Alberta Gov’t schedules engagement sessions with Sixties Scoop Survivors and their families

Adam North Peigan is President of the Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Alberta.

(January 5, 2018) – The Government of Alberta wants to hear from survivors of the Sixties Scoop and their families to help inform a meaningful apology.

The province and the Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Alberta (SSISA) will hold engagement sessions in six locations across the province between January and March. 

“Healing can only begin when we truly understand this heartbreaking historical injustice,” stated Danielle Larivee, Alberta Minister of Children’s Services. “That’s why we need to listen to survivors and families about what a meaningful apology should look like. These sessions are an important opportunity to learn from survivors about how the Sixties Scoop has impacted Indigenous communities and inform the actions we will take moving forward in the spirit of reconciliation.”

The sessions will focus on learning from survivors about how the Sixties Scoop impacted them, to help shape what a meaningful government apology will look like.

“We need survivors and their families to be involved in this process for us to better understand how the Sixties Scoop affected their lives, how an apology could unfold and how to give it real meaning and depth,” added Alberta Minister of Indigenous Relations Richard Feehan. 

“This engagement process will give survivors of the Sixties Scoop an opportunity to be heard,” remarked Adam North Peigan, President of the Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Alberta (pictured above).  

“I am pleased with our partnership with the Government of Alberta and our collaborative work towards healing and reconciliation for survivors and their families. We look forward to listening to survivors help shape a government apology for the Sixties Scoop.”

Dates and locations for the engagement sessions:

  • Jan. 18 – Peace River
  • Feb. 1 – St. Paul
  • Feb. 7 – Fort McMurray
  • Feb. 14 – Lethbridge
  • Feb. 21 – Calgary
  • March 1 – Edmonton

All sessions run from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. (cultural ceremonies at 7:30 a.m.) and are open to the public. Those who cannot attend in person are welcome to submit input online. For more information, visit www.alberta.ca/SixtiesScoopApology.

The Sixties Scoop refers to a period of time in Canada when a large number of Indigenous children were taken from their parents, families and communities by child intervention services and placed with mostly non-Indigenous families. As a result, many lost touch with their families, communities, culture and traditional language.

Click here for a related article – an interview with Adam North Peigan. 

1 Comment on "Alberta Gov’t schedules engagement sessions with Sixties Scoop Survivors and their families"

  1. Joanne Finlay | January 6, 2018 at 8:25 pm | Reply

    you should look into Cardston Alberta and surrounding farming communities the Mormons and the Sixties Scoop children from BC from Haida Gwaii east to Smithers. Picked up on a train and sent to foster homes. The records have to be somewhere. The church had to have permission from the government of the day! Thousands over the years, Me and my three brothers all went and our cousins. My brother is still there. He never came home- he is a Tsimshian farmer!?

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