The Splatsin Community Centre in Enderby.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Splatsin
March 24, 2023 - 12:05 PM
The Splatsin First Nation has been given more autonomy from the federal and provincial governments over the delivery of child and family services at a ceremony in Enderby today.
The community will be provided with $136.2 million over 10 years for the ongoing delivery of family services that’s grounded in their culture and family, according to a media release from the Ministry of Indigenous Services. The deal is between the First Nations community, the B.C. and federal governments.
“Splatsin has been looking after our children since time immemorial and more formally with our Bylaw since 1980,” Kukpi7 Doug Thomas said in the release. “This high level of responsibility for our children falls not just on the shoulders of leadership, but every Splatsin community member.
"It takes a community to raise a child and at Splatsin we do our best to live by those words. I raise my hands up to our community and each and every person involved in caring for our most vulnerable children and youth in the past, present and into the future.”
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It’s the first such agreement signed in B.C. and the fifth across Canada.
“Splatsin has always known what is best for their children and families, but decades of interference undermined culture, language and family connection,” Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services, said in the release.
“Colonial and racist policies have left decades of intergenerational trauma by pulling families apart, but today is a new chapter in our country that will help with the ongoing healing and strengthening of community for First Nations peoples.”
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