National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said it’s her job to unite First Nations by bringing them together for discussions that will move along the child-care issue. Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak is seen during the AFN Special Chiefs Assembly in Ottawa on Dec. 3, 2024.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
After a year that saw division among First Nations chiefs over a failed multi-billion-dollar child-welfare agreement with Canada, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations is focused on unity and re-establishing the organization as a strong voice for First Nations.
National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, originally from Pinaymootang First Nation in Manitoba, was elected a year ago to lead the organization that advocates and lobbies for over 600 diverse First Nations. She is the second woman to hold the title of National Chief after RoseAnne Archibald was removed over allegations of bullying and harassing staff.
Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak, 41, had served as the AFN regional chief for Manitoba prior to her election. While in that position, and after she became National Chief, she led negotiations with Ottawa over a $23-billion compensation for the federal government’s discriminatory underfunding of on-reserve child-welfare services, as well as a separate deal that would bring necessary funds to reform the system. Despite the inability to reach an agreement for the reform funds, she believes the discussions sparked among First Nations leaders represents progress.
“For far too long, we have been focused inward, and now we are talking about real issues that matter to the lives of First Nations across the country,” Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak said in a year-end interview with The Globe and Mail. “We are also unified behind a common belief that First Nations families must be empowered to take care of our own children.”
In her first meeting as National Chief in July, Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak announced she had received a draft offer from Ottawa to overhaul Indigenous child-welfare systems. The offer, worth $47.8-billion, would have allowed First Nations to put into place long-term reforms. But chiefs rejected it in October, believing they could have gotten a better deal.
Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak was criticized by three AFN regional chiefs for leaving First Nations leaders out of negotiations with the federal government, a charge she denies. In a meeting in early December, the chiefs mandated Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak to return to the negotiating table and to include Cindy Blackstock, an advocate for Indigenous child welfare who had argued the agreement with Ottawa was insufficient.
The chiefs also called for the next negotiation process to include a new Chiefs Children’s Commission to oversee the work of reaching a final child-welfare reform deal. Ottawa has not yet indicated whether it would support such a negotiation framework.
The demand that the AFN renegotiate the child-welfare deal was firmly rejected by some chiefs in Ontario, who argued Indigenous kids and their families don’t have time to restart negotiations, and that the money on offer is needed in communities now. Ontario chiefs have maintained there’s simply not enough time to negotiate a better deal amid opioid and suicide epidemics, particularly for the northern remote communities.
Chief Archie Wabasse of Wunnumin Lake, a remote fly-in First Nation in Northwestern Ontario, told the assembly in December his community can’t wait any longer for an agreement.
“The deal is ready for signing, and our kids and our children need our help right now. They are suffering,” Mr. Wabasse said.
In her interview with The Globe, Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak said she’s thankful for the different positions held by the chiefs on the matter.
“[The AFN] seems energized by diverse opinions,” she said, acknowledging discussions about such difficult subjects aren’t always easy but necessary.
“At least people are focused on the issues now instead of each other, right?”
She said there’s lots of work to do going into the New Year, notably the rollout of the $23-billion compensation to First Nations children and families for being discriminated against by Canada.
Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak said as National Chief it’s her job to unite First Nations by bringing them together for discussions that will move along the child-care issue, as well as other issues.
“As National Chief, I will continue to work with the national executive to follow through on the directions and resolutions that have been debated and voted on,” she said about the recent assemblies in October and December.
She said she was encouraged by how chiefs came together at recent assemblies – with record-setting attendance, she added – including unanimously calling for a national inquiry into systemic racism in policing and deaths of Indigenous Peoples.
Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak thanked the chiefs and executive for their support.
“You can’t do this work alone, so I’m thankful for everybody trying to work as a team and getting to a good place.”