Compiled and Written By George Paul
Communications Officer MFCSNS
The Agency of Mi’kmaw Family and Children Services of Nova Scotia want to express our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and admirers of Dr. Joan Glode. Dr. Glode is survived by her partner Bob and her daughter Darcy Glode who gifted them with four beautiful grandchildren, Jonah, Pierce, Felicity and Thaddeus.
Tributes of Joan’s legacy started to pour out on social media when the family announced the sudden passing of their mother on March 9, 2023, the same day when Joan’s mother passed away fifteen years ago. Joan passed away peacefully in the home she loved in White’s Lake overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
Her vast career accomplishments are many, including her role as the founding Executive Director of Mi’kmaq Family and Children’s Services. In this role, Dr. Glode oversaw service support to Mi’kmaq communities in Nova Scotia and extended the organization’s reach to serve all Indigenous families in the province.
The Mi’kmaq Family and Children’s Services is one of the most highly respected child welfare agencies in Canada, thanks in large part to her dedication and vision. Under her inspiring leadership, the Mi’kmaq Family and Children’s Services eventually assumed all the functions of a child and family services agency, including child protection. The organization made major strides in reversing the trend of Indigenous children in Nova Scotia being adopted outside of their communities and applying family group decision-making in resolving child welfare cases.
Dr. Glode achieved many accomplishments in her life, and was a daughter, a life-partner, a mother, a grandmother, a social worker, a friend to Mi'kmaq peoples and all First Nations people in Canada. A Dalhousie honorary degree recipient (2009), Dr. Glode was a well-known and beloved leader who deeply improved the lives of countless First Nations families and children. She earned the reputation as one of the wisest, hardest working and generous leaders in First Nations child welfare and was a passionate advocate for social justice.
She was the first Mi’kmaq woman in Nova Scotia to receive a Master of Social Work in 1973. She was instrumental in developing the undergraduate degree at Dalhousie in social work offered to Mi’kmaq students.
Joan's determination to do things the right way all started one morning in 1975 when she was going into the Mi'kmaq Friendship Centre and there were two youths in the doorway. She invited them into the Centre for a cup of tea when one of them said, 'I grew up in foster care but I think I came from a certain native community – can you tell me who I am'? She was moved into a life decision to do things the right way, as these youths taught her how lost some of our children have become. They didn't know who they were, they couldn't speak their language, and they didn't know their traditions because they were in foster care outside their own community.
Joan helped to develop Mi'kmaw Family & Children's Services in Nova Scotia, a mandated child welfare agency that also operates two Family Treatment Centres that provide shelter and safety to women and children, and an outreach counselling service to men. Mi'kmaw Family & Children's Services in Nova Scotia opened in 1985.
Joan was the first Executive Director and she provided the agency social workers and staff with the vision and direction to provide mandated and culturally relevant child welfare services to Mi'kmaq families and children. Over the years, she has encouraged the development of culturally relevant First Nations child welfare services in the agency, such as the Alternate Care Policy (currently known as respite care), Family-Group Conferencing and more recently, Custom Adoptions.
For the present Executive Director of MFCSNS, Arlene Johnson, Joan was a role model, a source of wisdom and was a gentle warrior for all indigenous children’s rights.
“Joan worked tremendously hard to advocate for all indigenous children and families at the national level. Joan strongly believed in providing a voice to families. She introduced family group conferencing which we now refer to as “Wikmanej Kikmanaq” as a way of bringing families together to make decisions and plans regarding their children.”
“We are proud to continue Joan’s legacy as a way of engaging families in a non-adversarial way. Today we utilize Wikmanej Kikmanaq throughout all our programs,” said Johnson.
Fellow trailblazer for Indigenous child and family welfare, Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director of First Nations Child & Family Caring Society, knew Glode well. She remembers her as "one of the wisest women I'll ever meet."
She describes Glode as a fierce advocate and someone who would always remind those around her about who they were fighting for.
Blackstock said she and Glode worked closely together, including in the creation of Jordan's Principle and related Canadian Human Rights Tribunal victories. Jordan's Principle ensures all First Nations children living in Canada have equal and timely access to the supports and services they may need. "Every child who's ever received a service under Jordan's Principle or families who've received supports under prevention services owe a thank you to Joan Glode," said Blackstock.
Cindy Blackstock added, "She had a duty to leave a legacy beyond the remembering of her name — that your true legacy is lived out in a generation of children who may never know who you are, are living a healthier and happier childhood than what otherwise would have been willed to them."
Many organizations have recognized Dr. Glode. She received the Aboriginal Achievement Award and the Order of Canada in 2009. The Mi’kmaq community also recognized her, as she was chosen to be an Olympic Torch Carrier for the Canadian Olympic Games and represented the Mi'kmaq peoples with pride and honor.
Though many would disagree, Joan always said she never accomplished anything on her own. She always acknowledged her team of workers, referring both to the social workers and her staff and says it’s about the work that we do. Glode regards herself as merely a team leader, and credits all members of the team for the success of the agency.
In one of her quotes Joan said, “It’s important we reclaim the language, the stories and the traditions, and that’s what we are doing. It is our job to quietly re-weave things back together, do things in our traditional ways and bring together our communities again.”
A memorial service was held on March 25, 2023, where everything started in 1975, at the Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre in Halifax. Joan’s legacy will endure.
Order of Canada - (R-L) The Governor General of Canada, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston awarded Joan Glode the Order of Canada, on November 4, 2009. Joan Glode, C.M., LL.D. has long been a committed advocate for the rights and well-being of Native children. She is the founder and has been the executive director of the Mi’kmaw Family and Children Services for 25 years. A social worker, she recognized the need for culturally sensitive social services and helped to develop an Indigenous, community-based system of child welfare on reserves.
Joan glode – A gentle warrior in her own right, the late Dr. Joan Glode, former Executive Director of Mi’kmaw Family and Children Services of Nova Scotia, was a fierce advocate for social justice for indigenous children and families. Joan passed away peacefully on March 9, 2023 in the home she loved in White’s Lake overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.