Caring about Equality in Indigenous Communities

• Author: Colleen Sheppard
• Pages: 101-115

101

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Caring about Eality in

Indigenous Communities

They came for the children.

— truth anD reconciLiation commission of canaDa1

   assess if a society is respecting equality rights is to look at

how it cares for its most vulnerable members. As Indigenous scholar

and teacher, Patricia Monture, taught us, “only when we under-

stand caring will we understand equality.” 2 Thinking about caring

asks us to explore the real human relations, emotions, and respect

we need to draw on to work towards substantive equality. This chap-

ter explores two important cases where First Nations children were

denied equitable treatment in government funding for health and

child welfare services. The stories in these cases highlight the inequit-

able treatment of children, as well as their caregivers and commun-

ities. We begin with the story of Maurina Beadle and her son, Jeremy

Meawasige, who were refused the funding they needed to continue

in-home healthcare services for Jeremy.3 The second case involves a

challenge to the chronic underfunding of child welfare services on

First Nations’ reserves4 and in the Yukon. The case was initiated and

led by Cindy Blackstock, a social worker who had witnessed the dev-

astating ef‌fects of inadequate child welfare services on the lives of

First Nations children.5

Both cases illustrate the power of individuals and commun-

ities when they stand up for their rights and contest inequities. The