“It is important for the Dene to be self-determined and self-sufficient. Long gone are the days when outsiders can make decisions on our behalf.”
Dene National Chief George Mackenzie, alongside Chiefs from Denendeh, are calling for major reforms who controls child and family social programs for First Nations.
Chief Mackenzie says that it is just the beginning of a movement towards acknowledging the sovereignty of the Dene Nation.
Last week, at the Assembly of First Nations Special Chiefs Assembly in Ottawa, significant resolutions were passed between Dec. 2 to 5, regarding the rights of Dene Nations. The resolution called for the community to have access and control over the resources for these programs, including Child Welfare and Jordan’s Principle, without the use of intermediaries, like the GNWT.
“If we do it this way, the funding goes to the Dene Community. The communities will have a lot of say in how it should be run and how it should be done,” says Chief Mackenzie..
“The communities will decide for themselves how they will operate with that money, how they will help their own people,” he explains.
“Too long”
Dene National Chief George Mackenzie says that for too long, the territorial government has been controlling programs and funding for the Dene Nations’ when it comes to social programs like child welfare. He says the GNWT needs to acknowledge the harms of that system of control, which include the residential school legacy.
The Dene Nation is calling for acknowledgement of their sovereign right to make decisions on behalf of their youth and communities
First Nations have been underfunded when it comes to each quality-of-life index, from education to health and social services, justice in the courts and economic justice when it comes to things like access to infrastructure.
First Nations schools are funded at lower rates. Many Indigenous communities in the territory lack access to nurses let alone doctors. Colville Lake is among numerous First Nation communities across the country who have long struggled for access to drinking water.
Dene Nation leaders have been critical of the failure of these systems.
“I think for too long, the territorial government has been controlling our money and it is getting worse and worse,” said Chief Mackenzie.
The child welfare system in the N.W.T. has been heavily criticized by Auditor General reports.
“Because of the child welfare situation, families, children were taken away, some local, some regional, some into the territory and even some down South,” reflected Chief Mackenzie.
Indigenous leaders and advocates have compared the history of the foster care system in Canada to the residential school system, in which thousands of children were taken from families and often placed into non-Indigenous homes. The pattern still continues across the country, where many First Nations, Inuit and Metis nations’ child welfare systems remain under the control of the territorial or federal government.
Currently, in the N.W.T., the territorial government generally still controls the child welfare system but some Indigenous governments like the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation have passed child and family services laws as well as funding agreements with the Canadian government.
“Right now we have no say, the territorial government is doing everything without our input,” said Chief Mackenzie.
Data from Stats Canada shows that there is an increase in the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the foster care system that continues.
Between 2011 to 2021, 47.8 per cent of all foster children in the country were Indigenous, 51.7 per cent in 2016, and 53.7 per cent in 2021.
Data shows that the largest increase was among Inuit children.
Indigenous Nations continue to see their kids taken away at disproportionate rates.
Cindy Blackstock, a social worker and executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, spent nearly 10 years advocating before the human-rights tribunal finally ruled Ottawa had been discriminating against Indigenous families and children.
“Recently there have been body bags related to child welfare in our communities and that is why the chiefs are very dissatisfied. They want to do it themselves, they want to take the money away from the territorial government because our treaty rights are inherent rights,” said Chief Mackenzie.
Leaders and advocates have begun to use the metaphor of “body bags” to describe the crises that First Nations are facing due to underfunding and the ongoing affects of colonial violences.
“We can make our own mistakes. We’re tired of other people making mistakes for us,” said Chief Mackenzie.
The child welfare situation and crisis of addictions are rooted in the residential school experience, Chief Mackenzie reflected.
“We heard over and over about the residential school affect, alcohol affect. violence affect, social problems affect – the young people talked about that. They want improvement in their communities. They want better opportunities, better run programs,” he explained.
“It’s time”
Chief Mackenzie says it’s time that Indigenous people control their funding. In this way he says, the leaders who are part of the community can be the ones to make decisions affecting the community.
“The Chiefs will be involved, the councillors will be involved big time for the first time,” said Chief Mackenzie.
“The chiefs wake up in their community, they go to sleep in their community, they totally are aware of what’s going on in their community as the territorial government do not stay in our community, do not wake up in our community, do not go to sleep in our community but they are controlling our funding. This has to stop,” he added.
The resolution has been a long time coming, and over generations he has heard from youth that they would like to see more opportunities grown at the grassroots level.
“To look after our young people, as our resources, we have to give them the best care, the best opportunity in everything that is related to their future. This is what is called self-government, self-sufficiency. And we have to go the way of that approach,” said Chief Mackenzie.
Community youth need support and access to facilities where they can pursue opportunities that enrich their talents and skills, such as cultural activities like drumming, to On the Land activities and sports.
“They need support, they want facilities, they want opportunities,” he explained.
“This has to be done for our young people who are our resource into the future.”
The Dene Nations will continue to discuss critical issues impacting communities like child welfare, housing and Indigenous Policing in Fort Good Hope at their 55th Annual Assembly in January.
In the meantime, National Chief George Mackenzie says it is time that the federal government and the territorial government act quickly and respect the rights of Indigenous Nations to govern themselves and control their own funding.
“If the territorial government wants to do the right thing with the Indigenous people of the Northwest Territories, they have to move fast. Everyday, there could be body bags. They have to move fast.”
