ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the history and current situation of child welfare within the First Nation. The Six Nations of the Grand River share the demographic profile of the Canadian First Nations. The impact of early child welfare legislation on First Nations children was minimal, but in the 1960s few concurrent events changed that forever. During the 1970s the emergence of literature on the social development of First Nations people set the context for a movement toward Aboriginal self-government. In 1980, a report entitled Community Care-Toward Indian Control of Social Services proposed a strategy for First Nations jurisdiction over social services in Ontario. In that same year, the Canadian Council for Social Development funded Hepworth's review of foster care and adoption in Canada. Attempts by First Nations leadership to assume responsibility have demonstrated how First Nations political interference, under the guise of Aboriginal self-determination, impedes child welfare service delivery.
