Speaking to his community on a windy Thursday afternoon, Cowessess First Nation Chief Cadmus Delorme described the day鈥檚 event as a reset.
鈥淭oday we hit that reset button,鈥� he said, marking the beginning of the community鈥檚 legal and jurisdictional authority over all Cowessess kids, whether they live on its land or in other parts of Canada.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have to prove it anymore. We don鈥檛 have to go into courts anymore to fight for our children. We can now assert our responsibility,鈥� Delorme said.
Thursday marked the beginning of the Cowessess-created Miyo Pimatisowin Act. The words are Cree and they mean good life. The act asserts the band鈥檚 authority over the welfare and care of its kids, while establishing the Chief Red Bear Children鈥檚 Lodge as the organization responsible for the programs and services the band is to provide.
The agency鈥檚 CEO, Eva Coles, said there鈥檚 not yet a physical building or lodge.
鈥淎t this point in time it's actually a concept: We will launch the design, the acquisition of staff and the spaces we will occupy after today,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are writing the (child-care) protocols with Saskatchewan.鈥�
Coles said Cowessess 鈥渉as successfully met all the requirements to become a self-governing nation over their children across Canada鈥� under federal bill C-92, called An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and M茅tis children, youth and families.
The bill received royal assent on June 21, 2019, effectively making it law.
A federal media release from that date said the bill recognizes 鈥渙ne size does not fit all when it comes to Indigenous child and family services.鈥� It allows Indigenous communities the freedom 鈥渢o develop policies and laws based on their particular histories, cultures, and circumstances. Free to move at their own pace to implement and enforce these policies and laws.鈥�
At Cowessess, Coles said that means providing 鈥渉ealing, prevention and intervention services.鈥� The Miyo Pimatisowin Act allows for a child to exercise the option to have his or her care period extended to 24 years old, from 18.
The historical importance of the day wasn鈥檛 lost on Delorme or Coles, especially in the context of Canada鈥檚 residential school systems and its Indigenous child apprehension and adoption policies, also called the 60s Scoop.
The latter of the two can be traced back to Indian Act amendments in 1951; indeed Delorme referenced that year in his speech.
He said the community鈥檚 new authority means its kids can choose whatever they want to be 鈥� 鈥渁 teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, a bus driver, a judge" 鈥� while receiving the care, knowledge and cultural teachings of their own First Nation.
