Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Educational Leadership. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

In the past, the Ministry of Social Services and Housing has placed many native children from the Seabird Island Band, a Salish band in the Sta’lo Nation, in permanent placement or adoption off the reserve. Government agencies imposed a system of child welfare that superseded Seabird Island adoption practices. The Seabird Island Band members would prefer to see these children placed within the band through ‘custom’ adoption. In apprehension and placement court cases, the band social worker has needed documented information defining ‘custom’ adoption, and data regarding the benefits of this Seabird Island process. This thesis investigates and documents the process and results of adoption on the Seabird Island Indian Reserve. This thesis begins with a brief history of Canadian adoption policy as it applies to First Nations people. The thesis is based on detailed taped interviews with Seabird Island Band members who had experienced foster care and/or adoption. This fieldwork was the result of negotiation with the Seabird Island Band to discover the type of research that they needed. The thesis documents four kinds of adoption experience of the Seabird Island members: foster care, closed legal adoption, open adoption, and ‘custom’ adoption. In my analysis of these adoption experiences, three main themes occur: (1) issues of ethnic identity, (2) power and the child welfare system, and (3) the definition and functions of ‘custom’ adoption. The thesis concludes that the imposed system of child welfare based on Euro-western ideas of appropriate child care may have destroyed or seriously damaged some Seabird Island Band members’ sense of ethnic identity. As well, it may be a factor in the break-up of the extended family. ‘Custom’ adoption, as defined by Seabird Island Band members, offers an alternate model for keeping apprehended Seabird Island children within the band. Open adoption, as defined by the pilot project documented, is an alternative for those children who cannot be returned to the band. I have made several recommendations in the conclusion for the Seabird Island Band’s consideration. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

The Canadian child welfare system has increasingly found itself under attack for its treatment of First Nations children. The charge is made that it imposes a colonial regime on First Nations families which negates the importance of their cultural identity, and devalues their cultural practices and traditions. Self-government is consistently advanced as the only appropriate response. The question this thesis addresses is whether too much faith is placed in self-government, without sufficient protections for children in the communities. The issue of First Nations child welfare is placed within the wider debates over the need for decolonisation in Canada. It is a premise of this thesis that First Nations hold an inherent right to self-government which demands respect for their sovereign authority in core areas such as child welfare. However, self-government is not a panacea for First Nations communities. The legacy of colonialism continues to manifest itself in the socioeconomic problems prevalent on many reserves/These problems pose a direct challenge to self-governing child welfare agencies and to the safety of the children in their care. This raises the dilemma of how to ensure the fundamental rights of First Nations children are effectively protected, whilst also respecting the 'sovereign' jurisdiction of First Nations communities. The attempts of non-native society to impose controls on First Nations governments, principally through the imposition of the Canadian Charter, are rejected on the basis they continue to perpetuate a colonial philosophy. However, adopting a theory of 'rejuvenated universalism,' and on the basis of a dialogue with three native controlled child welfare agencies in British Columbia, it is argued that agreement on fundamental standards of child welfare could be forged across native and non-native cultures. It is suggested these standards should be guaranteed in a Children's Charter binding all governments in Canada. A Children's Charter which has been developed through fully inclusive cross-cultural dialogue, and which consequently reflects the values of all the various cultures, would provide an essential mechanism for the external evaluation and review of child welfare agencies in Canada, whether native or non-native, according to their own freely accepted values and principles. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

The purpose of the study is to investigate the picture book preferences of grade four Aboriginal students, to discover what books have the greatest appeal and to determine which specific factors influence their choices. The study took place at an inner city elementary school with a high population of Aboriginal students located in the heart of the Canadian prairies. Experienced educators know that the majority of Aboriginal chidlren come to school with little or no exposure to books. Studies have shown that the ability or lack of ability to read at grade level is a strong indicator of future academic success. Teachers and librarians have little information available to assist them in choosing literature that will be of interest to Aboriginal students and motivate them to read and through practice improve their reading skills. Provincial governments are looking for research that addresses the needs of this growing population. Twelve grade four Aboriginal students participated in the study, seven boys and five girls. The students viewed forty-five books that were divided into three sets of fifteen and chose one book from each set to read and respond to through writing and/or drawing. After the book selection and response sessions were complete, the researcher interviewed each child to determine the one book they would most want to take home. The study concludes that: 1) Students preferred to read picture books portraying Aboriginal characters that reflected their own image; 2) Students transposed the urban and rural settings in the Aboriginal books to make relevant connections with their lives; 3) Aboriginal books portraying Aboriginal characters was the genre with the greatest appeal; 4) Students preferred vivid realistic illustrations; 5) Students background experience frequently determined their preferences in books and also increased their motivation to read; 5) Realistic pictures with minimal amounts of text held great appeal for boys selecting information books. It is hoped that the study will assist teachers and librarians in selecting literature that will be of interest to Aboriginal students encouraging them to read more and by improving their reading skills raise the level of their general academic achievement. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

No description available.

This study sought to determine if there are any differences in an analysis of language samples between urban Indian, reservation Indian, and urban White first-grade children. The Mean Length of Response (MLR) (Templin, 1957), Developmental Sentence Score (DSS) (Lee, 1974), and individual DSS items were used to analyze language used by the three groups of children. The study involved thirty-nine children, thirteen children in each group, between the ages of six years, six months, and seven years, four months. All subjects were screened to determine grade, residency, Indian blood, speech, language, hearing, and physical status. Testing for hearing vocabulary was performed at the beginning of the testing situation to determine eligibility for the study.

This study compared the performance of four groups of children--two Indian groups and two non-Indian groups--on a test of commonly used idioms. The Indian subjects, all bilingual, were differentiated on the basis of school setting, uni-ethnic or multi-ethnic. The non-Indian subjects, all from multi-ethnic schools, were differentiated on the basis of linguistic background, bilingual or monolingual.<p>The sample consisted of 465 children in grades five, six, and seven from six schools in Northern and Central Saskatchewan. The Yandell Idioms Test was administered to all the children. Differences among mean scores of the groups were tested with an analysis of variance. In addition, to minimize the effects on the Idioms Test results of very high or very low reading ability, a second analysis was done involving a selected sample identified from within the total sample by excluding all subjects who scored below the 4.0 grade level or above the 7.9 grade level on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests.<p>Analysis of Idioms Test scores revealed that Indian children in multi-ethnic schools scored higher than Indian children in uni-ethnic schools, but that non-Indian children, whether bilingual or monolingual, achieved significantly better than Indian children. in either multi-ethnic or uni-ethnic settings. Monolingual non-Indian children scored higher than bilingual non-Indian children, although for the selected sample, the differences were not statistically significant.<p>In both analyses, there seemed to be few sex differences of importance. Between-group differences generally reflected the trend for the whole-group analyses, while within-group differences were not significant except for the bilingual. non-Indian group.<p>In general, the study showed that not only did Indian children have difficulty with the comprehension of English idioms but that many English idioms used in basal readers were not familiar even to monolingual English-speaking children.

This study compared the performance of four groups of children--two Indian groups and two non-Indian groups--on a test of commonly used idioms. The Indian subjects, all bilingual, were differentiated on the basis of school setting, uni-ethnic or multi-ethnic. The non-Indian subjects, all from multi-ethnic schools, were differentiated on the basis of linguistic background, bilingual or monolingual.<p>The sample consisted of 465 children in grades five, six, and seven from six schools in Northern and Central Saskatchewan. The Yandell Idioms Test was administered to all the children. Differences among mean scores of the groups were tested with an analysis of variance. In addition, to minimize the effects on the Idioms Test results of very high or very low reading ability, a second analysis was done involving a selected sample identified from within the total sample by excluding all subjects who scored below the 4.0 grade level or above the 7.9 grade level on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests.<p>Analysis of Idioms Test scores revealed that Indian children in multi-ethnic schools scored higher than Indian children in uni-ethnic schools, but that non-Indian children, whether bilingual or monolingual, achieved significantly better than Indian children. in either multi-ethnic or uni-ethnic settings. Monolingual non-Indian children scored higher than bilingual non-Indian children, although for the selected sample, the differences were not statistically significant.<p>In both analyses, there seemed to be few sex differences of importance. Between-group differences generally reflected the trend for the whole-group analyses, while within-group differences were not significant except for the bilingual. non-Indian group.<p>In general, the study showed that not only did Indian children have difficulty with the comprehension of English idioms but that many English idioms used in basal readers were not familiar even to monolingual English-speaking children.

Not available / text

This thesis argues that despite political promises and rhetoric to the contrary the federal and provincial governments maintain through their policies, legislation, and regulations the continued assimilation of First Nations; under the guise of supporting First Nations attempts to resume governance over child and family services. It is my assertion that governments both federal, provincial and First Nations need to begin a process and transition towards self-governance in child and family services based on our traditional laws and practices, in order to ensure the continued survival of our nations. I have set out a number of preliminary options for assisting in the process of decolonization in the area of child welfare. This thesis is written from my perspective as a First Nations woman engaged in the practice of law in the area of First Nations child and family services. A perspective which is inspired by the political work of my relations in the advancement of Aboriginal rights and title in British Columbia. In chapter one I discuss the impact of colonization on First Nations children, families, communities and governments and conclude that the state (federal and provincial governments), far from promoting First Nations child welfare, have served to create enormous despair, poverty, dependency, and an erosion of First Nations cultures, languages, and governance. This chapter ends with a discussion of First Nations values, practices and traditions in relation to child rearing and "child protection. Chapter two examines the recent changes to child and family service delivery in British Columbia , changes which effectively continue the process of assimilation. Chapter three examines the current delegated model of First Nations child and family services in British Columbia. I argue that the delegated model is premised on assimilation, in that First Nations are bound to comply with the very legislative and administrative models that were illustrated in chapters one and two to have had such a devastating impact on First Nations children, families, communities and governments. Finally, the fourth chapter provides an overview of the federal and provincial constitutional framework and political "support" for self-government juxtaposed against First Nations' perspectives of their inherent right to self-government. In conclusion I propose a number of interim measures that would support First Nations resumption of self-government of child and family services . It is extremely important, in my opinion, that a process and transition towards true self-governance begin as soon as possible building upon First Nations community values and cultural practices.