Culture Plans Part 1

Culture plans are created for children of Aboriginal ancestry placed for adoption to ensure that the child's cultural identity is preserved. A sample Culture Plan can be found in the Practice Standards for Adoption which can be viewed (or printed) from the MCFD website. Culture plans involve the child's Aboriginal community, and the adoptive parents in developing a way in which this will happen. The culture plan may include information about the Aboriginal community and it's: traditional foods, language, cultural ceremonies, family memberships and genealogy and teachings.
The adoptive family must be willing to partner with the Aboriginal community and commit to following through on whatever has been agreed upon will be the best ways to preserve the child's cultural identity. This may include spending time in the child's community, having contact with Elders or others, and learning as much as they can about the child's cultural identity and ancestry.
There are a range of ways that this can be accomplished. A variety of factors may impact on the planning and implementation such as safety issues and geographic location of the Aboriginal community.
Bottom line is that the culture plan is a very important piece of the child's life. It is a document that threads them to their past, and to their future. Their ancestry is part of who they are. They need to know where they came from. If a child has never had that connection, then there is no time like the present to build it. If they've already had it, then it must be maintained and grown.