The term Sixties Scoop was created by Patrick Johnston, author of the 1983 report Native

Children and the Child Welfare System. It refers to the widespread removal of Aboriginal

children from their homes and placement in the child welfare system, frequently without the

families' or bands' permission. The Indian Act was amended, which gave local provinces control

over some matters, notably the welfare of Indigenous children. Indigenous children were over 50

times more prevalent in some provinces' child welfare systems by the middle of the 1960s than

they had been at the start of the 1950s.

Impact:

Many Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their homes and villages and placed in

foster care as a result of these policies. The majority of the kids were later adopted by non-

Indigenous, predominately white families across Canada and the US. Several years after the

Sixties Scoop, survivors, their descendants, communities, and Nations are still affected by being

physically, culturally, emotionally, and spiritually cut off from their birth families, communities,

and Nations.

As a result, the Sixties Scoop Survivors lost their history and sense of identity as they grew

older. Survivors have reported experiencing emotions of uncertainty, alienation, and shame as a

result of being cut off from their culture, birth families, and Country. When implementing Sixties

Scoop policy, many administrators held the belief that taking children from their Tribes at a

young enough age would prevent them from developing their Indian identities.

I believe that indigenous people made significant contributions to the environment's welfare. But

opposing their viewpoints on the important issues leaves one feeling so defeated.

References:
What is the Sixties Scoop? Settlement.Org | Information Newcomers Can Trust. (n.d.). Retrieved

March 4, 2023, from https://settlement.org/ontario/immigration-citizenship/citizenship/

first-nations-inuit-and-metis-peoples/what-is-the-sixties-scoop/

Class action. CLASS ACTION. (n.d.). Retrieved March 4, 2023, from

https://sixtiesscoopsettlement.info/