‘Dakota Urban’ office celebrates grand opening

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This article was published 05/10/2024 (386 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With the cutting of a bright blue ribbon by seven-year-old Fawn Kasto on Friday afternoon, the communities of Birdtail Sioux and Canupawakpa Dakota first nations gave the children of their off-reserve members better access to needed supports and services.

The grand opening of the Dakota Urban Jordan’s Principle office at 1209 Richmond Ave. gave official status to a facility that has already been in operation since last March, after the two communities recognized the benefits of meeting a mutual need.

While both Birdtail and Canupawakpa offer Jordan’s Principle services on reserve, members who live in urban settings like Brandon or Portage la Prairie were having trouble accessing those services.

“There was a need for a lot of our off-reserve community members that were looking for supports and services, and because there’s a lot of them that live in an urban setting, a lot of the time their problem was getting transportation into the community and being able to access all of those services,” said Birdtail assistant case manager Jamie Hall.

The phones were ringing non-stop in the two communities from parents and kids living off reserve and looking for help. The opening of an office in Brandon would provide better and more timely access for those who need it.

The Dakota Urban Jordan’s Principle office is funded jointly by the Canupawakpa and Birdtail bands, and they lease the office space on Richmond Avenue.

The new Brandon location hosts several offices for case workers, as well as a front greeting desk and a comfortable board and meeting room. At the moment, each First Nation separately funds its own case workers for its community, though they work out of the same office.

Canupawakpa Chief Raymond Brown said he was initially hesitant to open an office in Brandon, but gradually started to see the benefit of helping his community members who live elsewhere in western Manitoba other than the First Nation.

“It’s mainly for the kids,” Brown said. “We’re trying to get them help, like school clothes, school lunches, supplies and some kind of fees. They can come here, make a call here, or whatever. The services that we can provide, those services make it easier for them.

“We’re servicing our students better now.”

“This is a big step forward for our urban office,” added Birdtail Dakota First Nation Chief Lindsay Bunn Jr. “It’s good outreach for our off-reserve members so they don’t have to travel back to the community to get the help that they need for their children.”

Jordan’s Principal is named after Jordan River Anderson, a two-year-old disabled child from Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba who didn’t get the home-based care he needed due to a dispute between governments about who should pay for which services.

Following his death, the House of Commons passed Jordan’s Principle in 2007 in his memory, as a commitment that “First Nations children would get the products, services and supports they need, when they need them.” That commitment extends to children both on and off reserve.

Hall says that each case that comes through his office is unique, but whatever help is needed, they’ll do their level best to meet that need.

“If there’s a health-related issue that they need help advocating on, we will help them in the hospital, making sure that there’s somebody there with them, holding their hand along the way,” Hall said. “We’re going to be there. We’re going to help you. We want to look after them. We’re behind them, 100 per cent.”

Hall also notes that there is hope that the Jordan’s Principle office in Brandon may expand to host other Dakota first nations, including Sioux Valley, Dakota Tipi and Dakota Plains. However, those talks remain ongoing.

The Dakota Urban Jordan’s Principle office can be reached at 204-717-7714, according to the group’s Facebook page.

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