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Vicious Circle: Child Welfare and the First Nations

NCJ Number
123644
Journal
Canadian Journal of Women and the Law Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: (1989) Pages: 1-17
Author(s)
P A Monture
Date Published
1989
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Canadian child welfare law is examined in terms of its implications for native (First Nations) children, with emphasis on the importance of culture and traditions to these individuals and on the failure of the structures and institutions of the dominant society to respect these ways in matters of child custody.
Abstract
Native children represent 20 percent of the children in the care of the child welfare authorities, although Indians and Metis make up only 3.5 percent of the total population. Once taken into care, these children are less likely than others to be either returned to their parents or placed for adoption. In addition, only 22 percent of their adoptive or foster placements are in First Nation homes. Their removal from their culture and placement in a foreign culture represent acts of genocide. The criminal justice process and the legal system have also failed to respond appropriately to cultural issues. Thus, changes in attitudes and laws are needed so that the best interests of the child, which includes the preservation of the child's cultural identity, becomes the basis for decisionmaking. Footnotes and 15 references.

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