Coast Salish hwulmuhw mustimuxw honour sacred lands and all its teachings. These teachings, as told to us by our Ancestors are built on a foundation of xwunuts’amaat uw’ muqwstem (interconnectedness). They have taught us and continually remind us, that connection to land, family and community originate from this way of being.

Our Ancestors honoured and strengthened these relationships by continually practicing reverence, humility, always giving back and never taking more than what was needed. These are our truths and the essence of who we are.

Sy'aath represents our law, our ways. We have chosen Sy'aath as the name of the initiative to ensure that Kw’umut Lelum’s nine Member Nations are able to exercise inherent jurisdiction in keeping with their own laws to support and protect Coast Salish children, youth and families.

In response to An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis Children, Youth and Families, our Member Nations have directed Kw’umut Lelum to establish a path forward to develop Indigenous child and family service legislation, systems, and programs.

Jurisdiction is about governance, decision-making, and law-making. Indigenous peoples have always held the right to self-determination, which includes the right to self-government as well as jurisdiction over child and family services. The nine Member Nations have never relinquished jurisdiction over the care of their children.

These inherent jurisdictions are recognized in international and domestic law. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognizes these rights. With Canada fully adopting the UN Declaration through legislation, these rights are also recognized in Canadian law. More significantly, bill c92, An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis Children, Youth and Families, fully recognizes the inherent jurisdiction of Indigenous peoples over child and family services.

In 2018, the Emergency Meeting on Indigenous Child and Family Services involving Indigenous partners, provincial and territorial representatives, youth (including youth with lived experience), experts and advocates was chaired by then Minister Jane Philpott. The meeting focused on the over-representation of Indigenous children and youth in care across Canada. One commitment from this meeting was to co-develop federal legislation that would support Indigenous communities and nations to exercise jurisdiction over child and family services. Bill C92 became law on June 21, 2019.

The purpose of the Act Is to protect the well-being of Indigenous children, youth and families by affirming Indigenous jurisdiction, establish national standards for providing Indigenous child and family services, and contribute to the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Act also emphasizes the importance of the best interests of an Indigenous child, especially ensuring that a child is able to stay with family and in community so that there is cultural continuity.

The Act ultimately supports an Indigenous nation to exercise jurisdiction in the way a nation chooses to do so. One option is for an Indigenous Nation to provide notice of intention to exercise authority over child and family services based on provincial child and family laws. In BC, the Stó:lō Xwexwilmexw Treaty Association and the Gitanmaax Band have chosen to exercise their respective jurisdictions in this way.

Another option is to exercise authority child and family services based on Indigenous laws. In doing so, Indigenous laws take priority over federal and provincial laws, but are subject to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Human Rights Act. This option requires a co-ordination agreement between the Indigenous Nation, provincial government and federal government. In BC, 11 First Nations are moving forward with this option. Three of these 11 Nations have finalized agreements and are currently exercising jurisdiction with their own laws.

Kw’umut Lelum is working to support its nine Member Nations to exercise authority based on Indigenous laws.

There is no prescribed or required process or steps through which legislation needs to be developed.  The process will be defined by the Member Nations working with Kw’umut Lelum. 

Generally, the steps in developing legislation include research and information gathering, developing the vision, concept and potential options for legislative content, drafting the legislation, and finalizing the legislation through a community process. It is anticipated that this process will take up to four years.

Currently, the Provincial Director of Child Welfare of the Ministry Children and Family Development (MCFD) and provincial laws have final authority over decisions related to the children and youth of the Member Nations.

Having Indigenous laws fully in place means that provincial laws related to child and family services will no longer apply to the Member Nations. The programs, services and practice standards will be based fully on Coast Salish ways. At the same time, the Member Nations and KL will no longer be reporting to MCFD on child and family services. The Member Nations will no longer fall under the province’s authority.

Removing the province’s authority from the lives of Indigenous children and youth ensures that they can stay with family and within their home communities. They will receive support and services that are grounded in the teachings and principles of the Member Nations.

Since Bill C-92 was passed, a small number of First Nations across the country have started the process of having their child and family laws recognized. The 9 Member Nations, working together through KL, are unique amongst these First Nations for two reasons:

1. By creating and supporting KL over the past two decades, the Member Nations, through KL, are already delivering culturally-appropriate services based on our teachings, laws, and culture. 

Through KL, the Member Nations have done the hard work of removing - to the fullest degree the Crown would allow to date - MCFD from the lives of their children and families. This has been accomplished by building up our own models of care, prevention, and protection based on our ways of doing things; and by building the capacity to fully deliver all services ourselves.

This has been accomplished through tremendous leadership, diligence, and resilience in pushing back on the Crown. It has also required drawing on the human resources in our Nations, so that more and more our people, through KL, are delivering the services we need.

Most First Nations have not yet done this work. As a result, for some First Nations, if they transition under Bill C-92 and achieve the recognition of their laws, they will still have years of work to do to build the capacity and culturally-appropriate models of care, prevention, and protection. For some, this may even mean that MCFD will continue to be involved in the lives of First Nations' children and families, even after C-92 jurisdictional transfer is over.  

One could say that we have done the hard work. We now move that work to rightful next stage – the full and complete removal of the Crown from being involved in the lives of our children and families through the recognition of our own laws.

2.  By working together through KL, the Member Nations are able to provide many needed types of culturally appropriate services, and with broad geographic reach to serve our children and families wherever they may live.

We know that our children and families need to be supported so that they can thrive in all dimensions of their life - physically, emotionally, relationally, culturally, and spiritually. This is the opposite of what MCFD does, which focuses on dividing and breaking up our families, taking our children away, and cutting off connection to community and culture.  

Supporting children and families to thrive requires both different, and far more services and supports then what MCFD ever tried to provide. This takes significant investment and strength. We know that it is in our unity that such strength, increased capacity, creativity, and opportunity is found.

Acting alone, it is incredibly hard, if not impossible, to fully build a comprehensive wrap-around set of services. Working together, through KL, we have been able to do it, and continue to expand those services all the time. This includes building the capacity to be able to reach and support our children and families wherever they live, and whenever they are in need.  

Current provincial laws and practices often conflict with Indigenous norms and values, putting KL in a position to reconcile these differences. Under full jurisdiction, as provincial laws and authority will no longer apply, KL will no longer need to be aligned with provincial laws and standards. KL will no longer be a C6 delegated agency. Instead, KL will be able to expand its current approach that is based on Coast Salish laws, values and teachings that are reflected in all Member Nations and operate under the laws of the Member Nations.