For Leadership, Law Keepers, and Technicians
Iron Alliance Law-Making Forum Resources
Honouring the Work of Collin Rope
This work is carried forward in honour of the late Collin Rope, who was a visionary and lifelong advocate for transforming First Nations child and family systems. Collin authored multiple early versions of child and family laws, policy frameworks, and research papers that challenged colonial child welfare systems and articulated clear, Nation-led alternatives.
The concept of effective inter-tribal coordination, which is central to the Iron Alliance approach, comes directly from Collin's teachings. He provided guidance on what intertribal coordination means, its importance, and how Nations can work together to exercise jurisdiction collectively while respecting each Nation's own laws and customs.
The core entities of the proposed child and family well-being system also originate from Collin's work. In recognition of this, the coordinating body within the system has been named Collin's Fireplace, reflecting his trusted mentorship and belief that strong systems are built through shared learning and responsibility.
The Iron Alliance Law Making Forum and technical team acknowledge with deep respect that we are carrying forward the work that Collin dedicated his life to advancing. We are honoured to walk a pathway guided by his vision and commitment to bringing children home and strengthening First Nations systems of care.
Our Story and Vision
Part 1 - Our Story and Vision
Our Story: The Strength of the Iron Alliance
As Cree, Nakota, and Anishinaabe peoples, our Nations have always carried the sacred responsibility to care for our children. Long before provincial systems and colonial government laws existed, our families raised children through love, systems of kinship, ceremony, and language, and every Nation had its own legal traditions and ways of resolving conflict.
Residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, and the provincial child welfare system removed children from their families and identities and disrupted our traditional ways of life. Despite the harm caused by these systems, they never erased our laws or our responsibilities.
In 2023, our Chiefs came together and made a Declaration to create a Law-Making Forum and work collectively to reclaim jurisdiction over our children and families. This Declaration grounded our work in our Inherent Rights given to us by the Creator. Through this commitment, our Nations formed the Iron Alliance, a modern expression of the historic strength once carried by the Iron Confederacy, a powerful alliance of Cree, Nakota, and Anishinaabe Nations who worked together across the Plains.
Today, the Iron Alliance Law-Making Forum continues that legacy. We are rebuilding and restoring a system that reflects our own laws and knowledge, and where our Nations determine the future for our children.
This binder tells the story of where we began, how we have formed our pathway, and our progress as we move forward to exercising our inherent jurisdiction.
Our Shared Vision
Our work is guided by the vision that every child is safe and loved within their family, strong in their cultural identity, and connected to their Nation. We know that strong children come from strong families, and strong families from strong Nations. Our law-making work goes beyond building systems and policies; it is rooted in healing and restoring identity to ensure that future generations grow up knowing who they are.
Our vision is grounded in the teachings of the Seven Natural Laws carried by Cree, Nakota, and Anishinaabe peoples and formally adopted by the Law-Making Forum as the foundation of our governance:
Wo'áhopa, Manatisiwin, Manaaji'idiwin, Respect:
Cąté wowášte, Kîsêwâtisiwin, Zhawenjigewin, Kindness:
Wo'ųšiyekiya, Tapahtêyimowin, Dabasendiziwin, Humility:
Wotéhįna, Sâkihitowin, Zaagi'idiwin, Love:
Wóksape, Iyinisowin, Nibwaakaawin, Wisdom:
Woohitike, Sôhkitêhêwin, Zoongide'ewin, Courage:
Wowicake, Tâpwêwin, Debwewin, Truth:
These principles guide how we work together and how we develop our collective law.
Our Story and Vision
Why Law-Making Matters for Our Nations
Law-making is one of the highest expressions of sovereignty. It is how Nations define their authority, protect their families, and govern according to their own standards and values.
Through our work with the Law-Making Forum, we are:
- Reclaiming jurisdiction to make and enforce our own laws for children and families.
- Restoring our First Nation laws and customs and not replicating the provincial or federal systems we know do not work for us.
- Designing a system that supports true prevention, kinship, language, and cultural connection.
- Building institutions like the Children's Commission, Tribunal, and Collin Rope's Fireplace to carry out our Nation-led governance.
- Ensuring our children stay connected to their families and cultural identities, no matter where they live.
Law-making matters because it brings our children home and strengthens our Nations collectively and individually. Through this process, our nations are working to bring back what was always ours.
(1. See the Declaration of the Law-Making Forum (2023) in Appendix 1.)
The Law-Making Forum
Part 2 - The Law-Making Forum
The Law-making forum is a collective body made up of representatives from each of the Law-making Member Nations. It was established through a formal Declaration and continues to develop through the Governing Protocol, the teachings and laws shared by the Law Keepers, and the ongoing direction of the Chiefs and Law-making Member Nations.
How the Forum Operates
The Forum meets seasonally, holding spring, summer, fall, and winter gatherings, and serves as a central decision-making space for developing the law and system and directing the work of the Commission and Acting Commissioner. The Forum brings together a representative circle of Nation governance and is organized in the following way:
Chiefs Legislative Review Committee:
Law Keepers Council:
Project Management Committee:
Technical Review Committee:
At Forum gatherings, the Law Keepers share stories and protocols that guide the drafting of the law and the development of the system. Forum members discuss concepts and proposals put forward by the technical team for the law, governance framework and elements of the service delivery model, and set priorities for the next phases.
The Forum collectively determines if the work is moving in the right direction and instructs the Acting Commissioner and technical team on what needs to be revised and what requires more engagement. The Forum ensures that every Nation has a voice of authority over the work and promotes effective inter-tribal coordination amongst the Member Nations.
The Forum's Role Going Forward
As the system becomes more defined through each phase of our Pathway, the Forum will remain the space where Nations exercise their inherent right to make law. The Forum will:
- Review and finalize future drafts of the Act
- Confirm the governance model for the Commission
- Provide direction on service model design
- Review negotiation strategies
- Validate cultural and capacity-building components of the system
- Help prepare Nations for ratification
- Oversee the transition to implementation
How Our System Works
Part 3 - How Our System Works
This section explains the direction the Nations are moving toward as we build a child and family well-being system that is grounded in Cree, Nakota, and Anishinaabe ways of life.
Note: everything described here is still in development.
The Law-Making Forum, including the Law Keepers Council, continues to shape every part of this system, and their voices, along with feedback from engagements, will guide our work. This work is Nation-led, meaning that nothing will be finalized or imposed without direction from the Nations themselves.
The Iron Alliance Child Well-Being Act
The draft law is currently being developed through the Law-Making Forum. The law will continue to evolve with further engagement and guidance from Elders and Nation champions to help provide direction. The purpose of the Act is to reclaim jurisdiction and outline how Nations will work together; it will remain a working draft until the Law-making Member Nations approve it.
The Emerging Structure of Our System
Governance Entities
The first three components form the current governance system guiding the early development of the law, the service model, and the future child and family well-being system
A) The Iron Alliance Law-Making Forum
The Law-Making Forum is the only element already established through a formal Declaration. It is the body responsible for developing the law, reviewing drafts, guiding the design of the system, and validating decisions. Everything is subject to the Forum's authority, and the Forum will always remain central, but its relationship with the other bodies will evolve as the system grows.
B) The Iron Alliance Children's Commission
The Law-Making Forum is the only element already established through a formal Declaration. It is the body responsible for developing the law, reviewing drafts, guiding the design of the system, and validating decisions. Everything is subject to the Forum's authority, and the Forum will always remain central, but its relationship with the other bodies will evolve as the system grows.
The Chief Commissioner (Currently "Acting Commissioner")
The Chief Commissioner will be the operational lead once the structure is approved. This role will manage day-to-day operations, but the full mandate, scope, and reporting structure are still in development. Currently, the Acting Commissioner appointed by the Law-making Member Chiefs is responsible for interim duties such as leading and overseeing the development of the law and system structure, including the formation of the Commission and other entities within the system. Other responsibilities include, but are not limited to, seeking mandates from the Chiefs, reporting to the Law-Making Forum, directing community engagements, gathering data, and maintaining communication with the Law-making Member Nations. The Law-Making Forum will continue to decide how this role evolves.
C) Cultural and Capacity Building Entities
As the Nations build a new child and family well-being system, it has become clear that we need a shared space that strengthens capacity, supports learning, and upholds cultural identity and traditional knowledge. The following two major components are being explored to meet these needs.
D) Collin Rope's Fireplace
Collin Rope's Fireplace is envisioned as a central support and coordination body that would help Nations prepare for taking full control of child and family well-being. Its role is still evolving, but based on the direction given so far, it may eventually:
- Ensure that all support and services meet the standards and needs of each Law-making Member Nation
- Provide capacity-building resources and support for Law-making Member Nations and help prepare for the transition of jurisdiction
- Offer technical assistance for Nation-level service planning
- Support readiness assessments and Nation-specific planning
- Help implement the collective law in ways that honour each Nation's laws and customs
- Develop and implement programs and services to support children and families
- Strengthen nation-to-nation collaboration and shared learning
- Develop shared training programs and serve as a central resource for workforce development across the Iron Alliance child and family well-being system
- Collect data and make recommendations for ongoing system assessment and development
Collin's Fireplace will also receive direction from and support the objectives of the Commission.
E) Cultural Revitalization Center (CRC)
The CRC is being explored as the cultural library of the system. While still in early design, it may:
- Support cultural revitalization across Law-making Member Nations
- Provide resources, teachings, and protocols relating to culture, language and ceremony
- Guide cultural components of service delivery and family supports
- Assist Nations with the repatriation of sacred items
- Foster children's cultural identity and Nation connection
- Embed cultural teachings into training, governance, and practices
The CRC and Collin Rope's Fireplace could work together to ensure that the entire child and family system is rooted in Anishinaabe, Nakota, and Cree ways of life and promotes empowerment through the strengthening of culture and identity.
Dispute Resolution and Family Support Processes
As our Nations rebuild jurisdiction, we also need dispute resolution processes that are grounded in First Nations ways and not left up to colonial courts. The following two components of the system are still being developed and will evolve as Nations share how they want family matters handled in ways that reflect their laws and values.
F) The Inter-Nation Tribunal
The Tribunal is being developed as a First Nations justice body responsible for handling disputes that require a more formal process. The purpose is to replace colonial courts in key areas by providing decisions grounded in our own laws. The tribunal may eventually handle:
- Appeals or reviews of decisions made under the child and family well-being system
- Disputes between Nations or agencies
- Jurisdictional issues
- Complaints about fairness, process, or rights
- System-level concerns requiring an independent decision
The Tribunal's structure and processes will be determined by knowledge regarding traditional justice systems, community input, Nations' direction on fairness and authority, and legal drafting and policy development. The Tribunal remains a concept in early development that will likely shift as more guidance is received.
G) Circle-Based Family Process
The Tribunal is being developed as a First Nations justice body responsible for handling disputes that require a more formal process. The purpose is to replace colonial courts in key areas by providing decisions grounded in our own laws. The tribunal may eventually handle:
The Tribunal's structure and processes will be determined by knowledge regarding traditional justice systems, community input, Nations' direction on fairness and authority, and legal drafting and policy development. The Tribunal remains a concept in early development that will likely shift as more guidance is received.
- Appeals or reviews of decisions made under the child and family well-being system
- Disputes between Nations or agencies
- Jurisdictional issues
- Complaints about fairness, process, or rights
- System-level concerns requiring an independent decision
Part 4 - The Pathway We Are Following
The development of the Iron Alliance child and well-being system is guided by a clear multi-year Pathway. The Pathway is also a living process that will continue to evolve as the work moves forward. The Pathway has seven major phases, each building on the last. Some phases are already underway, while others will unfold over the next several years.
Right now, the Iron Alliance is moving between Phases 2, 3, and 4.
Phase 1 - Foundation Building
Establishing the principles, relationships, and governance to guide the work.
Focus areas:
- Bringing Nations together through the Law-Making Forum
- Establishing the Declaration and Governing Protocol
- Defining natural laws and guiding principles to guide the law-making process
- Beginning to identify the core components of the system
- Building relationships among leaders, Law Keepers, and technical staff
Note: Foundation work will continue through the entire process.
Phase 2 - Engagement and Learning
Listening to families, youth, Elders, workers, and Nations.
Focus areas:
- Community engagement sessions
- Gathering teachings from Elders and Knowledge Keepers
- Understanding Nation-specific needs and priorities
- Identifying champions in each Nation to lead community conversations
- Sharing early concepts and listening to feedback
Note: Engagement is ongoing and will continue through the entire process.
Phase 3 - System and Institution Design
Designing the structures and processes that will support the future system.
Focus areas:
- Drafting and revising the Iron Alliance Child and Well-Being Act
- Clarifying governance bodies like the Law-Making Forum and Commission
- Exploring cultural and capacity-building entities like Collin Rope's Fireplace and the Cultural Revitalization Centre
- Developing early concepts for the dispute resolution mechanisms like the Inter-Nation Tribunal and Family Circle Process
- Mapping how these entities might interact and support the Nations
Phase 4 - Nation Readiness and Capacity Building
Preparing Nations for the transition to full jurisdiction.
Focus areas:
- Nation-specific readiness assessments
- Nation-level planning for service design
- Building Nation capacity to deliver programs
- Identifying the unique needs and strengths of each Nation
- Workforce planning and training and skills development
This is where Collin Rope's Fireplace may play a major role in coordinating training, tools, and supports.
Phase 5 - Ratification and Pre-Negotiation
Confirming the law and preparing the Nations for formal coordination negotiations.
Focus areas:
- Nations review and approve the collective law through their own internal processes
- Chiefs confirm the law through the Law-Making Forum
- The governance structure for implementation is finalized
- Technical preparation begins for federal and provincial negotiations
This phase ensures that all Law-making Member Nations stand behind a shared law and system that reflects their voice and direction.
Phase 6 - Coordination Agreement Negotiations
Negotiating the agreements that will support full implementation.
Once the law is ratified, Nations will negotiate with Canada and the province to secure:
- Recognition of their jurisdiction
- Long-term sustainable funding
- Service coordination arrangements
- Mechanisms for accountability and conflict resolution
These negotiations ensure that the new system has the funding and authority it needs to operate as intended.
Phase 7 - Implementation and Evaluation
Bringing the system to life and strengthening it over time.
This phase includes:
- Rolling out Nation-led services
- Supporting transitions for families, workers, and programs
- Launching cultural and capacity-building centers
- Bringing governance bodies into full operation
- Monitoring outcomes and making adjustments based on community feedback
- Continuing to revise the system
Part 5 - Building the Children's Commission and Supporting Structures (in Development)
This section further explains the current thinking around the evolution of the Commission as it moves toward eventually becoming a fully independent body.
The Iron Alliance Children's Commission
The Commission is being developed as the main oversight body that will eventually guide and oversee the child and family well-being system.
In the future, the Commission will:
- Carry the collective authority of the Law-making Member Nations to oversee the implementation of the Iron Alliance Child Well-being Act
- Revise the law and develop regulations and guiding policies to ensure alignment with Nations' standards
- Monitor compliance, address concerns and make decisions based on Nations needs
- Ensure cultural and legal integrity across the system
- Promote data sovereignty and develop ethical information-sharing protocols
- Regularly assess the system and report to the Law-Making Forum, Law-making Member Nations, and partner governments
The foundational values of the Commission include:
- Respect for and honouring of First Nations laws and knowledge systems
- Acknowledging our collective responsibility for children as a sacred gift
- Transparency and trust
- Effective Inter-tribal coordination and meaningful representation
- Healing-centred and preventative approaches to child and family well-being
The Commission will be composed of representatives appointed by each Law-making Member Nation. It will include:
- A Council of Commissioners appointed by each Nation
- A Chief Commissioner responsible for the day-to-day administration, strategic leadership and coordination of the Commission's operations
- Standing Committees, which may include:
a. Legal and policy review committees
b. Finance committee
c. Regulatory committees - Other necessary components that may be identified in the development phase or by the Commission Council.
Building the Children's Commission and Supporting Structures (in Development)
The Chief Commissioner
The Chief Commissioner exists in an interim role for now as the future role is still in development.
Current Role - Acting Commissioner
The Nations have appointed an Acting Commissioner to:
- Lead and coordinate the development of the law
- Oversee the design of the system
- Direct engagement and collect data
- Communicate with Law-making Member Nations
- Coordinate with the Law-making forum and seek mandates from the Chiefs
- Guide preparation for establishment of system entities
Future Role - Chief Commissioner
Once the Commission is formally established, a Chief Commissioner will eventually:
- Manage operations and staff
- Implement the decisions of the Commission
- Support Nations in readiness and planning, and
- Ensure accountability across the system
*The details of this role are yet to be finalized.
Replacing the Role of the Ministry (MSS)
One of the long-term goals is for the Commission to eventually take on many of the responsibilities that the Saskatchewan Ministry of Social Services (MSS) currently holds for Law-making Member Nations. This will happen gradually and will be guided by the law and future coordination agreement.
Today, MSS sets provincial child welfare standards, oversees agencies, authorizes placements, receives reports, handles case oversight, and controls funding for services. Under the future Iron Alliance system, the Commission is being designed to take over these functions, but in a way that reflects First Nations authority, laws and teachings.
In the future, the Commission will set nation-defined standards and policies for supporting children and families, oversee service delivery and capacity building under the law, coordinate funding and reporting under agreements with Canada, monitor outcomes to ensure children remain connected to their families, and ultimately replace ministry oversight.
This is important because a Nation-led Commission creates a system where decisions are made by the Nations, not the province, and family supports reflect our own laws and standards, not provincial policy.
Replacing the role of MSS will require:
- Finalizing the collective law,
- Nations approving and ratifying the law,
- Completing Nation readiness planning,
- Establishing a fully operational Commission,
- Negotiating coordination agreements with Canada and Saskatchewan,
- Ensuring proper funding; and
- Confirming roles through the Law-Making Forum.
This process will take time, and no responsibilities will shift until there are structures in place to take them on.
Building the Children's Commission and Supporting Structures (in Development)
Transition to an Independent Commission
While the Commission is being built, the Yellow Thunderbird Lodge (YTL) will continue to provide administrative support as needed, including financial support, HR and payroll, and IT services. This relationship is guided by formal operational protocols, which clarify that YTL does not control the law-making process, and all authority remains with the Nations. The current arrangement is temporary until the Commission becomes fully legally independent.
As the system develops, the Commission will gradually assume more responsibility. This transition will be intentional to ensure continuity, proper financial and administrative capacity, and alignment with future coordination agreements. Every aspect of the Commission, including its legal structure, mandate, composition, staffing, and operations, will continue to shift as the law is finalized and Nations' needs are identified.