{"id":99235,"date":"2025-11-13T08:23:48","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T13:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=99235"},"modified":"2025-11-13T08:23:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T13:23:48","slug":"in-gitanmaax-new-family-services-department-is-fighting-to-protect-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/in-gitanmaax-new-family-services-department-is-fighting-to-protect-children\/","title":{"rendered":"In Gitanmaax, new family services department is fighting to protect children"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Amy Romer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews This is the first story in a three-part series about child welfare jurisdiction in Gitanmaax. When a young girl handed Jim Woodworth a thank-you card, he hesitated to open it \u2014 knowing it might be emotional. As he read the card aloud, Woodworth\u2019s voice caught. \u201cI\u2019m from Vancouver Island and I now know that I am also from Gitxsan, Hazelton,\u201d the card reads. \u201cI am so grateful to know about my Frog Clan and meet my family of which I belong. Thank you for bringing me home.\u201d The card now sits on display inside the recently opened office for Gitanmaax\u2019s new family services department, Wila Dildilsdi\u2019m \u2014 which translates to \u201chow we live.\u201d Woodworth, Wila Dildilsdi\u2019m\u2019s director, shares the office with jurisdiction&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F11%2F13%2Fin-gitanmaax-new-family-services-department-is-fighting-to-protect-children%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Amy Romer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews This is the first story in a three-part series about child welfare jurisdiction in Gitanmaax. When a young girl handed Jim Woodworth a thank-you card, he hesitated to open it \u2014 knowing it might be emotional. As he read the card aloud, Woodworth\u2019s voice caught. \u201cI\u2019m from Vancouver Island and I now know that I am also from Gitxsan, Hazelton,\u201d the card reads. \u201cI am so grateful to know about my Frog Clan and meet my family of which I belong. Thank you for bringing me home.\u201d The card now sits on display inside the recently opened office for Gitanmaax\u2019s new family services department, Wila Dildilsdi\u2019m \u2014 which translates to \u201chow we live.\u201d Woodworth, Wila Dildilsdi\u2019m\u2019s director, shares the office with jurisdiction... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F11%2F13%2Fin-gitanmaax-new-family-services-department-is-fighting-to-protect-children%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>In Gitanmaax, new family services department is fighting to protect children - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/in-gitanmaax-new-family-services-department-is-fighting-to-protect-children\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In Gitanmaax, new family services department is fighting to protect children - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Amy Romer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews This is the first story in a three-part series about child welfare jurisdiction in Gitanmaax. When a young girl handed Jim Woodworth a thank-you card, he hesitated to open it \u2014 knowing it might be emotional. As he read the card aloud, Woodworth\u2019s voice caught. \u201cI\u2019m from Vancouver Island and I now know that I am also from Gitxsan, Hazelton,\u201d the card reads. \u201cI am so grateful to know about my Frog Clan and meet my family of which I belong. Thank you for bringing me home.\u201d The card now sits on display inside the recently opened office for Gitanmaax\u2019s new family services department, Wila Dildilsdi\u2019m \u2014 which translates to \u201chow we live.\u201d Woodworth, Wila Dildilsdi\u2019m\u2019s director, shares the office with jurisdiction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/in-gitanmaax-new-family-services-department-is-fighting-to-protect-children\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-13T13:23:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"17 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/13\\\/in-gitanmaax-new-family-services-department-is-fighting-to-protect-children\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/13\\\/in-gitanmaax-new-family-services-department-is-fighting-to-protect-children\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"In Gitanmaax, new family services department is fighting to protect children\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-13T13:23:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/13\\\/in-gitanmaax-new-family-services-department-is-fighting-to-protect-children\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":3906,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/13\\\/in-gitanmaax-new-family-services-department-is-fighting-to-protect-children\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/13\\\/in-gitanmaax-new-family-services-department-is-fighting-to-protect-children\\\/\",\"name\":\"In Gitanmaax, new family services department is fighting to protect children - 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