3. The turtle represents Earth, or what many First Nations call Turtle Island. This term comes from the Oneida creation story, in which the forces of Earth and water joined together to create a habitat for the human being on Turtle's back. The Turtle clan is responsible for taking care of people and the environment, which they do by setting the community's agendas and balancing priorities. People of the Turtle Clan are skilled at helping things grow.
5. In the Oneida language, othayu:ni means "they made a path." The Wolf Clan's responsibilities provide leadership on the path of life, to teach the importance of keeping peace among families, and to ensure that the people receive sustenance along the way. Wolves hunt in an extended family group called a pack. The Wolf Clan teaches the importance of family bonds. The family may not be particularly close to one another, but when one member is at risk, the rest are quick to unite and help.
7. Bears are renowned for their strength. Since they eat a wide variety of things to make them strong, bears understand the healing properties of many different plants. Bears also spend much time in the spirit world during hibernation. Upon emerging in the spring, they flush the impurities out of their systems with cleansing medicines. People in the Bear Clan are medicine keepers in Oneida society. They carry the responsibility of watching and listening to other people to keep the longhouse in healthy balance.
8. 1876: Indian Act makes the federal government responsible for educating First Nations People.
9. 1960s: Child welfare agencies routinely place Aboriginal children in non-Aboriginal homes.
10. 1970: Blue Quills Residential School, in Alberta becomes the first band-controlled school in Canada.
11. 1972: National Indian Brotherhood issues paper "Indian Control of Indian Education"
12. 1972: National Indian Brotherhood issues paper "Indian Control of Indian Education"
13. 1981: The film "Our Children Are Our Future" documents the devastating effects that child welfare agencies have had on Aboriginal familes.
14. 1985: Kimelman Inquiry reports that Aboriginal children were "routinely" shipped out of Canada to be adopted by families in the United States.
15. 2000s: Aboriginal youth learn their languages and reclaim their cultural practices to promote their well-being and sense of identity.
16. Family Roles and Responsibilities • Organize to ensure good measure and health • How to organize responsibility for survival • FNMI developed sophisticated and sustainable social organizations • Societies based on kinship and extended families • Kinship necessary for hunting-and-gathering; harmony
17. Clans and Kinship • Clans made up government • Traditions and rules • matrilineal/patrilineal/bilateral lineage • Inuit systems based on survival of group • Every person had a role matched to abilities
18. Roles of Aboriginal women varied and valued equally to those of men. Women held a special role in Aboriginal world views because, through childbirth, they are the bearers of new life.
19. With this role came a special kinship with water, because water comes before all life. For example, in Anishinaabe communities, women were the water carriers.
20. Women's ability to bear children was tied to their primary responsibility of raising and nurturing them, as well. This, in turn, determined women's role as tenders and gathers of crops.
21. In many First Nations, women had a governing and advisory role. In Onkwehonweh families the role of clan mother was hereditary, and clan mothers selected the Nation's chiefs. Since women spent a lot of time watching children as they grow up, it was felt that women were best qualified to determine who had the most suitable qualities to be chief.
22. Men's and women's roles were flexible and interchangeable within the extended family and kinship networks, especially in times of distress.
23. Children held a special place of honour. One reason for this was the belief that children had a close connection to the spirit world.
24. Inuit believed that children received the spirit, or soul, of a recently deceased ancestor. This spirit made itself known through a physical resemblance and by certain habits or behaviours that reminded people of the dead person.
25. The child not only received this ancestor's name, but was also given the same measure of respect that person received while alive. This is one reason why Inuit children were seldom disciplined or told what to do. Parents assumed their children knew what they needed, and they respected their children's ability to think for themselves.
26. Often, child-rearing practices in Aboriginal families might have seemed too permissive to outsiders. Aboriginal parents generally did not lecture or scold, or use direct instruction. Instead, they allowed their children to learn the consequences of unwise behaviour for themselves.
27. Since non-interference was a core value for many Aboriginal peoples, children were often not directly confronted about their misconducts. Instead, adults and older family members modelled acceptable and appropriate behaviour.
28. Aboriginal Families Meeting Challenges • Disease and Starvation • Government Policies • Residential Schools • Sixties Scoop
29. Rekindling the Fire • Taking Control of Child Welfare • Taking Control of Education • Identify Core Values • Renewing Aboriginal Ways
