Sixties Scoop survivor recounts trauma, loss, abuses − and offers pathway to healing

MONTREAL (CityNews) ─ A Sixties Scoop survivor has dedicated her life to exploring her own traumatic past while helping thousands of survivors on a similar journey of intergenerational healing.

As a young girl, Dr. Jacqueline Marie Maurice was removed from her family and community, transferring from one foster home to another throughout her childhood.

She is one of an estimated 20,000 Indigenous children who were taken from their families and placed in non-Indigenous homes over a period of about three decades now known as the Sixties Scoop.

The federal government maintained it was acting in the best interests of the children.

“In my particular case, I was never registered for adoption,” recounted Maurice. “So what that meant, I just went in and out of foster homes throughout my young life. Up until the age of 14, I practically went through 14 foster homes.

“On behalf of unfortunately several thousands of survivors, I too endured trauma and losses and various types of abuses. And I would imagine probably by the age of 10 or 11, I began to shut down emotionally, relationally, psychologically. And that was the first attempt on my young life.”

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It’s a small part of what Maurice calls the move from “intergenerational trauma to intergenerational healing.”

“If I think of my greatest loss? Yes, it’s loss of culture, it’s loss of identity. But as we sit here today, also a loss of significant relationships, loss of connection with my family, my biological family, my extended family and my community.”

A handout photo of Dr. Jacqueline Marie Maurice at age 3. The photo was used for a publicity and poster campaign to adopt Indian and Métis children during the height of the Sixties Scoop. (Credit: Jacqueline Marie/HO)

In what became a years-long legal struggle, Sixties Scoop survivors successfully sued the government for their loss of heritage, culture and family ties. Ultimately, in 2017, the government agreed to pay $800 million.

A portion of that amount − $50 million − was used to launch the Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation, to which Maurice was appointed the CEO in September. She is responsible for developing and implementing programs and services to support survivors.

“Trauma is indeed intergenerational, so the Healing Foundation is immediately for survivors, their families, and when we say descendants, that includes their grandchildren and for generations to come.

RELATED: Sixties Scoop survivor speaks her truth: ‘I’m not going to hide it’

“I was one of the very first people as a Sixties Scoop survivor to research and uncover the story of the Sixties Scoop. And now many others have come forward. And that has been my life’s work, my heart’s work, and now we can make it culturally safe, a culturally respectful way of saying that we journey together and we are no longer alone.

“We can come together and honour and reconcile where we come from so we can gather strength, so we can gather light and hope, and so that we can gather courage and go forward in our healing and wellness journeys through various supports and services that will be available.”

─With files from The Canadian Press.