THUNDER BAY - Nishnawbe Aski Nation leadership say it is crucial to focus on the early years of a child’s development in order to provide them with a much brighter future.
The first step in that development is understanding, which was the focus of the Early Years Summit, hosted by NAN. The first summit of its kind hosted by NAN began on Monday and is expected to wrap up on Wednesday.
“It’s all about early years of our First Nation children, which are crucial to our nation,” said NAN Deputy Grand Chief, Derek Fox. “When I say crucial to our nation, it’s also crucial to places like the city of Thunder Bay. Many of these children will come to school here and seek high school, college, and university, all have dreams of obtaining a better life.”
The three-day long summit included workshops and panel discussions involving various service providers from across the region, including health care, mental health services, and early childhood education. It is meant to provide an opportunity for communities to come together to develop best practices when it comes to youth to help inform government policies.
Fox said the goal of everyone taking part is raising First Nation children in the best way possible, and that starts with understanding them first.
“I think the biggest thing is not just helping young children or young people of the north, but it’s understanding them too, understanding where they come from, understanding their backgrounds as far as the social issues you often hear about,” he said.
Fox recognizes that many NAN communities and families have faced challenges and tragedies. There have 35 suicides since January in NAN communities, according to Fox, many involving youth.
“That is a reality but it is something we are trying to address,” he said. “We are trying to learn more about our own children and their families. There is a lot of work to be done with growing healthy families because everything starts in the home.”
It is crucial to reach out to kids as young as possible, Fox added, because that is the time when they learn to be the person they will later become.
“A lot of my teachings were started from anywhere from grade 1 to Grade 8,” he added. “Many of the things I learned in life were taught at those ages, whether it’s respect for your elders or your parents, or just how to be polite, those are crucial times.”
“If you are raised in an environment where you are abused and so on, you are going to live that kind of lifestyle and end up in jail or with social issues or on the streets,” he continued. “I think it’s extremely crucial here. It’s where you shape a child or a young person.”
But it must go beyond reaching out to youth and children, because they are only one part of a much more complex puzzle.
“It’s not just the kids we have to focus on,” Fox said. “We have to focus on the parents and the grandparents and those raising them. But we also have to focus on the schools because that is where they spend most of their time. The teachers and leadership in our schools play a huge part.”
