International Sixties Scoop gathering held in Winnipeg

 It’s been a long journey for Carla Devlin. She has been searching her whole life to find her original family but has not yet been successful.

“It’s really difficult when you don’t know who you are and who your people are. That’s the biggest challenge of growing up and not being part of anything,” she explained.

“I have been searching for many years to find that connection to my culture and my family.”

Over 300 Sixties Scoop survivors attended the Finding Our Spirits gathering in Winnipeg, an International event intended to focus on healing and connection for survivors.

“I was scooped as a five-month-old baby and adopted into a non-Native home and grew up in a very religious family. To this day, I cannot attend church,” said Pat Christie, part of the Finding Our Spirits gathering.

In the late 1950s to the 80s, the federal government removed Indigenous children from their homes and adopted them into non-Indigenous families. This became known as the Sixties Scoop.

“We’re going to tell these Sixties Scoop stories for the rest of my life certainly and probably my children’s lives, because the public needs to accept that, what was done,” said Vern Coot Bird, part of the Finding Our Spirits gathering.

The event, hosted by the Southern Chiefs’ Organization and the Anish Corporation, brought survivors from across Canada and the United States.

“I grew up as a Sixties Scoop [survivor]. I grew up in a foster home which was ran by pedophiles. So, my story was traumatic and the recovery process and healing process from that journey was impossible without finding my roots and my connection to source, which is Creator,” explained Pamela Abraham, part of the Finding Our Spirits gathering.

The conference included various healing activities, keynote speakers, and access to mental health and cultural supports.

“We’re here to support our First Nation citizens and there is a lot of truth and reconciling that needs to be done as far as the colonial harms that have taken place. Reconciliation is a journey that we take together, and everyone has a part in that journey,” said Angie Hutchinson, program lead of Pathways to Healing Program with the Southern Chiefs’ Organization.