Thread by @christibelcourt

Just heard 2day of pregnant Indigenous women planning to give birth in secret out of fear of CFS apprehensions b/c they were wards as kids.

I believe in midwifery and that restoring midwifery practices is one of the most important of all resurgence actions Indigenous ppl can take

But this is scary. Women who are pregnant should not have to hide their pregnancies out of fear.

With CFS in Winnipeg apprehending one newborn a day from mother’s arms in hospitals, is it any wonder women are not wanting medical care?

I don’t know what the stats are for Indigenous newborn apprehensions for other provinces but I’d like to know.

I heard of 1 apprehension where the new mom, dad &Grandma were at hospital w/ baby clothes & car seat when CFS took baby for “precaution”

Only because the mom was a ward of CFS as a child. That was it. No legitimate reason at all. Precaution was the reason given.

I heard of another exactly the same, where CFS worker showed up with carseat ready and the mom was crying, Grandma was crying (con’t)

The worker got impatient tapping his foot saying hurry up to mom when she couldn’t get crying newborn into the car seat he brought with him

I’ve heard of a Grandma who is a foster parent, when her daughter’s children were apprehended CFS refused to let her take the kids.

Why is this happening to Indigenous people on this widespread scale? Some ppl will point to racism or say it began with residential schools.

Those things are linked of course, as are the high rates of suicides in our communities & murdered and missing Indigenous people are linked.

But it didn’t begin w/ residential schools. This began when our lands were coveted for resources &we were systematically displaced b/c of it

We cannot look at suicides, MMIW2, incarceration rates, systemic racism, CFS, RS & intergenerational scoop effects in isolation

The systemic dismantling of our own governances, the systemic dispossession from our lands for the resources is at the root of scoops.

This is what some of the inquiries and commissions have not addressed. And this is why reconciliation can never be possible without land.

Land, control, restoration of Indigenous governance, languages, and all that was stolen to fullness of what was lost.

And a compounding tragedy to all of this is as climate rises, Indigenous knowledge of how to live on the land in balance is so badly needed.

The good news in all of this? Indigenous people are rising up. We aren’t going to stand by and let another generation be stolen.

And we haven’t lost our connection to land or the Earth or the knowledge of how to live in balance. Many carry that knowledge still.

And Indigenous people have maintained our dignity, kindness, and our traditional ways despite it all.

The intergenerational scoop must end. #BringOurChildrenHome
#RISE