The Misipawistik Cree Nation has come up with a radically different way to deal with the massively increasing number of First Nations children who are coming into care with Manitoba Child and Family Service agencies.

With those numbers now over 9,000 in Manitoba (a number higher than the number of children who were placed in Indian residential schools), this Cree nation, formerly known as Grand Rapids, has passed a band council resolution which removes parents from the homes of troubled families and leaves the children where they are.

This thoughtful and courageous action by the chief and council is something that should have been done long ago, and is only happening because First Nations are asserting control over their own lives that bureaucracies have been stealing away for far too long.

First Nations leaders realize that there are dysfunctional families in their midst and that some parents need serious help with addictions, lack of education, and multi-generational impacts of the Indian residential school experience. These leaders, like the parents themselves, do not want the tragedy of broken families and lost lives which plague their nations.

And they are going to do the right thing by taking the appropriate steps to solve their own problems.

It isn't often you read a "BCR" (essentially a legislative decree) that moves you to tears. But this one did for me:

"The disruption and trauma felt by children who may be removed from their homes, separated from their siblings, or removed from the community altogether, is not an acceptable outcome to a situation where the child has done nothing wrong."

You might wonder how the government in Misipawistik is able to throw parental guardians out of their own homes, but this might just be one of those wonderful ironies rising from the controversy within the Indian Act which makes all of the property on a First Nation community-owned.

While this has certainly restricted entrepreneurs and business development, it does give the Misipawistik government the right to take this action to protect the children of their community.

The children won't be left in their home alone, of course. The Cree Nation Child and Family Caring Agency (CNCFCA) will place experienced child care workers inside the home to take care of them while their parents get the help they need. Nobody likes this kind of "big brother, big sister" approach, but every step is taken to insure that such an intervention is absolutely necessary.

The parents are offered every form of assistance available, but they are on their own. Misipawistik is under no obligation to provide other accommodations.

One is reminded of the old days, when everybody in the village had to conform to the good of the whole in order to survive our harsh, Canadian winters. The most severe punishment was to be banished because you simply could not survive on your own.

The online community response in Misipawistik has been very supportive of the new initiative.

Facebook posts are overwhelmingly positive with comments like "This is a great idea" and "Right on! I have been saying this for years."

Stephen Parenteau stands out with his comment: "I remember fighting for this a long time ago. People thought I was crazy, but like all forward thinkers back then, I was subjected to anger, ridicule and what not."

Elissa Gabriel sums it all up best:

"This is great for the children, especially if the parents do not want to be responsible and accountable to their own children, but ... I hope parents do get the help so their children can have their mother and father back in their home."

Those parents will be re-united with their children once conditions set down by the CNCFCA are met. It is a hard line approach, but this is what happens when loving, caring people in the community witness tragedy taking place needlessly.

There is a good reason the CNCFCA uses the word "caring" instead of "service," which is more common, in their name.

And it makes common sense.