Indigenous Solutions for Indigenous Children
The key to fostering identity is to have Indigenous communities develop solutions that they know will work best for their children. Some communities have set up parent circles where parents can gather to share experiences and learn from each other. Others have volunteers who visit the homes of new parents to give them advice and support. Successful programs that serve Indigenous families focus on the parents' strengths rather than their weaknesses.
A program run by the Métis Nation of Ontario supports Aboriginal parents by matching them up with other parents in the community. The Lay Home Visitors program brings people from the communities who have parenting experience into the homes of families with young children. The home visitors are trained in supporting families and promoting child development. They work with families to build on their strengths, develop their parenting skills and help them connect to community resources.
Indigenous leaders also see an important role for childcare programs in fostering cultural identity in young children. The Assembly of First Nations has stated that Indigenous child care services that "reflect First Nations beliefs and values, [will] restore our children to their rightful place and, in doing so, restore our communities to a place of power and self sufficiency." And, according to an Inuit Early Childhood Development Issues Discussion Paper, Inuit early childhood development needs to take place in an environment where "…The Inuk child has a positive self image, has a strong foundation in Inuit culture [and] language and feels pride in Inuit ways”.
The Hopedale Language Nest in northern Labrador is one of several 'language nest' programs in Canada. The concept of language nests originated with the Maori in New Zealand as a program that immerses young children in their culture and language within a nurturing environment that includes the concept of extended family, and encourages parents to revive the use of the language at home. The Hopedale program, operated in partnership with the Torngasok Cultural Centre, is targeted to infants from 3 to 24 months — a critical stage for developing language skills. The staff speaks only Inuktitut to the children and offers a program of activities built around Inuit culture. The children are restoring pride and hope to their community by keeping a nearly–lost language alive. Childcare programs can foster cultural identity by having Indigenous child care practitioners as staff and by involving the community in creating their curriculum.
First Nations communities in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan have worked in partnership with the University of Victoria to develop a curriculum for teaching Indigenous early childhood educators that combines current knowledge on 'best practice' overall with Indigenous customs of child-rearing. The curriculum is taught to Indigenous students who are then encouraged to work in their communities with Indigenous children.
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