Aboriginal Canadians who were taken from their homes as children and placed with non-native families are hoping a formal apology from Manitoba will usher in a new era of political change and healing.
On Thursday, Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger rose in the provincial legislature to formally apologize to thousands of victims of the child-welfare program dubbed the 鈥�60s Scoop.鈥�
The premier鈥檚 apology marked the first time a provincial government has formally acknowledged what Selinger called a 鈥渉istoric injustice鈥� that has 鈥渓eft intergenerational scars and cultural loss.鈥�
Starting in the 1960s, it is believed that as many as 20,000 aboriginal children were removed from their homes and placed with mostly white families across North America, including thousands in the United States.
Taken from their families, many of the children suffered emotional trauma, loss of culture, and in some cases, abuse.
Documentary filmmaker Coleen Rajotte, a 鈥�60s Scoop鈥� survivor, said the recognition in the legislature 鈥渂rought back memories of everything that I鈥檝e lost鈥� including her language and connection to her birth family.
鈥淭his really is a new chapter for me, because it brings public awareness to this whole issue, and we really feel that we deserve the same recognition that residential school survivors had,鈥� Rajotte said on CTV鈥檚 Canada AM Friday.
As a documentary filmmaker, Rajotte has hard dozens of survivors鈥� 鈥渉orror stories.鈥�
鈥淐hildren were beat for stealing a handful of walnuts because they were hungry,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ne survivor told me that no one ever told him that he was ever loved. That really broke my heart.鈥�
Turning the camera on her own painful past was at times overwhelming, Rajotte said.
When she sought out her birth family nearly 15 years ago, she received files from Child and Family Services that included letters from her birth mother, pleading for information about her daughter. The leters, she said, were always sent to CFS around her birthday.
鈥淚t was too much for me to process, I was just sitting there, frozen, unable to comprehend that someone had looked for me.鈥�
Rajotte found her birth family in 2001, but said there many adoptees have yet to reconnect with theirs. She wants to see support for survivors, including a national ad campaign in the U.S. to provide assistance and contact information for adoptees.
Calling the 鈥�60s Scoop鈥� an 鈥渙ngoing legacy,鈥� Rajotte said survivors are also seeking an apology from the federal government and an investigation similar to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
鈥淧eople need to learn and understand what really happened during that era.鈥�
