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Cowessess First Nation signs historic agreement to control local child welfare system

A photographic look at the ceremony held on the First Nation in Saskatchewan.

A photographic look at the ceremony held on the First Nation in Saskatchewan

Heidi Atter · CBC News ·
Dancers, including Elders, performed at the historic signing ceremony for Cowessess First Nation to receive funding to locally control its child welfare system. (Matt Howard/CBC)

Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan signed a historical agreement with the provincial and federal governments on Tuesday. The agreement provides federal funding for the First Nation to control its local child welfare system. 

Cowessess Chief Cadmus Delorme told CBC Saskatchewan's The Morning Edition on Wednesday that the ceremony was "uplifting." 

This process to take over the local child welfare system started when Delorme sat down with a kokum who called him over. They had tea and the Elder told Delorme about her grandchild, who was struggling and about to end up in the child welfare system. 

Chief Cadmus Delorme smiles after signing the historic funding agreement along with Premier Scott Moe and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (Matt Howard/CBC)
Dancers performed at a ceremony before the signing. (Matt Howard/CBC)

Delorme and the Elder talked about Bill 92, which promised funding for First Nations looking to control their local child welfare systems. 

"This is an open door. And from that moment, we ran with it," Delorme said. "And yesterday was the moment we celebrated."

More than 100 hours of meetings took place with the band's membership, and the federal and provincial governments.

"We got a lot of healing to do and, you know, the child welfare system is a tough one. It doesn't have Indigenous ideology within it," he said. "It's hard to change a system. And so instead of changing the system, Cowessess is approaching it to create our own system."

The Cowessess First Nation became the first Indigenous group in Canada to have an agreement with Ottawa for federal funding to locally control their child welfare services. (Matt Howard/CBC)
Community members, dancers, Elders, Premier Scott Moe and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau watch as Cheif Cadmus Delorme signs the agreement. (Matt Howard/CBC)

Delorme said it's time for children to come home, not all physically, but for them to have a culture plan, a kinship plan and for them to know where "home" is. 

"We're controlling our own destiny now," Delorme said. "Watching the community and our visitors celebrate with us, that is what made yesterday uplifting."

Chief Cadmus Delorme holds the signed agreement and smiles. (Matt Howard/CBC)

Delorme said the First Nation has inherited the welfare system, intergenerational trauma from the 60s scoop — where Indigenous children were taken from their homes and placed into non-Indigenous families — and residential schools, where children were forcibly removed from their homes. 

They cannot change the past, but can take control of the future, he said, and taking control of child welfare is part of that.

A group of Elders and other women wore traditional ribbon skirts and held a sign at the Cowessess First Nation on Tuesday afternoon. (Matt Howard/CBC)
Women at the ceremony wore ribbon skirts and held a sign reading 'Our children [heart] are legacy. They are the future. We are in this together. It's time we call our children home.' (Matt Howard/CBC)

With files from The Morning Edition

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