Sixties Scoop

Historical context and the shift to provincial care

The Sixties Scoop emerged directly from the phasing out of the compulsory residential school system, which the federal government began to close in the 1950s and 1960s. Government authorities at the time believed Aboriginal children would receive a better education within the public school system. This transition was facilitated by a 1951 amendment to the Indian Act that enabled provinces to provide services, including child protection, to Indigenous people where no federal services existed. The amendment triggered a dramatic and rapid increase in provincial apprehensions of Indigenous children. In British Columbia, Aboriginal children in care went from comprising just 1 percent of all children in care in 1951 to over 34 percent by 1964. Social workers entering Indigenous communities often had no specific training in Indigenous culture or history, and their assessments of child welfare were based on middle-class Euro-Canadian values. The sight of poverty, traditional diets, or different living conditions was frequently misinterpreted as neglect, leading to apprehensions that occurred without warning or consent from parents or band councils.

The policy framework treated Indigenous child removal as a solution to the social conditions on reserves, which were themselves the result of colonial displacement and discrimination. The federal and provincial governments provided few resources or services to support families, opting instead for the widespread removal of children. By the late 1970s, the transfer of children from residential schools to the child welfare system was nearly complete in southern Canada, and the impact of the Sixties Scoop was evident nationwide. The practice was rooted in the same assimilationist ideology as the residential schools, aiming to 'kill the Indian in the child' by placing them in non-Indigenous environments. Children were often forbidden from speaking their languages or learning about their heritage, and siblings were intentionally separated to further cut cultural and familial ties.

The Adopt Indian Métis program in Saskatchewan

The Adopt Indian Métis program, launched in Saskatchewan in 1967, was Canada's only targeted Indigenous transracial adoption program and became a stark symbol of the Sixties Scoop's methods. Funded by the Canadian and Saskatchewan governments, AIM was started by Otto Driedger, who later became Director of Child Welfare for Saskatchewan, and Frank Dornstauder. Its explicit goal was to promote the adoption of First Nations and Métis children by white, middle-class families. The program employed an aggressive marketing campaign, using radio, television, and provincial newspaper advertisements that featured large photographs and personal details of children available for adoption. These advertisements were considered the most effective aspect of its outreach. AIM promised prospective parents fast adoptions, with the process completed in as few as ten weeks. A CBC News television segment in May 1968, after the program's first year, reported that AIM had placed 100 children, including several family groups, and portrayed the program as a solution to the hundreds of First Nations children in need of homes.

By 1971, a CBC News report stated that 500 children had found permanent homes through AIM. An unidentified program representative interviewed for that report noted that four years earlier, children of 'native origin' represented only one in ten adoptions in Saskatchewan, but for the past two years they represented one in four. The representative claimed the increase was due to greater awareness of the children's availability, not prior prejudice. However, the program faced immediate and sustained criticism from Indigenous communities. The Métis Society in Saskatoon formed a Métis Foster Home Committee in 1971, led by Howard Adams, Phyllis Trochie, Nora Thibodeau, and Vicki Raceme, to challenge AIM and research creating a Métis-controlled foster home program. The committee condemned AIM's advertising as racist, arguing it implied Métis parents were unfit and portrayed Indigenous children as inferior. Internal program documents, such as a 1973 memo from director G.E. Jacob, recommended a 'Salesperson of the Year' award for a supervisor based on the number of children she made wards of the province, revealing a commercialized approach to child apprehension.

• Program launched in 1967 by Otto Driedger and Frank Dornstauder.
• Used newspaper ads with photos and child details to recruit adoptive families.
• Reported placing 100 children in its first year (1968).
• By 1971, 500 children were placed through the program.
• Faced opposition from the Métis Society of Saskatoon in 1971.
• Internal 1973 memo referred to a 'Salesperson of the Year' award for child apprehensions.
• Indigenous child adoptions in Saskatchewan rose from 1 in 10 to 1 in 4 between 1967 and 1971.

Scale, statistics, and national disproportionate impact

The scale of child removals during the Sixties Scoop was vast and created a lasting statistical overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the welfare system. By 1977, an estimated 15,500 Indigenous children were in the care of child welfare authorities across Canada. This figure represented 20 percent of all Canadian children living in care, while Indigenous children constituted less than 5 percent of the nation's total child population. Patrick Johnston's seminal 1983 report, 'Native Children and the Child Welfare System', where he coined the term 'Sixties Scoop', found that Aboriginal children were 4.5 times more likely than non-Aboriginal children to be in care. The overrepresentation was most severe in the Prairie provinces during the peak of the era. In Saskatchewan in 1969, Indigenous people represented only 7.5 percent of the provincial population, but their children accounted for 41.9 percent of all children in foster homes. A 1980 study by the Canadian Council on Social Development provided a crucial statistic, revealing that 78 percent of adopted status First Nations children were placed with non-Indigenous families.

Most of the children removed did not return to their communities, leading to a permanent severing of cultural and familial bonds. The high rates of apprehension were not based on higher rates of abuse within Indigenous families but were a direct result of systemic bias within the child welfare system and the socio-economic conditions on reserves, which were legacies of colonization. The proportion of children in care who were Aboriginal in the 1980s was estimated at 40 to 50 percent in Alberta, 60 to 70 percent in Saskatchewan, and 50 to 60 percent in Manitoba. These numbers illustrate how provincial systems operated as engines of assimilation, removing children at rates that devastated communities and constituted what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission later called a cultural genocide.

Resistance, legal challenges, and the Kimelman Report

Indigenous communities and leaders mounted consistent resistance to the child welfare policies of the Sixties Scoop through multiple avenues, including the courts and the creation of their own child welfare agreements. Legal challenges included the 1976 Supreme Court case Natural Parents v. Superintendent of Child Welfare. Communities also enacted their own policies, such as the Spallumcheen Indian Band's by-law to organize its own child welfare program. The movement to regain control over child welfare began in 1973 with the Blackfoot (Siksika) child welfare agreement in Alberta. This resistance culminated in a major official condemnation through a judicial inquiry in Manitoba headed by Associate Chief Judge Edwin C. Kimelman. His 1985 report, 'No quiet place', commonly known as the Kimelman Report, was a forceful critique of the entire child welfare system and its practices.

The Kimelman Report stated that staff within the system had been 'so free of examination for so long that the least attention was viewed as negative criticism.' It condemned the mass adoption of Indigenous children into non-Indigenous homes, describing it as a form of cultural genocide. The report's harsh findings, combined with resolutions passed by Ontario chiefs against the adoption policies, were instrumental in pressuring governments to discontinue the specific policies that enabled the Sixties Scoop by the mid-1980s. This period marked the beginning of a formal devolution of child welfare authority, leading to the establishment of approximately 125 First Nations Child and Family Service Agencies across Canada. However, these agencies have operated through a complex patchwork of agreements, receiving authority from provincial governments and funding from the federal government, which has often been a source of ongoing struggle and inequity.

Legal settlements, government apologies, and exclusions

Decades after the Sixties Scoop, survivors pursued justice through class-action lawsuits filed in multiple provinces. A major case was launched in Ontario in 2009, with Beaverhouse First Nation Chief Marcia Brown Martel as the lead plaintiff. On February 14, 2017, Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba ruled that the federal government was liable for the harm caused by the Sixties Scoop. This ruling led to an $800 million settlement announced on October 6, 2017, for affected survivors in Ontario. However, a significant limitation of this settlement was the exclusion of Métis and non-status First Nations people from the agreement. This exclusion prompted advocacy groups, including the National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare Network based in Ottawa, to call for the settlement's rejection unless it included all Indigenous people taken from their homes.

Parallel to legal actions, provincial governments undertook apology processes. Manitoba became the first province to apologize in 2015. Alberta conducted a formal engagement process in 2018, holding sessions in six communities where 575 survivors shared their stories to inform a meaningful apology, which was delivered at the Alberta legislature on May 28, 2018. The Alberta process was shaped in collaboration with the Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Alberta, a non-profit society formed by survivors. Saskatchewan issued its apology in 2019. These apologies were informed by the 2015 final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which stated the Sixties Scoop was part of a cultural genocide. The apologies acknowledged the lasting negative effects on mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical health and well-being that survivors and their families continue to experience.

Impacts, intergenerational trauma, and healing

The effects of the Sixties Scoop are intergenerational, affecting survivors, their biological families, and their descendants. Children who were removed often lost all connection to their families, communities, culture, and traditional languages. Many experienced identity confusion, loneliness, and a deep sense of loss. Although some adoptive families were loving, many survivors reported suffering physical, sexual, and psychological abuse in their placements. The policy of keeping birth records closed unless both child and parent consented meant many children suspected their Indigenous heritage but could not confirm it, leaving them in a state of unresolved identity. The destruction of family units and the loss of parenting role models within communities have contributed to cycles of trauma that extend to subsequent generations.

The overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system remains a critical issue today. Currently, Indigenous children make up over 50 percent of all children in foster care in Canada, a direct continuation of the disproportionate intervention rates seen during the Sixties Scoop. In response to this continuing situation, healing initiatives have been established. The National Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation of Canada was created to accompany survivors and their descendants on healing journeys by supporting cultural reclamation, reunification, and holistic wellness. The foundation announced its permanent board of directors in 2020. The path toward healing also involves supporting the work of Indigenous-led child and family service agencies, though these agencies continue to face challenges related to jurisdiction and sustainable funding.

Provincial statistics and the era's demographic impact

The demographic impact of the Sixties Scoop is starkly illustrated by provincial child welfare statistics from the 1960s through the 1980s. Data compiled by researchers, government reports, and the Kimelman inquiry reveal a system that systematically targeted Indigenous families. The following table shows the estimated proportion of children in care who were Aboriginal in three Prairie provinces during the peak of the Sixties Scoop, based on Patrick Johnston's 1983 findings and other contemporary analyses. These figures demonstrate the regional intensity of the policies and the systemic nature of the overrepresentation.

These provincial percentages are contextualized by broader national figures. In 1977, the 15,500 Indigenous children in care represented 20 percent of the national foster care population. The case of Saskatchewan is particularly telling. In 1969, Indigenous children accounted for 41.9 percent of all children in foster homes in the province. This data, combined with the 78 percent rate of transracial adoption for status First Nations children in 1980, quantifies the scale of cultural disruption. The statistics are not merely historical. They inform the understanding of why the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and subsequent government apologies framed the Sixties Scoop as a deliberate policy with devastating consequences for cultural continuity and survival.

Terminology, personal stories, and cultural loss

The term 'Sixties Scoop' itself has a specific origin that shows the personal remorse of those who implemented the policies. Researcher Patrick Johnston adopted the phrase from a British Columbia social worker who, with tears in her eyes, told him in the early 1980s that it was common practice in the mid-1960s to 'scoop' almost all newborn children from their mothers on reserves. The social worker was crying because she realized, twenty years later, the deep mistake that had been made. Johnston used the term in his 1983 report for the Canadian Council on Social Development, and it entered common usage to describe the entire era of mass apprehensions. Professor Raven Sinclair, a member of Gordon First Nation, has written that the term names one segment of a larger period in Aboriginal child welfare history where questionable apprehensions figured prominently, and it has since evolved to describe the whole era from the waning of residential schools to the mid-1980s.

Personal stories from survivors highlight the deep cultural loss and trauma. The CBC Radio podcast series 'Missing and Murdered: Finding Cleo' investigated the case of Cleopatra (Cleo) Nicotine Semaganis, a Cree girl who was removed from her family in Saskatchewan in 1974 at age nine as part of the AIM program. Her family never saw her again and spent decades searching for answers about what happened to her. Stories like Cleo's exemplify the permanent separations and unanswered questions that haunt thousands of families. The loss of language, ceremony, and connection to land and community has had a cumulative effect, contributing to what survivors describe as a lost generation. This cultural genocide was not an accidental outcome but the intended result of policies designed to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian society by any means necessary.

Questions about Sixties Scoop

What is the Sixties Scoop?

The Sixties Scoop was a period from the mid to late 1950s to the 1980s when Canadian child welfare authorities apprehended thousands of Indigenous children from their families and placed them in foster care or for adoption, usually with non-Indigenous families. The term describes a mass removal policy that severed children from their culture, language, and communities. It is considered a continuation of assimilationist policies that began with the residential school system. Researcher Patrick Johnston coined the term in a 1983 report after a social worker described the practice of 'scooping' newborns from reserves.

How many children were affected by the Sixties Scoop?

It is estimated that approximately 20,000 Indigenous children were taken from their families during the Sixties Scoop era. By 1977, about 15,500 Indigenous children were in the care of child welfare authorities across Canada. They represented 20 percent of all children in care, despite Indigenous children making up less than 5 percent of the total child population. The overrepresentation was extreme in some provinces. In Saskatchewan during the 1980s, an estimated 60 to 70 percent of children in care were Aboriginal.

What was the Adopt Indian Métis program?

The Adopt Indian Métis program was a targeted transracial adoption program launched in Saskatchewan in 1967. It was the only program of its kind in Canada, explicitly promoting the adoption of First Nations and Métis children by white, middle-class families. AIM used aggressive advertising in newspapers, radio, and television, featuring photos of children and promising fast adoptions. While it placed hundreds of children, it was heavily criticized by Indigenous leaders as assimilationist and racist. The program exemplified the government's approach to Indigenous child welfare during the Sixties Scoop.

What legal action was taken by survivors?

Survivors filed multiple class-action lawsuits against the federal government. A major case in Ontario, with Chief Marcia Brown Martel as lead plaintiff, resulted in a landmark ruling in 2017 that found the government liable for the harm caused. This led to an $800 million settlement announced in October 2017 for affected survivors in Ontario. However, Métis and non-status First Nations people were excluded from this settlement, which has been a point of ongoing advocacy for more inclusive compensation and recognition.

Which provinces have apologized for the Sixties Scoop?

Several provincial governments have issued formal apologies to Sixties Scoop survivors. Manitoba was the first to apologize in 2015. Alberta followed in 2018 after holding engagement sessions with 575 survivors to shape a meaningful apology. Saskatchewan offered its apology in 2019. These apologies acknowledged the deep suffering, loss of culture, and intergenerational trauma caused by the mass removal of Indigenous children, aligning with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's finding that the Sixties Scoop was part of a cultural genocide.

What is being done to support survivors today?

Support for survivors includes the National Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation of Canada, established to accompany survivors and their descendants on healing journeys through cultural reclamation and wellness programs. Its permanent board was announced in 2020. There are about 125 First Nations Child and Family Service Agencies operating across Canada, representing a move toward Indigenous control over child welfare. However, challenges remain, as Indigenous children still represent over 50 percent of children in foster care, indicating the ongoing effects of these historical policies.

Sources and further reading

• Sixties Scoop (Wikipedia)
• Sixties Scoop (Plain-Language Summary) (thecanadianencyclopedia.ca)
• Sixties Scoop | indigenousfoundations (indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca)
• Sixties Scoop apology engagement (alberta.ca)
• Sixties Scoop (metisnation.ca)

Checked by the Nosy Mag desk. Last updated 2026-10-26.