Rallies across the country happened Friday for survivors of the 60s Scoop.
About three dozen people stood in the cold wind on Parliament Hill, an event organized by the National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare Network (NISCWN).
They wore purple arm bands, a healing colour in some Indigenous cultures.
The event was in part about healing for the thousands of Indigenous kids that were taken from their homes and put with non-Indigenous people.
“There’s Sundance lodges where they thought of the children that were taken away. I know this, My elders back home … people like that told me that they prayed for us kids that were taken away. So never forget those prayers,” said Mista Wasis, an adoptee.
But hanging over the gathering was the $800-million settlement offer from the federal government.
The network had opposed the settlement at previous media conferences.
It was a position not everyone agreed with.
“The agreement has really made a great divide within the 60s Scoop community and we’re looking at this as a way of bringing everybody back together again,” said Duane Morrisseau-Beck, co-founder of NISCWN.
NISCWN will not oppose the deal now but say it’s far from perfect, such as not including Metis adoptees.
“You know there’s still, for me personally, there’s still some disappointment because as a Metis person I sort of envisioned that the announcement would have been made for everybody,” said Morrisseau-Beck.
The federal government has reached out to the Metis National Council for a possible negotiation.
Seven other rallies happened across Canada, including in Winnipeg and Whitehorse where people met at the healing totem pole for Yukon Survivors.
A small group of survivors banded together in protest of the proposed 800 million dollar settlement being offered by Ottawa.
They say there was no consultation with them.
Charlene Brown said a settlement of $25,000 works out to be about $3-a-day for her broken childhood.
‘I fell insulted, offended that the government would offer this to us without consulting us,” said Brown.
For Shaun Ladue it’s not about the money but having his voice heard.
“We all lost our culture, language, our history and lot of us suffered bad abuse situations,” said Ladue. “As a child my voice wasn’t heard, my parents didn’t have their voice heard and now their continuing to this cycle of being very paternalistic and patronizing and I’m unsatisfied.”
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TO THE SURVIVORS OF NEW BRUNSWICK, LESS MONEY WAS OFFERED FOR THEIR YEARS OF MISERY WHICH LATER YEARS CAUSED PTSTD TO THE NEXT GENERATION. CAUSE THEY CAME BACK WITH NO EMOTIONS AND STILL TODAY IT WAS NOT HANDLED THE RIGHT WAY.THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MADE UP THEIR OWN SETTLEMENT WHICH MOST CHIEF AND COUNCIL WERE NOT FULLY INVOLVED .THE CHEQUES WERE ALREADY IN THE MAIL ,IS THIS THE END OF STORY NO OR YES
TO THE SURVIVORS OF NEW BRUNSWICK, LESS MONEY WAS OFFERED FOR THEIR YEARS OF MISERY WHICH LATER YEARS CAUSED PTSTD TO THE NEXT GENERATION. CAUSE THEY CAME BACK WITH NO EMOTIONS AND STILL TODAY IT WAS NOT HANDLED THE RIGHT WAY.THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MADE UP THEIR OWN SETTLEMENT WHICH MOST CHIEF AND COUNCIL WERE NOT FULLY INVOLVED .THE CHEQUES WERE ALREADY IN THE MAIL ,IS THIS THE END OF STORY NO OR YES