ITUM signs Quebec’s first Indigenous child welfare accord

By Lucas-Matthew Marsh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase The Innu Takuaikan Uashat mak Mani-utenam (ITUM) is the first Indigenous nation in Quebec to sign a tripartite agreement with the federal and provincial governments regarding Indigenous children in the child welfare system. At a press conference in Quebec City last week, Jonathan Shetush St-Onge, Chief of the Innu Nation of Uashat mak Mani-utenam, stressed that the agreement represents more than “an administrative reform.” “It is an affirmation of who we are, a self-determination finally respected,” St-Onge said. “It is a way to ensure that our children are no longer separated from their identity, their language, their families and their communities.” The agreement outlines the responsibilities of ITUM and the federal and provincial governments in this new system, as well as how…

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