What is the Sixties Scoop?
The term Sixties Scoop refers to the practice by provincial child welfare authorities whereby children of Indigenous peoples in Canada were apprehended and removed from their families. These children were placed in non-Indigenous foster homes or adopted by non-Indigenous families. Child welfare authorities were apprehending Indigenous children before the 1960s, but this organized, concerted effort to remove children from their homes commenced in 1965, and continued until 1984. The practice left in its wake a trail of devastated lives.