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of child welfare that superseded Seabird Island adoption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
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/5021 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Nordlund, Elizabeth Anne |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 8886148 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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