As a parent I am passionate about, and dedicated to, facilitating an open culture that allows for my child’s cultural heritage and history to be instilled in him throughout his life. I want to make sure that my son has a strong sense of self and of cultural identity. This is an important and critical aspect of our family life which we remain dedicated to.

I want to make sure that any family adopting a First Nation, Métis or Inuit child feels supported. That they feel like they can attend the powwow and cultural events and feel welcome. For this reasons I attend powwows, ceremonies and other cultural activities with the families.

Although I had learned in PRIDE training about the importance of providing cultural food, music, experiences, and role models, I had never heard anyone talk about how you have to learn about racism to parent a child of another race.

There’s the scary question that I’ve been asking myself since PRIDE, where we were all made to consider our cultures and how they may differ from our adopted children.

If asked what aboriginal children and youth in care need from a foster or adoptive family, I would have to say they need a family that is loving and compassionate... A family that can give them a sense of belonging while at the same time a sense of identity by making sure they have people in their life who can help them learn the teachings and ceremonies and who they are as the original people.