New series tells story of Sixties Scoop survivor learning about her past - Action News
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Saskatchewan

New series tells story of Sixties Scoop survivor learning about her past

The co-creator and showrunner for a series premiering this week hopes thather personal connection to the subject matter will shine through.

Little Bird depicts Canadian government's removal of children

New Indigenous-led TV series examines traumatic legacy of Sixties Scoop

1 year ago
Duration 2:01
First Nations actress and producer Jennifer Podemski's new TV series Little Bird sheds light on life during the Sixties Scoop. Now available on Crave, it tells the story of a woman searching for her Indigenous family, after being apprehended and stripped of her identity at the age of five.

WARNING: This story contains distressing details

The co-creator and showrunner for a series premiering this week hopes thather personal connection to the subject matter will shine through.

"I just hope people feel the love that was put into this, and I hope that non-Indigenous people feel connected to it because the stories are relatable, but also I guess unique, in the sense that nobody really knows very much about the Sixties Scoop," said JenniferPodemski, an award winning producer and actor from Muscowpetung Saulteaux Nation in Saskatchewan, which is about 60 kilometres from Regina.

Little Bird,which premiers May 26 on Crave and APTN Lummi, is a six-part series about a young woman's journey as she searches for her birth family and discovers truths of her past.

A still from a tv show depicting an RCMP officer apprehending a child.
A still from Little Bird, a new six-part series premiering this week. The show is about a Sixties Scoop survivor learning about her past. (Submitted by Srishti Palimar)

One of these discoveries is that she was apprehended during the SixitesScoop, a government practice in Canada from the 1960s to 1980s of removing Indigenous children from their homes and placing them in foster homes or putting them up for adoption.

The protagonist in Little Bird is Esther Rosenblum, who was fostered into a Jewish familynot knowing where she was from or why she was fostered out.

Esther's search eventually leads her to the Prairies to find her birth family.

Several children lie together in a bed.
This still from the show depicts Bezhig Little Bird with her birth family, before she was taken away and became Esther Rosenblum. (Submitted by Srishti Palimar)

Podemskiis Anishinaabe and Cree on her mother's side and Jewish on her father's. Her mother and grandparents were residential school survivorsand her father's parents were Holocaust survivors.

Podemskisaid Little Birdwas a perfect opportunity to create something that was close to her lived experience in terms of identity.

She was brought the idea for the story and thought of her experiences working with Sixties Scoop survivors.Developing the showtook six years fromconcept to completion.

"I tried to make it very Saskatchewan-centric just because it made sense for me to to have that more authentic voice," she said.

Jennifer Podemski accepting her Tribute Award at the Canadian Screen Awards.
Podemski received the Tribute Award at the Canadian Screen Awards this year. (Jennifer Podemski/Instagram)

Darla Contios was contemplating quitting acting for good when she received an email from one of the casting directors about auditions for Little Bird.

She decided to give it one more go and audition for Esther. She got the role.

A still from a television show heatures a woman looking at the camera.
Darla Contois as her character Esther Rosenblum, a young Jewish woman who learns that she was taken from her birth family in the Sixties Scoop. (Submitted by Srishti Palimar)

Contois is fromGrand Rapids Cree Nation but lives in Winnipeg. She studied at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People and is a graduate of a three-year program at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre.

She decided to dig deep into the role, which includedlearning a lot about Judaism, because Esther was taken at a young age and fostered by a Jewish family.

"I took a crash course at a synagogue here in Winnipeg, and I worked with a Montreal Jewish voice coach," said Contois.

The story follows Esther's search for the Indigenous family she was taken from.

WATCH| Little Bird tells story of Sixties Scoop survivor learning about her past:

New series tells story of Sixties Scoop survivor learning about her past

1 year ago
Duration 2:29
First Nations actress and producer Jennifer Podemski's new TV series Little Bird sheds light on life during the Sixties Scoop.

Betty Ann Adam, a Sixties Scoop survivor from Fond Du Lac Dene First Nations in Saskatchewan,shared her own story of finding the family she was separated from ina documentary called Birth of a Family.

Adam learned about her birth family when she was 19 years old, but didn't find all of them until she was well into her 50s. They now all keep in touch and visit each other's homes when they can.

Adam said Little Bird tells an important story.

"Sixties Scoop people, we were separated from our families. Eventually governments were apologizing for doing it, but there was no real assistance in helping us reconnect with anyone who was a foster child." said Adam.

"I thought that was a really interesting thing, especially when the government talks about reconciliation. I think that they could do a lot more to help families connect."

Three women and a man pose in front of a mountain view.
Betty Ann Adam, second from right, with her two sisters Rose and Esther, and her brother Ben. All of them taken from their young single mother. (Submitted by Betty Ann Adam)

Support is available for anyone affected by their experienceas part of the Sixties Scoop orresidential schools.

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.

Mental health counselling and crisis support is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat atwww.hopeforwellness.ca.