Foreword

It is with great pleasure that we bring you Volume 15, Issue 2 of the First Peoples Child & Family Review (FPCFR), which includes six published submissions from academics and community experts. Although this issue was not guided by a particular theme, the articles take on new light given the current COVID‑19 pandemic. Authors shared their manuscripts and peer referees conducted reviews at the height of the pandemic’s first wave in Canada. We are now publishing this issue in the midst of the pandemic’s second wave.

The COVID‑19 pandemic has laid bare the serious inequities and harms that First Nations, Métis and Inuit children and families experience in Canada. Historic and ongoing colonialism and structural racism means that Indigenous peoples are more likely to experience harm due to communicable diseases like COVID‑19. While Indigenous communities have always adapted to keep children, Elders and families safe and well, this capacity is continually undermined by long-standing inequities in publicly funded services and colonial hostility to Indigenous understandings of health and wellbeing.

Canada continues to violate its distinct obligations to First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities and fail to work towards reconciliation. The COVID‑19 pandemic reveals the toll of these ongoing violations. Amidst this stark reality, this issue’s authors take up this work and remind us that other ways are possible. The community-based research, stories, and experiences articulated in the articles demonstrate the collective resilience of Indigenous communities, the resurgent vitality of Indigenous worldviews and lifeways, and the capacity of Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities to collaborate in pursuit of justice, equity, and the holistic wellbeing of Indigenous children, families, and communities.

In good spirit,

Brittany Mathews & Emily Williams