Definition:
The 60s Scoop refers to a government-led assimilation process from 1951 to the 1980s in which various policies enabled Child Welfare Authorities to forcibly “scoop” Indigenous Children from their homes, generally without the consent of the parents or communities. Section 88 of the Indian Act allowed for Indigenous children to be taken from their homes or communities under certain circumstances such as high death or disease rates. The children were then placed into adoption centres or foster homes, and were adopted by predominantly non-Indigenous families. Many strategies were used to increase the amount of children that were “scooped”, such as government-funded news programs, as well as European-Canadians were told and encouraged to try and force single or struggling Indigenous mothers to give up custody of their children, reasoned by the “fact” that “they weren’t ready”. Essentially, the 60s Scoop was a complete attempt to assimilate Indigenous Peoples, that was generally masked by other, more morally correct motives.