A travelling exhibit highlighting the stories of survivors of the Sixties Scoop hosted a one-day event in the Cranbrook History Centre this week.
Sandra Relling, Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Alberta president, was pleased with the attendance of the Bi-Giwen: Coming Home – Truth Telling from the Sixties Scoop exhibition.
“I’m very excited to see so many people in Cranbrook wanting to learn about the Sixties Scoop and its impacts on Canadian society as a whole and Indigenous people,” said Relling.
More: Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Alberta
Relling explained the government policy toward taking Indigenous children from their families.
“It was a period of time between 1950 and 1990, where the federal government offloaded the responsibility of child welfare to provincial organizations,” said Relling. “These agencies went into Indigenous communities and removed children and placed them in non-indigenous homes. Some were fostered and spent their youth in foster care, some were adopted out.”
More: Travelling exhibit to share stories from Sixties Scoop survivors (May 4, 2022)
The exhibit was hosted in the Royal Alexandra Hall from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and was the travelling exhibit’s first stop in Cranbrook.
Their next stop will be in Kelowna on Saturday, May 14th.
Full interviews with three indigenous survivors of the Sixties Scoop, including a local man, can be found below.
Sandra Relling, Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Alberta president:
Lew Jobs, Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Alberta board member:
Francis, local Ɂakisq̓nuk Sixties Scoop survivor: