‘Beginning to speak our truth’: Sixties Scoop exhibit arrives in Vancouver from Alberta
It opened Saturday in Vancouver and will remain until Tuesday, before it is packed up for display elsewhere.
The Sixties Scoop refers to a period between the 1950s and 1980s, after amendments to the Indian Act let provincial governments take over Indigenous child welfare. Thousands of First Nations, Inuit and Métis were taken from their birth families, usually without consent, and placed in non-Indigenous homes.
The originals are held at the Royal Alberta Museum, where discussions about creating a permanent Sixties Scoop exhibit are now underway.’60s Scoop advocate Katherine Legrange on the need for a national inquiry On Saturday, Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Alberta board member Adam North Peigan called on B.C. Premier John Horgan to do the same in the B.C. legislature.
The Vancouver Public Library said Saturday it was pleased to host the exhibit as part of its commitment to decolonizing public institutions in Canada.The library regularly features indigenous collections, authors, speakers, film screenings and workshops, and has an Indigenous story teller-in-residence.