’60s Scoop: aboriginal adoptees sue Ottawa for loss of culture, emotional trauma

Aboriginals who were adopted into white families as children are suing the federal government.

Almost 1,200 adoptees in Saskatchewan have filed a class-action lawsuit seeking compensation for their loss of culture and emotional trauma.

Starting in the 1960s, thousands of aboriginal children were taken from their homes by Canadian child welfare services and placed with non-aboriginal families.

Regina lawyer Tony Merchant says the adoptees were robbed of their identity and some were horribly abused.

He says many of the children weren’t in unsafe homes but were taken simply because the government wanted to see — quote — “red babies” turned into white adults.

A class-action lawsuit filed by some survivors in Ontario in 2009 is still making its way through the courts.