and contexts that shape Indigenous child welfare practices.
Findings: Stories of Leaving, Arriving and Adjusting
The girls’ stories revealed three major aspects of the relocation process for Indigenous female youth in foster care relocating from the Northwest Territories to the Lower Mainland: leaving, arriving, and adjusting. Within these aspects, the themes are further developed with beaded figures to illustrate each section. Small pieces of contextual information are provided from the professional knowledge holder interviews and are woven throughout these sections.
Leaving
The first theme that developed was leaving. A professional knowledge holder interview revealed recent changes that have influenced the relocation of Northwest Territories children and youth to British Columbia’s Lower Mainland. The Director of Social Programs shared that the population served in the Northwest Territories has a “large range of needs, a fairly limited pool of people, and a relatively small budget.” He also shared that the treatment facility in the Northwest Territories was shut down which led to children and youth being sent out of territory for treatment (See Figure 1).
Youth Background of Prior Disruptions
Young girls who relocate to the Lower Mainland experience many challenging life events and disruptions prior to being relocated. Ashley, Kayla, Jade, and Farah all described adverse events prior to moving to the Lower Mainland. Altogether, they shared stories about being in foster care, running away, attending school, accessing treatment, and instances of incarceration before moving to British Columbia. One participant went to jail and her story is unique in this aspect. Storytellers’ ages ranged from eight years old to sixteen years old when they first found out they would move to BC.
Forced Move, No Choice, and Disruptive
Most storytellers described a lack of choice around the decision to move to the Lower Mainland from their home communities. Some storytellers described feeling forced to move because of a lack of options. Other storytellers shared they felt forced because the move was not presented as a choice. Kayla shared, “It was more like you're going, there's no questions asked. We have to force you to move.” Another storyteller shared, “I really didn't have a choice kind of because I didn't want to sit in jail.” Some storytellers also mentioned that the move to the Lower Mainland was disruptive to their lives and relationships, with the timing of departure rarely being chosen by the girls. Kayla shared, “Nobody actually told me that I was moving, I think a few days before, my foster parent he came up to me and was like Kayla you’re moving”. Storytellers described being told by either their social workers or their foster parents.
Figure 1: Leaving Themes
Arriving
The second theme that developed was arriving. Professional knowledge holder interviews revealed that once youth arrive in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland, they meet a whole new team of unfamiliar care providers. Most storytellers boarded multiple flights to travel approximately 2,300 kilometers, from Yellowknife to Vancouver, often accompanied by a worker they had just met. On arrival, they are accompanied to their new foster home but remain under the official guardianship of the Northwest Territories government (See Figure 2).
Confusion over people, place, and information overload
Many storytellers described that it was hard to adjust to a new place. Storytellers discussed several areas that it was difficult to adjust to including people and place, amount of new information, school, land and climate, language, and culture. Jade shared, “I was confused where I was ‘cause I never heard of this place before.” She continued, “BC's a huge, huge place and you can get like lost pretty easy.” Many storytellers described not knowing where they were or who they were with when they moved to the Lower Mainland. Jade shared, “you move into a new place and you don't know who they are or where you are. So, you really don't know where you are and just, and you get, and you get scared.” Storytellers shared of feeling rushed and described dealing with an overwhelming amount of new information when they arrived in the Lower Mainland.
School
Young girls who relocate to the Lower Mainland from the Northwest Territories go through school disruption and difficulty adjusting to new school settings. Most storytellers had attended several schools before moving to the Lower Mainland due to moving around in foster care, accessing treatment, or being incarcerated. Several storytellers shared that once they started attending school in the Lower Mainland, it was hard to adjust. Jade shared, “school was hard. What we learned, we didn't learn that. Well we do Math but not the kind of Math that we do here now. It's just, it's just so hard.” Another storyteller discussed the size of the classes as difficult to adjust to. Kayla shared:
I thought moving schools was very hard. Moving from one school to the next, from your hometown to here and going from a school that's not very big to a school that is huge and, I don't know, I thought that was really hard to like transition to.
Storytellers experienced the transition to new schools, with distinct curriculum and much larger class sizes as both challenging and alienating. Although school adjustments were challenging, there were differences among the stories, with transitions being the key challenge.
Culture loss
Young girls who relocate to the Lower Mainland from the Northwest Territories experience shifts in their connection to their culture. All storytellers described changes to their cultural connections through the process of relocating to the Lower Mainland. Storytellers shared of changes to their sense of community, connection to family, loss of traditional language (through course work in school and in the family home) and relationship with the land, and cultural practices and ceremonies. For most of the youth this meant significant loss and feelings of disconnection from their culture.
Figure 2: Arriving Themes
Adjusting
The final theme that developed was an adjustment period that was seen as a necessary part of the process for the storytellers who were relocated to the Lower Mainland (see Figure 3). The storytellers experienced adjusting over time to cultural changes, shifts in their attitudes towards being relocated, and school experiences. Additionally, storytellers shared things they learned over time through their experience of relocation.
Changes and Learnings over Time
Most storytellers reflected on their attitude towards moving to the Lower Mainland. Surprisingly, all storytellers shared how they looked back and viewed their relocation to the Lower Mainland as helpful despite contradictory reflections of reported negative behavioural changes (see below). Storytellers who were older shared how their attitude towards relocating had changed. One storyteller who has been living in the Lower Mainland for almost four years shared:
At first, I don't know, I got pretty angry for a while, I wasn't really a happy kid, but after like a couple months, or a few months, I realized this was for the better so then I kind of like, I was okay with it and then now, I don't know, I think it was like a really good move and I don't regret it, at all. (Kayla)
There were also changes that occurred for the youth over time that ranged according to each storyteller. Some youth experienced positive changes that included: learning to trust, seeking help in treatment, and developing a growing set of helpful life skills that were attributed to their relocation. One youth noted that the move assisted her to “grow out of thug life”. This storyteller had been in custody a few times over her relocation process.
However, there were also negative behavioural changes reported by some storytellers. Jade shared how she noticed her temperament and appetite changed when she relocated to the Lower Mainland. She shared, “for some reason I got a little bit meaner…I wasn't like mean at all when I was at Rae but … when I moved to BC, I started grow mean. I don't know why.” Jade shared, “My appetite. I barely eat much…Now I'm really picky.” Jade compared this to when she lived in the north and she shared, “I wasn't picky at all.”
School
Many storytellers reflected on their experience of attending school in the Lower Mainland over the years. Storytellers described aspects of their school experiences as valuable. Many storytellers shared that their experiences attending school had improved. Kayla shared, “It made me more open to possibilities, and I think for education wise.” Several storytellers shared that they were attending school more since moving to the Lower Mainland and several shared how they were going to graduate that year. One storyteller shared about changing her mind about school. She stated, “I changed my thought of dropping out.” This storyteller had attended different schools in treatment and in custody and had previously decided to drop out of school when she was off probation.
Discussion
The findings suggest that young women who are relocated while in foster care experience disruption, difficult transitions, and minimal benefits over time.
Figure 3: Adjusting Themes
Figure 4: The relocation process
Applying Breath of Life Theory (Blackstock, 2011) to the stories of the Indigenous girls who were relocated while in foster care demonstrates they endured risks to their safety because the principles for personal and collective holistic well-being (Cross, 1997) are not attended to within the current practice of relocation. BOL theory suggests that “child welfare interventions geared toward restoring balance among the relational worldview model’s principles will result in optimal safety and well-being for the community and their children” (Blackstock, 2011, p. 3). Further, optimal well-being can only be achieved when the four principles are balanced at individual, family (including past and future generations), and collective levels (Blackstock, 2011). The removal of the girls in this study demonstrates the individual focus of interventions. The stories revealed that the decision to relate the girls did not involve attention to balance in the four domains (physical, emotional, spiritual and cognitive). Further, removing the girls from their home communities neglected the family and collective supports that are essential for optimal well-being when considering relational worldview principles and BOL theory.
The girls’ stories revealed that leaving their home communities was forced, disruptive, and it was difficult to adjust. This theme of force and disruption parallels the experiences of residential school survivors and their experiences being taken from their families and placed in residential schools. Through hearing the girls’ stories in this study, it is evident that forced relocation and disruption continues to occur for Indigenous people. The girls accounts help make connections such as how previous Indigenous communities were forcefully dispossessed from their traditional lands and relocated to places that were unfamiliar such as reserves or inhospitable places for the sake of government convenience (Duran and Duran, 1995; Glenn, 2011). The youth in this study shared that most of their cultural needs were neglected. Having youth access services out of province disconnects them from important requirements for balance, family and culture (Nayar, 2014). Survivors of residential school were also disconnected from family and culture and this affected the healing process for many of them (Nayar, 2014). The literature echoes this reality while pointing to the importance of connection to family and culture as critical to building resilience and fostering healing (Walls and Whitbeck, 2012; Tait et al., 2013; Nayar, 2014; Snyder and Wilson, 2015).
Surprisingly the storytellers detailed some benefits as well as some challenges to adjusting to living in the Lower Mainland. However, the temporal implications of relocation must also be taken into consideration alongside the storytellers’ deep resilience and ability to assimilate into an urban colonial environment. Professional knowledge holder interviews revealed that most youth who are relocated will not return home due to a lack of resources in the Northwest Territories.
In hearing the girls’ stories and connecting their stories to the BOL, it is important to identify current legislation and policies that can support positive transformative change for Indigenous children in Canada. For example, several articles in the UNDRIP (2007) contrast with what is occurring through the relocation of Indigenous children in Canada. These articles include Article 7.2 states (forceful removal of children), Article 8.1 (forced assimilation or destruction of culture), Article 8.2a (depriving cultural values), Article 10 (removed from land and option of return), Article 11 and 12 (practice cultural traditions), Article 13.1 (transmit language), Article 14.3 (access to education in own language), Article 21.2 (improve social conditions for children), Article 24.2 (highest standard of physical and mental health), Article 25 and 26.1 (relationship with land), Article 31 (maintain and develop cultural expression), and Article 33 (identity). The TRC Calls to Action (2015) include recommendations for the Government of Canada to fully adopt and implement the UNDRIP. UNDRIP outlines that these are the minimum standards that should be followed for well-being and survival, causing us to question Canada’s response since adopting the declaration in 2016.
The TRC (2012) and its Calls to Action (2015) also stand out as important for this study. The section on child welfare discusses keeping children in culturally appropriate placements “regardless of where they reside” (Action 1.2, p. 5). This causes alarm about the cultural appropriateness of the homes of the girls in this study. Action 1.5 (2015) accentuates the importance of understanding the legacy of residential schools and causes us to question what needs to be done to make sure that Indigenous children in care do not continue to be removed from their families, communities, and connection to their culture? How can the BOL shift child welfare interventions to focus on restoring balance among the relational worldview principles instead of over-focusing on the imbalance that manifests at the level of individual children and families?
Storyteller and professional knowledge holder interviews revealed differences in the education opportunities in the Northwest Territories compared with the education opportunities and supports in the Lower Mainland. The TRC Action 8 specifically addresses discrepancies in federal education funding for First Nations children being educated on and off reserves. Storytellers shared that relocating to the Lower Mainland prevented them from speaking and learning their languages. Storytellers’ experiences of losing their languages, combined with the TRC Calls to Action (2015) points to the urgent need to preserve and provide more government funding for education and language revitalization opportunities for Indigenous youth in care.
These contradictions point to the issues that have been noted by numerous scholars about the inability of a neoliberal framework to support the public arena and social goods (Bezanson, 2010; Haly, 2010; Liebenberg et al., 2015; Howard-Wagner, 2018). In a neoliberal framework, responsibility for well-being is placed on the individual in Western democracies which is counter to the interdependencies and interconnected relationships that are vital to the maintenance and revitalization of Indigenous families, communities, and social institutions. Responsibility in Indigenous communities is often considered a shared endeavor amongst individuals, families, and governing structures. However, service providers in child welfare, mental health, and corrections sectors operate under a neoliberal ideology (Liebenberg et al., 2015) that negates a social context and focuses attention on the individuals and their ability to manage their own risks (which may lead to them not receiving the support they need). The profit based discursive effects of neoliberal policy framework significantly impact the lives of people. In this case, the lives of Indigenous girls have been placed at great cost to contemporary beneficiaries of a colonial system (white, privileged forms of hetero-patriarchal power). Further, with issues such as sexism and misogyny continuing to affect and damage communities, how can these storytellers’ voices and the voices of other Indigenous girls transform past and present legislation and practices that have negatively impacted the lives of Indigenous women (Ramirez, 2007)? At the time of writing this paper, the Canadian Liberal government has continued to delay making changes to providing services for Indigenous children. In 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s ruling found that the federal government provides “inequitable and insufficient” services for Indigenous children (Ostroff, 2017).
Scope, Limitations and Future Research
In Metis beadwork, the teaching of the “spirit bead” relates to the limitations of this study as it teaches us to place one bead in each project that does not fit with the pattern, a wrong bead to keep someone humble and remember that nothing is perfect. Like every beadwork project, there are limitations to this study.
The youth originated from several diverse Indigenous communities in the NWT and not all youth detailed their community of origin. As a result, we were unable to fully define the relational worldview principles and develop culturally based measures for each principle in the BOL theory (Blackstock, 2011). Nor did we feel it was our place to do so because we are not from the storytellers’ communities. Further research is needed to determine culturally appropriate mechanisms for restoring well-being in each of the girl’s home communities.
There were four youth involved in this study due to budget and time constraints and it is not reasonable to generalize the findings of this study to other relocated populations of youth in care (i.e. boys, two-spirit youth, or youth with other identities).
Recommendations and Implications for Child and Youth Care Practitioners
Applying BOL requires a reconfiguration of child maltreatment policies to include the ancestral experience of the child and the intergenerational impacts to future generations before a removal could occur rather than a narrow, individualized focus. This would require a stringent examination of community and policy issues that contribute to the high number of youth in care and the practice of removing them from their communities.
In considering BOL’s expansive concept of time “where the past, present, and future are mutually reinforcing” (Blackstock, 2011 p. 6), a helpful practice is to consider how will the on-going practice of forceful removal of Indigenous children affect the next seven generations? How can child maltreatment assessments consider the past and ancestral experiences of the child in relation to the consequences of intervention (Blackstock, 2011)?
Further work needs to continue to see that the TRC’s Calls to Action and UNDRIP be formally implemented into child removal procedures. For example, including the Calls to Action and UNDRIP as part of formal assessments or interventions with Indigenous families.
This article centers the lived experiences of Indigenous youth and its findings are directly applicable to the daily experiences of Child and Youth Care (CYC) workers. In order to create relational safety (Garfat, 2016), Indigenous youths’ histories require recognition and valuing. It is important for CYC workers to learn about intergenerational trauma and contemporary policies of Indigenous child relocation that continue to heighten this trauma through the infringement of Indigenous human rights. The CYC field is interested in exploring the role of power in institutional structures and racist ideologies (Garfat et al., 2018). These structures and ideas are at play in the lived experiences of the girls in this study. We echo Garfat et al. (2018) call for CYC practitioners to engage with the context of history and specifically “the histories of residential schools and deeply embedded biases impacting Indigenous communities across North America (p. 11-12). Programs and practices exist that dislocate Indigenous children from their communities and it would be helpful for the CYC field to provide professional development educational opportunities to inform CYC workers of Indigenous child relocation policies and practices and their subsequent impacts on youth (as shared by the girls in this study). Collectively, we are stronger when we work together to directly challenge the political aspects of our work (Skott-Myhre, 2017).
Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to explore the relocation experiences of Indigenous youth in foster care who identify as female. The findings of this study suggest that young girls who are relocated while in foster care experience disruption, difficult transitions, and minimal benefits over time. To take steps towards improving the lives of Indigenous children and youth, there needs to be consideration of the child welfare policies and practices that are impacting them, considering the past, present, and future, and viewing Indigenous children within the context of family and community (Blackstock, 2011). It is taught that children play an important role within Indigenous (including Métis and Nisga’a) worldviews. Children have spirits who come into people’s lives because they have something to teach them. If we try to control or direct them too much, then the children and ourselves do not grow. We both lose something important (Shepherd, personal communication, November 2016). The youth in this story have something to teach us and we encourage readers to be open to these teachings so that we all may grow. Following the lead of our mentor (Archibald, 2008), we enact the reciprocal teaching that one must give their first project away. We offer this research story to you in hopes that you will join us in helping to make transformative change for all Indigenous children in care.
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From: Relational Child and Youth Care Practice, 33(3), pp 63-87
