The legacy of the Sixties Scoop

CBC News: The National

23 Aug 201605:08

Summary

TLDRThe discussion features Cindy Blackstock, an advocate for Indigenous youth, and Raven Sinclair, a professor and survivor of the '60s Scoop, exploring the historical and ongoing trauma of Indigenous child removal in Canada. Blackstock highlights three phases of state removal of Indigenous children, from residential schools to today's underfunded child welfare system, while Sinclair shares her mixed experiences and emphasizes the need for healing from emotional and psychological trauma. Both advocate for systemic reform, increased public awareness, and prevention of further harm to Indigenous children.

Takeaways

👥 Cindy Blackstock and Raven Sinclair share their unique perspectives on indigenous child welfare in Canada.
🕰️ The state removal of indigenous children in Canada occurred in three phases: residential schools, the 60s Scoop, and current child welfare policies.
📚 Raven Sinclair, who was taken from her community, shares her mixed experiences, highlighting both positive aspects like travel and negative ones like racism and isolation.
🗣️ Cindy Blackstock discusses the systemic issues leading to the removal of indigenous children, including inadequate social worker training and underfunded services on reserves.
⚖️ A recent ruling found that the federal government's underfunding of child welfare has contributed to ongoing mass removals of First Nations children.
💔 Raven mentions that despite some benefits, the loss of family, community, and culture is irreplaceable and can't be compensated fully.
💰 Raven hopes that the lawsuit will lead to proper support for survivors to deal with trauma and that financial compensation may alleviate some challenges.
🔄 Cindy emphasizes the need for public awareness that the removal of indigenous children is not just a historical issue but a continuing one today.
🏫 Improvements in social work education include mandatory Native Studies classes, but biases and prejudices still impact decisions regarding indigenous children.
🔄 Both Cindy and Raven advocate for preventing future harm to indigenous children by learning from past mistakes and reforming the child welfare system.

Q & A

Who are the two guests mentioned in the interview?
-The two guests are Cindy Blackstock, an advocate for Canadian Indigenous youth and families, and Raven Sinclair, a professor of social work at the University of Regina.
What personal experience does Raven Sinclair bring to the discussion?
-Raven Sinclair shares her personal experience of being taken from her community as a child, providing insights into both the positive and negative aspects of that experience.
What challenges did Raven Sinclair face growing up after being removed from her community?
-Raven Sinclair faced racism, ostracism, bullying, and the absence of her family, community, and culture, which left her unprotected from these negative experiences.
What historical context does Cindy Blackstock provide regarding Indigenous child removals in Canada?
-Cindy Blackstock explains that the removal of Indigenous children happened in three phases: the residential school system, the 60s Scoop, and ongoing underfunding of child welfare services, leading to mass removals of Indigenous children.
What was the role of the residential school system in Indigenous child removals?
-The residential school system, acknowledged as cultural genocide, was the first phase of child removals. These schools also acted as child welfare placements before being replaced by provincial child welfare systems.
How does Cindy Blackstock describe the impact of inequitable services on reserves?
-Cindy Blackstock highlights that the inequitable services on reserves, combined with untrained social workers and multigenerational trauma, led to mass removals of Indigenous children that could have been prevented.
What does Raven Sinclair hope to see as a result of the current lawsuit?
-Raven Sinclair hopes that the lawsuit will lead to emotional and psychological support for those affected and reforms in the Child Welfare system, ensuring that Indigenous children are better protected.
What does Cindy Blackstock believe is crucial for moving forward in Indigenous child welfare?
-Cindy Blackstock believes that public awareness about the ongoing state removals of Indigenous children and learning from 60s Scoop survivors are crucial to preventing further harm.
Has the training of social workers improved since the 1960s and 1970s, according to Raven Sinclair?
-Yes, Raven Sinclair notes that social workers are now more knowledgeable about Indigenous history due to mandatory Native Studies classes, but there is still work to be done in addressing biases and prejudices.
What is the significance of the January ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, as mentioned by Cindy Blackstock?
-The January ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal stated that the federal government's underfunding of child welfare services for Indigenous children was a significant factor in the mass removals, reinforcing the need for systemic reform.

Outlines

00:00

🎙️ Introduction to Indigenous Child Welfare Advocates

The video introduces two experts, Cindy Blackstock, an advocate for Canadian Indigenous youth and families, and Raven Sinclair, a social work professor at the University of Regina. Both bring personal and professional insights on the subject of Indigenous child welfare. Raven begins by sharing her personal experience as one of the children taken from her community, detailing both the positive and negative aspects of her journey, especially the challenges of racism, ostracism, and losing connection with her family and culture.

05:01

📜 Historical Context of Indigenous Child Removals

Cindy Blackstock provides historical context for the removal of Indigenous children in Canada. She explains that this issue unfolded in three phases: the residential school system, the '60s Scoop, and the modern underfunded child welfare system. While the government acknowledged the cultural genocide of residential schools, this system laid the groundwork for the '60s Scoop. Provincial child welfare agencies took over when residential schools closed, leading to further harm due to untrained social workers and systemic trauma. Today, inequitable funding of Indigenous child welfare continues to cause preventable harm.

⚖️ Personal Impact of Child Removal and Positive Aspects

Raven reflects on her personal experience, acknowledging that while she had opportunities to travel and do things her birth family, due to poverty, couldn’t afford, these experiences did not compensate for the deep loss of family, community, and culture. She emphasizes that no material gain can replace the emotional and cultural damage inflicted by such separations.

🏛️ Hopes for Change and Systemic Reform

Raven expresses hope that the ongoing lawsuit will provide the necessary emotional and psychological support for Indigenous people who have experienced trauma due to child welfare practices. She acknowledges that financial compensation may help with some challenges but stresses the need for reform in the Child Welfare system itself. She envisions a system that avoids repeating the mistakes of the past.

👥 Public Awareness and Prevention of Future Harm

Cindy Blackstock stresses the importance of increasing public awareness about the ongoing legacy of state-led removals of Indigenous children. She emphasizes that the harm inflicted by these removals continues today with over 163,000 children still affected. Preventable harm is being done, and Blackstock calls for learning from the courageous stories of survivors to stop the cycle of harm.

📚 Improvements in Social Work but Ongoing Challenges

Raven discusses how the education of social workers has evolved since the '60s and '70s, with Indigenous history now a required component of their training. However, she notes that while knowledge has improved, personal biases and prejudices still affect the decisions made regarding Indigenous children. More work is needed to address these biases within the child welfare system.

✨ Closing Remarks and Hope for Change

The video closes with a sense of hope that the increased attention from the ongoing court case may lead to meaningful changes in the child welfare system. Both Raven Sinclair and Cindy Blackstock express their gratitude for the opportunity to share their insights, highlighting the need for continued public engagement and systemic reform to protect future generations of Indigenous children.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Indigenous Child Welfare

This refers to the system and practices related to the care and protection of Indigenous children in Canada. In the video, both Cindy Blackstock and Raven Sinclair discuss how Indigenous child welfare has been shaped by historical and current policies, including residential schools and the '60s Scoop. The lack of adequate support and cultural insensitivity in these systems has led to widespread harm among Indigenous families.

💡60s Scoop

The '60s Scoop' was a period in Canadian history where thousands of Indigenous children were removed from their families and communities by child welfare authorities and placed in non-Indigenous homes. This is discussed as a continuation of the harm caused by residential schools, with long-lasting effects on Indigenous children, families, and communities.

💡Residential School System

The residential school system in Canada was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous children, designed to assimilate them into Western culture. Cindy Blackstock describes it as an example of 'cultural genocide,' where children were forcibly taken from their communities and deprived of their language and culture. This system is the first phase in a broader context of state removals of Indigenous children.

💡Cultural Genocide

Cultural genocide refers to actions taken to systematically destroy the culture of a particular group, in this case, Indigenous peoples in Canada. Cindy Blackstock mentions this term to describe the goal of the residential school system, where Indigenous children were separated from their culture, language, and traditions as a means of forced assimilation.

💡Trauma

Trauma in this context refers to the psychological and emotional damage suffered by Indigenous children and families as a result of being forcibly removed from their homes. Both Raven Sinclair and Cindy Blackstock highlight the lasting impact of this trauma, with Sinclair describing her personal experience of feeling isolated, bullied, and disconnected from her culture.

💡Multigenerational Trauma

Multigenerational trauma refers to the psychological and emotional damage that is passed down from one generation to the next. Cindy Blackstock discusses how Indigenous families are suffering from this due to the lasting impacts of residential schools and the 60s Scoop, which have created cycles of trauma that affect current and future generations.

💡Racism

Racism is a key issue discussed by Raven Sinclair, who recalls experiencing bullying, ostracism, and discrimination as an Indigenous child taken from her community. This systemic racism is a factor in the treatment of Indigenous peoples by the child welfare system and broader Canadian society, exacerbating the harms of forced assimilation.

💡Underfunding of Child Welfare

Cindy Blackstock discusses the underfunding of child welfare services for Indigenous children as a major issue, with funding at 70 cents on the dollar compared to services provided to non-Indigenous children. This lack of resources contributes to the continued removal of Indigenous children from their families, perpetuating the cycle of harm.

💡Reform

Reform refers to the changes needed in the child welfare system to better serve Indigenous children and families. Both Raven Sinclair and Cindy Blackstock advocate for significant reforms to address the ongoing injustices and improve outcomes for Indigenous communities. Sinclair emphasizes the need for social workers to better understand Indigenous history and culture.

💡Compensation

Compensation is mentioned by Raven Sinclair in the context of the ongoing lawsuit related to the 60s Scoop. While financial compensation is one aspect of addressing the harm done, Sinclair stresses the importance of emotional and psychological support for survivors to truly heal from the trauma of their experiences.

Highlights

Cindy Blackstock is an advocate for Canadian Indigenous youth and families, providing historical context on the systemic removal of First Nations children.

Raven Sinclair is a professor of social work and a 60s Scoop survivor, sharing her personal experience of being taken from her community.

Raven's childhood involved both positive and negative experiences, including racism, ostracism, and the absence of her family and culture.

Raven emphasizes the long-term impact of losing her family, community, and culture, and questions whether positive experiences can ever fully compensate for that loss.

Cindy discusses three phases of state removal of Indigenous children in Canada: the residential school system, the 60s Scoop, and modern-day underfunded child welfare systems.

The first phase involved the residential school system, which Prime Minister has acknowledged as cultural genocide.

The second phase, the 60s Scoop, began as residential schools closed, and provincial child welfare systems were introduced on reserves.

Cindy points out that undertrained social workers, multigenerational trauma, and inequitable services on reserves contributed to mass removals of Indigenous children.

The third phase continues today, with a 2016 human rights tribunal ruling that the federal government underfunds child welfare services for Indigenous children, leading to further removals.

Raven highlights the importance of addressing emotional and psychological trauma caused by child removal policies and systems.

She also notes the common Canadian response of financial compensation for historical wrongs, but emphasizes the need for systemic reform in child welfare.

Cindy stresses the urgency of raising public awareness about ongoing harm to Indigenous children, even after the residential schools and 60s Scoop era.

She calls for proactive prevention to avoid raising future generations of Indigenous children who must recover from childhood trauma.

Raven observes some progress in social work education, where students are required to take Indigenous studies courses, but believes more work is needed.

She calls for introspection among social workers to challenge their biases and ensure more equitable decisions for Indigenous children in child welfare systems.