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By Caden Fanshaw

Historic Agreement

Pair of B.C. First Nations sign historic agreement in Prince George

Mar 15, 2023 | 5:56 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Two BC First Nations came together in Prince George to sign a first of its kind agreement in the province’s history over child welfare rights.

Wednesday morning begun ceremoniously at the House of Ancestors downtown where Chief and Councils for the Simpcw and the Gitsegukla First Nations met to put pen to paper.

Gitsegukla Chief Annie Howard said this agrement was two and a half years in the making and builds upon a historic court case, adding she hoped it lays out groundwork for other nations to sign on.

Chief Howard said this is all as a result of the landmark Delgamuukw-Gisday wa decision in the Supreme Court of Canada. The historic decision in the country’s top court saw the Gitsxan heavily involved.

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The agreement will see the nations band together to force a portion of Federal law to be eradicated. The Federal law comes into play when there is a child that has a biological parents from two different Nations, a rule they say ultimately leads to fighting. Chief Howard said this is just one example of a way government doesn’t understand or respect their ways.

The focus of this agreement was centred on future children, with one elder referring to them as “little birds,” a message he heard from his own mother back in the 1960’s.