"Sixties Scoop"

1960s through mid 1980s. Between the 1960s and the mid 1980s, large numbers of First Nation and Metis children in Canada were taken or "scooped" from their homes and communities without consent or knowledge of their families or bands, and given out to mainly non-Aboriginal families, in Canada and internationally. This became known as the "Sixities Scoop" - a term coined by Patrick Johnston in his report, Native Children and the Child Welfare System(1983). Children were often taken from their families under the assumption that First Nations people were not capable of providing adequately for the children - that they were "unfit" parents in some capacity (Sinclair, 2015). These measures have also been interpreted as cultural genocide. Nearly 11, 132 children were adopted between 1960 and 1990, although the numbers might be much higher (Sinclair, 2015).

The "Sixties Scoop" was not an explicit government policy, and removing First Nations children from their culture had been enacted before the 1960s through residential school systems (Hanson, 2009). However, during this time period, Aboriginal children in the system became dramatically overrepresented - from 1 percent of children in care in 1951 to over 34 percent in the 1960s and 1970s (Hanson, 2009). After the 1951 Indian Act amendment, many social services to Aboriginal people were transferred from the federal government to provinces, including Child protection (Hanson, 2009), with provincial child welfare organizations guaranteed payment for each child apprehended. Many social workers at the time were unfamiliar with Aboriginal culture, and did not understand means of proper care outside of Euro-Canadian values (Hanson, 2009), and many children were placed in institutions or moved from foster home to foster home. Many children who were placed in new environments struggled with issues of identity (Hanson, 2009). It was not until 1980 that social workers were required to inform the band if an Aboriginal child was removed from its home (Hanson, 2009).

Aboriginal child welfare remains a complex problem in Canada. Two lawsuits have been filed by Sixties Scoop survivors in Canada - in Ontario in 2010 (recently approved as a class action lawsuit), and in British Columbia in 2011 (Mehta, 2014). Similar measures to the "Sixties Scoop" have happened in other countries as well, such as the Stolen Generation of Australia.

-Colette Leung

"Sixties Scoop"

1960s through mid 1980s. Between the 1960s and the mid 1980s, large numbers of First Nation and Metis children in Canada were taken or "scooped" from their homes and communities without consent or knowledge of their families or bands, and given out to mainly non-Aboriginal families, in Canada and internationally. This became known as the "Sixities Scoop" - a term coined by Patrick Johnston in his report, Native Children and the Child Welfare System(1983). Children were often taken from their families under the assumption that First Nations people were not capable of providing adequately for the children - that they were "unfit" parents in some capacity (Sinclair, 2015). These measures have also been interpreted as cultural genocide. Nearly 11, 132 children were adopted between 1960 and 1990, although the numbers might be much higher (Sinclair, 2015).

The "Sixties Scoop" was not an explicit government policy, and removing First Nations children from their culture had been enacted before the 1960s through residential school systems (Hanson, 2009). However, during this time period, Aboriginal children in the system became dramatically overrepresented - from 1 percent of children in care in 1951 to over 34 percent in the 1960s and 1970s (Hanson, 2009). After the 1951 Indian Act amendment, many social services to Aboriginal people were transferred from the federal government to provinces, including Child protection (Hanson, 2009), with provincial child welfare organizations guaranteed payment for each child apprehended. Many social workers at the time were unfamiliar with Aboriginal culture, and did not understand means of proper care outside of Euro-Canadian values (Hanson, 2009), and many children were placed in institutions or moved from foster home to foster home. Many children who were placed in new environments struggled with issues of identity (Hanson, 2009). It was not until 1980 that social workers were required to inform the band if an Aboriginal child was removed from its home (Hanson, 2009).

Aboriginal child welfare remains a complex problem in Canada. Two lawsuits have been filed by Sixties Scoop survivors in Canada - in Ontario in 2010 (recently approved as a class action lawsuit), and in British Columbia in 2011 (Mehta, 2014). Similar measures to the "Sixties Scoop" have happened in other countries as well, such as the Stolen Generation of Australia.

-Colette Leung