Metis Federation launches website for Sixties Scoop survivors as part of effort to reach settlement

The Manitoba Metis Federation has launched a website aimed at collecting stories from survivors of the Sixties Scoopto strengthen efforts to reach a settlement with the federal government.

The website, which can be found at sixties.scoop.metisportals.ca, is also meant to connect survivors to help them heal, the MMF said at a Tuesday launch for the site in Winnipeg.

"For manythat were taken away, we lived in isolation and lived in a space of not feeling wanted, and feeling disconnected," said Duane Morrisseau-Beck, a survivor of the Sixties Scoop who is advising the Mtis National Council, during Tuesday's launch.

"This initiative ... is something that is a miracle for many of us."

The Sixties Scoop is the catch-all name for a series of policies enacted by provincial child welfare authorities starting in themid-1950s, which saw thousands of Indigenous children taken from their homes and families, placed in foster homes, and eventually adopted out to white familiesacross Canada and the United States.

Those children typically lost their names, their languageand a connection to their heritage. Many were also abused.

Last October, the federal government announced an$875-million agreementin principlewith Sixties Scoop survivors, followingyears of fractious legal action. However, Mtis survivors were left out of the agreement.

The Mtis Nation is pursuing negotiation, rather than litigation, with Canada for a settlement for survivors of the Sixties Scoop.

The website was created to help build a consensus around what survivors want, said Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand.

"Nobody's ever asked what the Mtis would need as justice. Nobody's ever asked us that," he said.

"We're hoping this portal will not only be a collection of stories, but also way for them to talk to each other as we move forward."

Chartrand said he's hoping the Mtis can reach a settlement with Ottawa by October 2019 prior to the next federal electionso they don'trisk having to start the negotiation process all over again with a new government.