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Sixties Scoop Facts & Worksheets

The “Sixties Scoop” refers to a practice of removing or "scooping up," Indigenous children from their homes and families starting in the mid-1960s and persisting into the 1980s that occurred in Canada.

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The “Sixties Scoop” refers to a practice of removing or “scooping up,” Indigenous children from their homes and families starting in the mid-1960s and persisting into the 1980s that occurred in Canada. These children, who were placed in foster homes, and eventually adopted out to white families from across Canada and the United States lost their names, languages, and a connection to their heritage.

See the fact file below for more information on the Sixties Scoop or alternatively, you can download our 20-page Sixties Scoop worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

THE TERM SIXTIES SCOOP

  • The term “Sixties Scoop” was first used by Patrick Johnston in his 1983 report entitled Native Children and the Child Welfare System which refers to the adoption of First Nation/Metis children in Canada between 1960 and the mid-1980s.
  • It was coined the “Sixties Scoop” because the highest numbers of adoptions took place in the decade of the 1960s and because, in most cases, children were literally scooped from their homes and communities without the consent of families and bands.
  • Many First Nations people hold that the forced removal of the children was an intentional act of genocide.

HISTORY

  • The residential school system in Canada was implemented by the federal government and controlled by various churches.
  • The school system that aimed to educate Aboriginal children in Euro-Canadian and Christian values so they could become part of mainstream society was in effect until 1996 when the last school closed.
  • In this system, children were forcibly removed from their families for an extended period of time and forbade acknowledging their culture in any way.
  • Residential schools’ survivors have come forward and spoken out about physical, spiritual, sexual, and psychological abuse that they experienced under the control of the residential school staff.
  • The Canadian government began to close the compulsory residential school system in the 1950s and the 1960s.

ABOUT THE SIXTIES SCOOP

  • The government began phasing out compulsory residential school education in the 1950s and 1960s when the public started to understand its destructive impacts on families.
  • On the other hand, the “Sixties Scoop” began in 1951 and persisted in the 1980s when the amendments to the Indian Act enabled the provinces to give jurisdiction over Indigenous child welfare (Section 88) where none existed federally.
  • In 1951, Provincial agencies chose to remove children from their homes rather than provide community resources and supports to the Aboriginal communities — particularly those living on-reserve— with poverty, high death rates, and socio-economic barriers since there were no additional financial resources.
  • Every province had different foster programs and adoption policies.
  • Around 20,000 Indigenous children were taken away from their families and fostered or adopted out primarily to white middle-class families as part of the “Sixties Scoop.”
  • This practice was most popular in the prairies like in Saskatchewan where they created a specific program designed to facilitate these adoptions.
  • The child welfare system did not require nor expect its social workers to have specific training in dealing with Indigenous child welfare. Many of the social workers who served during the “Sixties Scoop” were totally uneducated in the culture or history of the Aboriginal communities they entered.
  • They “scooped” newborn and young children from their parents based on middle-class Euro-Canadian values.
  • For instance, when social workers entered the homes of families living on a traditional Aboriginal diet of dried game, fish, and berries, and didn’t see fridges or cupboards stocked in typical Euro-Canadian fashion, they concluded that the adults in the home were not able to provide for their children.
  • They “scooped” Aboriginal children with little or absolutely no consent from the families and community and placed them into non-Indigenous homes.
  • It was not until 1980 that the Child, Family and Community Services Act required social workers to notify band councils of a child’s removal from the community.

THE SHIFTS IN CHILD WELFARE POLICIES

  • Many factors came together to start a change in the state of Aboriginal child welfare in Canada.
  • In 1983, Patrick Johnston coined the term “Sixties Scoop” in a report on Aboriginal child welfare.
  • In 1985, Justice Edwin Kimelman’s No Quiet Place led to changes in child welfare policies. Before children could be put in non-Indigenous families, precedence for their adoptions was first to be given to extended family and then to the other Indigenous families.
  • More developments came in 1990 when the federal government founded the First Nations Child and Family Services program (FNCFS) which gave local bands the authority to administer child and family services according to provincial and territorial legislation.
  • Since then, bands have progressively managed their own child welfare services.

SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPACTS

  • The long-lasting result of the “Sixties Scoop” on adult adoptees includes the loss of cultural identity, low self-esteem, and feelings of shame, loneliness, and confusion.
  • While some adoptees were, fortunately, living with loving and supportive people, they could not give culturally specific education and experiences important to the creation of healthy, Indigenous identities. Some adoptees also experienced sexual, physical, and different kinds of abuse.
  • With this, class-action lawsuits pursued against provincial governments in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, are still before the courts beginning in the 1990s.

Sixties Scoop Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Sixties Scoop across 20 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Sixties Scoop worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the “Sixties Scoop” which refers to a practice of removing or “scooping up,” Indigenous children from their homes and families starting in the mid-1960s and persisting into the 1980s that occurred in Canada. These children, who were placed in foster homes, and eventually adopted out to white families from across Canada and the United States lost their names, languages, and a connection to their heritage.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Sixties Scoop Facts
  • Sixties Scoop Initials
  • Terminologies
  • Fast Facts
  • Sixties Scoops Art
  • Scoop up Timeline
  • Social Workers in the 60s
  • Amendments
  • Notable “Scoops”
  • Like in the Other Country
  • Sentiments

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Link will appear as Sixties Scoop Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, May 5, 2021

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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