How things have changed. We adopted two sons of First Nations ancestry many years ago. The first one moved into our home in 1990. At that time things were handled differently. We still had a home study done, but there was a very limited adoption education program (not like the one MCFD now provides to adoptive parents) and when we adopted our son of First Nations ancestry there was no culture plan created. In fact we received very limited information about his birth mother's home community in northern BC. When we adopted his birth sibling a few years later there was still no culture plan, but we did receive a letter supporting the adoption from their community and a band newsletter.
Now adoptions of children of First Nations ancestry to non First Nations homes are more rare. And those that do take place do so with a culture plan.
It's not perfect but it's a step in the right direction.
Would I do things differently for my sons if I were adopting them now? You bet. But I can't turn back the clock. And I did what I could with the resources and knowledge I had. We all need to do that.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
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