The Pathway to Jurisdiction is the first Haíłzaqv process that includes research and community engagement to draft new Gvi’I’las (laws) for the care, protection, and well-being of our children and families. It will include our Haíłzaqv values, customs, language, and strategies to support Káxḷá Child and Family Services.
Following the establishment of our Gvi’I’las, Káxḷá Child and Family Services will assume total control of our child welfare with a team of skilled and qualified members to ensure our children and families are protected, strengthened and supported towards health and wellness.
In 2019, the Government of Canada enacted Bill C-92, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth, and families (S.C. 2019, c. 24). The goal of this legislation is to keep Indigenous youth and children connected to their families, communities, and cultures. It gives Indigenous communities authority to develop our own policies and laws to protect our children.
Watch our video to learn more about the Heiltsuk Nation’s child welfare development process.
The working group’s initial task was to craft a declaration that clearly states and confirms our inherent Haíɫzaqv rights to, and responsibilities for, our children, families, and communities. It was presented and approved by the Haíɫzaqv Joint Leadership on March 24, 2022, for their thoughts and approval.
The Haíłzaqv Pathway to Jurisdiction has a fantastic working group of experts who offer professional advice and assistance. Every member is from the Haíłzaqv Nation. They are strong, dedicated and enthusiastic to share their knowledge and skills to support our journey to obtaining full jurisdiction over our child and family services.
“We are the ancestors of our unborn children. We want our lived experience to be a stepping stone to their greatness.” – Hofman Harris, Haíɫzaqv Historian, born in 1884
ɫáxvái is the embodiment of all elements on the compass interwoven to define what gives us strength. The Haíɫzaqv ɫáxvái compass helps us find our way back to the connections that make us strong and resilient since time immemorial.
ɫáxvái is the cornerstone of all Haíɫzaqv principles and embodies the authority underpinning Heiltsuk Ǧvi̓ḷás. It is the power we take from asserting and exercising Ǧvi̓ḷás in governing to protect our homelands and people.
It is at this juncture that we have a great responsibility to define and articulate clearly what our Haíłzaqv children need to have a sense of history, culture, language, identity, worth, place and honour. When these needs are met, they form the foundation of confidence, inner strength, inclusion, and self-reliance. They complete the circle of self, family, community, and Nation in that order. – Hilistis Pauline Waterfall, ǧvi̓ḷás,
Advisor to Haíłzaqv Pathway to Jurisdiction
