вЂњSurvivors are the ones that went through it, not the federal government.

вЂњIf the federal government wants to make this right, they should have a process where they are involving survivors in what they need,вЂќ Cardinal told Al Jazeera earlier this week.ДЄ request to meet CanadaвЂ™s minister for relations between the government and Indigenous peoples to chart a way forward has so far gone unanswered, she said. Many survivors feel the government never consulted them on the settlement proposal, Cardinal told Al Jazeera, and they are confused about how the settlement process works. вЂњThe Government of Canada is aware that there are other Sixties Scoop claims that remain unresolved, including those of the Metis and non-status.вЂќ Greater consultationД¬olleen Cardinal, a Sixties Scoop survivor and member of the NISCW network, said the settlement вЂњleaves out a lot of survivorsвЂќ, including many вЂњwho donвЂ™t know where they come from and who their family is and because of that, they donвЂ™t have statusвЂќ. вЂњThe Sixties Scoop is a dark and painful chapter in CanadaвЂ™s history and resolving these cases is a vital step in our journey of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples,вЂќ she told Al Jazeera in an email. Stephanie Palma, media relations officer at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, a government ministry, said the proposed settlement is вЂњthe first stepвЂќ in resolving the issue. вЂњItвЂ™s not about a settlement agreement itвЂ™s about justice for Sixties Scoop survivors,вЂќ Morrisseau-Beck added. The settlement came after a court in Ontario, CanadaвЂ™s most populous province, ruled that the children involved in the Sixties Scoop were denied their language and culture and lost their Indigenous identity as a result of the policy.Д«ut the settlement agreement did not include Sixties Scoop survivors who are Metis or non-status (people whose indigenity is not legally recognised by the government), which has led to some anger and resentment. In October, the federal government announced a $640m settlement agreement with Sixties Scoop survivors, after individuals had brought a class-action lawsuit against Ottawa. People donвЂ™t seem to understand the gravity of the situation,вЂќ Morrisseau-Beck said.

вЂњWhen we look at the cost to our physical, spiritual, mental wellness, whatвЂ™s missing out of this is the physical, sexual and psychological abuses that weвЂ™ve suffered. Morrisseau-Beck, a Sixties Scoop survivor who was taken from his family as a newborn in Manitoba, a province in central Canada, only discovered he was Metis вЂ“ of mixed, Indigenous-European ancestry вЂ“ as an adult. The NISCW network is also organising a national day of solidarity next month for the survivors.В Rallies will be held in cities across Canada on March 16, the group said. Some also suffered from emotional, physical and sexual abuse. The Sixties Scoop children were placed into homes across Canada and abroad and many were never told about their Indigenous roots.

The removals largely took place between the 1960s and 1980s. The Sixties Scoop denotes a period during which CanadaвЂ™s child welfare agencies took thousands of Indigenous children away from their families and placed them into mainly non-Indigenous homes. The settlement did not include the Metis and non-status Indigenous peoples. The group said it would seek to stop a recent $640m settlement proposal reached between Ottawa and some Sixties Scoop survivors вЂњuntil proper consultation takes placeвЂќ. вЂњThe message really is that we need to be heard and that itвЂ™s important that weвЂ™re heard and that weвЂ™re taken seriously,вЂќВ Duane Morrisseau-Beck, cofounder and director of the NISCW network, told Al Jazeera. The National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare network, an organisation based in Ottawa, said on Friday it wants вЂњaВ just and inclusive reparations package from CanadaвЂќ for all the survivors of what is known as the Sixties Scoop. Survivors of a Canadian policy that forcibly placed thousands of Indigenous children into foster and adoptive homes decades ago are calling on the government to relaunch a consultation process, after some survivors were excluded from a recent multi-million-dollar settlement.

Sixties scoop