The Sixties Scoop

a parallel program to the Indian residential school systems

Pass The Feather, Haudenosaunee, great law, Jikonsaseh,mohawk, feathers, little books

I am surviving.

The true story is that it took me 18 years to find my grandmother, mother and brothers, 18 more to find my auntie, uncle and cousins. They are all gone now. I try to belong to my community, but so much damage has been done there that trusting people who come home is not easy. But I show up anyway and I do the hard work to contribute in whatever capacity they allow. But I know my name is Iehstoseranon:nha and I am very lucky - so many of us never found our way home. So many were displaced, they lived from foster home to the next and survived many abuses including torture, human trafficking and slavery. So many still suffer from raging abandonment issues, depression and addiction. Many have taken their own lives and many of us are still dying.

I am lucky, I am Iehstoseranon:nha and I protect and keep the feathers.

The Sixties Scoop repercussions are vastly underestimated. We were sold in newspaper ads (AIM Program) and purchased by families for a few dollars. Boys worked on farms and girls helped with domestic chores. The church and social services had native women wards in hospitals and they told women their children died or coerced them into signing adoption papers. In this time, may women were also sterilized against their will - leaving them unable to have children.

You can learn more and advocate for the sacredness of parent and childhood. Every Child Matters. We matter. You matter. They matter.

Little attention came to the Sixties Scoop from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission but there is a link below.

https://nctr.ca/60s-scoop-inquiry/

The Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation does not offer any resources to survivors but is essentially a government run bank that occasionally distributes some funding to organizations (charities and non profits) for charitable gestures surrounding the Scoop. My charity has not received any funding.

The lawyers got the rest.

Sixties Scoop Settlement
$875,000,000 was awarded in 2017.

$50,000,000 (fifty million $) went to a healing foundation that chooses funding recipients based on board and external friendships and discriminates against certain demographics.

$75,000,000 (75 million $)
went to 4 law firms.

Survivors were capped at $25,000 each and our final $4000 came August 2022.

Do you need help?

If you hold an Indian Status Card, you are the recipient of Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program and have coverage for a range of medically necessary health benefits including counselling services.

To find a provider near you that accepts NIHB insurance, visit this link to Psychology Today and type in your location.

www.psychologytoday.com/ca

and type in your location. The results will link you to local resources.

If you do not have a status card, you can apply.

For more information, click this link:  Status Indians in Canada

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis please refer to: Hope for Wellness https://www.hopeforwellness.ca/ or call 1 855 242 3310

Alberta

Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society (Edmonton)  – Programs and services range from youth employment/social and comprehensive family services to supported referrals and soup and bannock lunches.
1-780-481-3451
Facebook

Native Counselling Services of Alberta  – Native Counselling Services of Alberta’s mission is to promote the resilience of the Indigenous individual and family, through programs and services that are grounded in reclaiming our interconnectedness, reconciliation of relationships, and self-determination. 

Open Alberta Guide to Indigenous Services  – Comprehensive list of all services in Alberta. Includes specific contacts for each nation, educational, business, and community services.  

British Columbia

KUU-US Crisis Line Society Provides a First Nations and Indigenous-specific crisis line available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, toll-free from anywhere in British Columbia. The KUU-US Crisis Line Society also provides a number of local services in the Port Alberni area including the Survivor of Suicide Peer Support Group, Housing Registry, and the A.H.O.P.E Program.
1-800-588-8717 (toll-free)
Youth Line: 250-723-2040
Adult Line: 250-723-4050 

Native Youth Crisis Hotline  – Answered by staff 24/7. Available throughout Canada and US.
1-877-209-1266 

Métis Crisis Line  – A service of Métis Nation British Columbia.
1-833-MétisBC (1-833-638-4722)

Greater Vancouver Native Cultural Society Two Spirit Group – A Two-Spirit support group on Facebook supported by the Vancouver Native Cultural Society.

Manitoba

Natawiwewak Medical Clinic – Serves Winnipeg residents from Bunibonibee, Chemawawin, God’s Lake, and Manto Sipi. Connect with the Mental Wellness Team.
204-417-8877

Keewatin Tribal Council – serves Barren Lands, Bunibonibee, Fox Lake, God’s Lake, Manto Sipi, Northlands, Sayisi Dene, Shamattawa, Tataskweyak, War Lake, and York Factory.
Crisis On-Call: 204-307-1905 or 204-307-0118
KTC Mental Wellness Team: 204-677-7410  

Opaskwayak Health Authority (OHA)The Mental Wellness Team consists of five counselors, including OHA counselors who are available via telephone to provide follow-up care with clients, and Opioid Replacement Therapy physician clinics who are available via Telehealth on the regularly scheduled dates.
204-627-7410
Crisis Line after hours: 204-623-0519 

Additional Indigenous-Centered Healing Supports

Indigenous Organizations

New Brunswick

Pabineau First Nation – Mi’kmaq – mental health clinicians are available 3 days a week.
506-547-4204
Facebook

Ugpi’Ganjig – Eel River Bar First Nation
506-684-5002

Madawaska Maliseet First Nation
506-739-9765

Under One Sky Friendship Centre
506-458-9269

Newfoundland and Labrador 

Shanawdithit, St. John’s Native Friendship Centre
709-726-5902

Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation (Social Health Department) – The Social Health Department is essentially responsible for the Mental Health and Addictions programming and service delivery, this includes referrals and counseling.
709-497-8522
[email protected]  

Nova Scotia

Eskasoni Mental Health Services/Crisis and Referral Center Main Office – Eskasoni Mental Health Services (EMHS) provides a wide range of services to the Mi’kmaq people of Eskasoni, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The Tui’kn Residential School Survivor Team provides services to all 5 Unama’ki (Cape Breton) communities.
Crisis: 1-855-379-2099 (Toll-Free)
Main Phone: 902-379-2099 

Native Council of Nova Scotia (Native Social Counselling Agency) – Assists off-reserve Indigenous clients facing social problems and conditions, with confidential support referral services.
1-902-895-1738 

Union of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq (Mental Wellness Team) – Provides case management and service navigation for First Nations persons of all ages seeking mental wellness services.
902-539-4107

Alsusuti Aboriginal Crisis & Counselling Services – (M-F 8:30 am – 4:30 pm) Offers mental health support and counseling services to aboriginals by aboriginals.
(844) 694-1382

Ontario

Talk4HealingA culturally grounded, fully confidential helpline for Indigenous women available in 14 languages all across Ontario.
1-855-554-HEAL 

Wabano Centre for Aboriginal HealthCrisis support available by appointment or walk-in for crisis support, 5 days per week.
613-748-0657 

Enaahtig Healing Lodge and Learning Centre
705-534-3724 

Fort Frances Tribal Area Health Services
807-271-0194

Native Child and Family Services Toronto
416-969-8510

You may also want to try this list from the Government of Ontario

Prince Edward Island

Mi’kmaq Confederacy of PEI The Health program manages a wide range of programs and services designed to support the health and wellbeing of Lennox Island and Abegweit First Nation members living on-reserve, including Health Policy; Jordan’s Principle program; Indian Residential School program; and Health Promotion.
Director of Health, Roseanne Sark at [email protected] or 902-438-2117 

Quebec

Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Health Center
819-449-5593/4

Native Friendship Center of Montreal – The Native Friendship Centre of Montreal Inc. (NFCM) is collaborating with Indigenous Services Canada to continue providing emotional and cultural support services to former Indian Residential School (IRS) students and their families before, during, and after participation in Settlement Agreement (SA) processes, including Common Experience Payments (CEP) and the Independent Assessment Process (IAP), as well as those who participated in Truth and Reconciliation Commission events and Commemoration activities.
Emotional Support workers or Cultural Support Provider (traditional healer) –  (514) 499-1854  

Saskatchewan

Native Health Services (Native Health Centres at the Pasqua and Regina General Hospitals) – Responds to clients with an awareness of cultural and spiritual diversity, and is able to provide an alternative for clients seeking traditional First Nations and Métis approaches to health care.
Regina General Hospital: 306-766-4155
Pasqua Hospital: 306-766-2232 

Saskatoon Indian and Métis Friendship Centre (SIMFC) Supports First Nations, Métis and Inuit cultural distinctiveness by providing community development services that holistically support all ages.
306-244-0174 

The Circle Project Lifestyles and Counselling Program
306-347-7515
Facebook

Central Urban Métis Federation Inc. (CUMFI)  Grief and loss counseling.
306-975-9999

Yukon

The Shadhäla Äshèyi yè Kwädän (Champagne and Aishihik First Nations or CAFN), DÄN TSʼÄN NÄNNJI (Community Wellness Department) – A self-governing First Nation located in the Yukon Territory and northwest British Columbia, Canada. CAFN provides weekend on-call support from 5:00 pm on Friday – 8:30 pm on Monday.
Emergency Line: 867-333-4477 

Not Specific to Provincial Location  

Indian Residential School Crisis Line – A national service for anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of their residential school experience.
1-866-925-4419 (Toll-free)

First Nations and Inuit Hope for Wellness Help Line – The Hope for Wellness Help Line offers immediate mental health counseling and crisis intervention to all Indigenous peoples across Canada. Service is available in Cree, Ojibway, Inuktitut, English and French. Callers may ask about the availability of services in the language of their choice. (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
1-855-242-3310

Healing in Color – A directory of therapy and support services to support the healing and liberation for BIPOC.

Two-Spirit Resource Directory

Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS)
1-800-721-0066 (toll-free)