A Saskatchewan researcher says the effects of the Sixties Scoop are still trying to be understood today.
Allyson Stevenson of the University of Saskatchewan is in Waterloo, Ontario this week for the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Her presentation deals with transracial adoption.
Stevenson says it was a very difficult time for First Nations women in the mid-20th century, because if they married outside their community, they could lose their treaty status.
She says women who married “out” often were unable to return to their community and were forced to raise their baby by themselves in towns and cities with little assistance.
Stevenson adds the policies of the day led to a frequent breakdown of community connections for those women.
She adds some women even died during their time in the city — and as a result, the baby was taken to Social Services.
Others were penniless and turned to the child welfare system as a last resort.