Press Release
August 12, 2022
We are excited to announce the Sixties Scoop Network (SSN) in collaboration with KAIROS Canada has successfully secured funding from the Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation. As a recipient, this funding will further support the Bigwen 60s Scoop Healing Initiatives and Debwewin In our own Words: Mapping the 60s Scoop Diaspora project. These are vital healing and cultural initiatives for Sixties Scoop survivors and their families. The Sixties Scoop Network (SSN) will proceed with organizing a fall 60s Scoop gathering for survivors along with cultural, training and healing opportunities in 2023.
In particular, the Debwewin In our own Word: Mapping the 60s Scoop Diaspora GIS mapping project will continue to advance opportunities for survivors who have been taken out of the country and overseas to share their stories through video on the digital mapping platform. A new interface and searchable database will also be incorporated into the map to make the digital map user friendly on phones.
We would like to thank KAIROS Canada and the United Church of Canada for supporting our application and our intermediary partners in accessing funds. KAIROS Canada has been a long time supporter of Indigenous grassroots work including MMIW2SG, ecological justice and Indigenous rights.
Background
The Sixties Scoop Network (SSN) formerly National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare Network is a grassroots collective of 60s Scoop survivors in Ottawa. We have successfully held four national gatherings held in Ottawa bringing together 60s scoop survivors from all over Canada and overseas with the common goal of building community, healing and reclaiming cultural knowledge. The SSN has served as advisors for the Legacy of Hope Bigiwen: Coming Home – Truth telling from the Sixties Scoop, participated as a collaborator for Dr. Raven Sinclair’s Pe-kewiwin Project and initiated the ground breaking GIS (Geographic Information System) In Own Words – Mapping the 60s Scoop Diaspora visualising the trafficking and displacement of Indigenous children through Canada’s child welfare policies. SSSN has also collaborated with Dr. Natasha Stirrett and Dr. Jeffrey Monaghan on the Mapping the Sixties Scoop Diaspora, criminalization, and Re-Imagining Indigenous Communities through Storytelling. The Sixties Scoop Network (SSN) continues to be committed to healing, cultural safety and building community with other survivors and Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island
For media inquires, please contact Colleen Cardinal or Elaine Kicknosway at sixtiesscoopmap@gmail.com
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