Maggie Blue Waters examines the small dress she was wearing, just a child when she was forcibly taken from her family.
“I was put into this dress,” Waters said. “You can see how little I was.”
She wore the dress the day her photo was taken for an advertisement, urging white families to adopt an Indigenous child; robbing them of their culture.
“It has great impact on my life, every day,” Waters said. “Sometimes it consumes my total days. The pain, the loss, the grief.”
For some victims of the Sixties Scoop, an $875 million settlement is a step in the right direction, toward healing and reconciliation. For others, the settlement has brought more questions, than answers.
Where to sign up, who to speak to and how much the process will cost. These are just a few of the questions lingering in the minds of those eligible for the settlement.
That’s what lead to Waters, and 40 other victims of the Sixties Scoop, to a question and answer period on Sunday.
The Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Saskatchewan along with the FSIN hosted a meeting at the Central Urban Metis Federation.
“We’re here to help inform them if they want information on the settlement,” Melissa Parkyn, Co-Chair of the Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Saskatchewan, said. “If they want to opt out or if they want to apply, then we’re just here to inform them on that information.”
Water says the settlement comes with good intentions, but healing for her is about more than money.
“For me, it’s about healing.” Water said. “It’s about bringing us back home again.”
Based on a report by Stephanie Villella.
