They Took Us Away

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Wednesday, April 2, 2025

CALLED HOME: Book Contributors - republished in 2025


We are honored that these adoptees (or relatives of adoptees) contributed to CALLED HOME:


Suzie Fedorko,
Andrea Hill,
Anecia O'Carroll (Tretikoff),   
Ben Ani Chosa,
Cynthia Lammers, 
Debby Poitras, 
Elizabeth Blake,
Evelyn Red Lodge,  
Gail Huggard,
Janell Black Owl,  
Jessup Fasthorse Neubert,
Janell Loos,   
Joan Kauppi,
Johnathan Brooks,  
Lawrence Sampson,
Leland Morrill,  
Lynn Grubb,
Kim Shuck (relative of adoptee),   
Mark Heiser,
Mary St. Martin,  
Meschelle Linjean,
Patrick Yeakey,  
Terry Niska,
Thomas Pierce,  
Samantha Franklin,
Alice Diver,    
Leland Morrill,
Patricia Busbee (editor),
Trace DeMeyer Hentz (editor),
Starla Bilyeu,   
Douglas LittleJohn,
Mitzi Lipscomb,
Karen Kaminawaish M.A., M.S.,
Thayla Barrett,   
Jesse Stonefield,
Karen Ann Jefferson,   
Levi EagleFeather,
Brit Reed,  
Catie Ransom,
Kim Dupre (relative of adoptee),   
Karla Mena,
Lisa Bos,
Drew Rutledge,
Michael Pintozzi,   
Marylyn Jean Chrismer,
Sheryl Lee Sinclair,  
Mary Thompson,
Amelia Cagle      

(Suzanne Zahrt Murphy (poet) and Judi Armbruster (poet) (not adoptees) 
 
I am rereading this anthology in 2025.  Each story is unique and so important.
Thank you for sharing your stories!
 
Now deceased:
Patrick Yeakey 
Karen Kaminawaish 
Cynthia Lammers
Not an adoptee: Karen Vigneault (who is thanked many times for her help)
 
LINK TO AMAZON: https://a.co/d/gFH7Rx9
 

Unsolved violent crimes in Native American communities to get more attention with FBI surge

 Indian Country Crime

Families and victims advocates participate in a prayer walk around the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center to mark Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Day in Albuquerque, N.M., on May 5, 2024. Susan Montoya Bryan | AP

The FBI is sending extra agents, analysts and other personnel to field offices in 10 states over the next six months to help investigate unsolved violent crimes in Indian Country, marking a continuation of efforts by the federal government to address high rates of violence affecting Native American communities.

The U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday that the temporary duty assignments began immediately and will rotate every 90 days in field offices that include Albuquerque, Phoenix, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Portland, Oregon, and Jackson, Mississippi.

SOURCE:  https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/04/02/unsolved-violent-crimes-in-native-american-communities-to-get-more-attention-with-fbi-surge

We Are Not Garbage

 

Faded red dresses representing missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and gender diverse people hang on the fence of the Brady Road Landfill. Photo by Crystal Greene

IMPORTANT STORY:

https://ricochet.media/indigenous/mmiwg/were-not-garbage-how-buffalo-woman-was-identified-as-ashlee-shingoose/

Mental Health Outcomes for Native American Adoptees

Jim Oskineegish: Keep Yourself Alive

Friday, March 28, 2025

North Dakota closer to state ICWA

BISMARCK — With the passage this week of a budget bill amendment that would allocate funding to specialized courts throughout the state, the Northeast Judicial District is one step closer to establishing an Indian Child Welfare Act Court in North Dakota.

The $125,292 allocation was previously removed from SB 2002, but after being asked to reconsider, the Education and Environment Division of House Appropriations added it back into the budget during a Tuesday committee hearing.

"If this is implemented, we would be the first ICWA Court in North Dakota — really addressing those unique needs of Native American families and upholding the intent of the law, which is to preserve those cultural connections and family unity whenever possible," said Heather Traynor, who works for the North Dakota Supreme Court's court improvement program.  She testified in favor of the funding allocation.

Though they make up approximately 6% of the state's population, Indigenous youth account for 26% of its foster care population, Traynor said.  There have been many efforts throughout the last 15 years to determine how this disproportionate rate can be reduced.

Traynor, and others, believe ICWA court could be an answer.

The ICWA, a federal law established in the 1970s, was a response to the "unwarranted removal of Indian children from their families and tribal communities in alarming numbers," according to the ICWA Law Center, an Indigenous legal services nonprofit organization.

Highlights of the act include recognizing tribal sovereignty, preserving Indigenous families and recognizing tribal and familial connections.

It requires higher levels of engagement to keep families together and, if that is not possible, to keep them within or otherwise connected to their communities, Traynor said.

The act describes placement preferences for Indigenous children as the following, in order of preference:

  1. A member of the child's extended family;
  2. an Indigenous foster home licensed, approved or specified by the child's tribe;
  3. an Indigenous foster home licensed or approved by an authorized non-Indigenous licensing authority; or
  4. an institution for children that is approved by a tribe, or operated by an Indigenous organization, and has a program suitable for the child's needs.

The ICWA does not apply to all Indigenous youth. Rather, it applies to those who either are enrolled with a tribe or are eligible for enrollment, Traynor said.

"With ICWA, we look to protect the best interests of Native American children, and prevent unnecessary removal," she said. "That's why it was put into place. But it's important that we focus on these efforts once they are removed, so that they can maintain that cultural connection with their Native American families and communities."

Across the 23 states that have established their own ICWA courts as an intervention tool, the goal of timely permanency has been found to be more attainable, Traynor said.

Permanency is a living situation that is permanent and stable, and ideally preserves existing familial connections, according to the Child Welfare website, an official website of the Children's Bureau and Child Welfare Information Gateway.

Benefits of an ICWA court would include the opportunity for a more family-based approach with earlier intervention and consistency in scheduling that would allow for a tribal presence at hearings, Traynor said.

SOURCE:  https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/north-dakota/north-dakotas-first-indian-child-welfare-act-court-could-be-established-in-northeast-judicial-district

One little Indian girl: Two mothers, two worlds

 

Local resident recounts adoption from Navajo Tribe, reconnecting with roots

BY SHEILA HARRIS sheilaharrisads@gmail.com

“Sometimes I feel like a fake Indian,” said Margie Sterling, of rural Exeter.

A member of the Navajo Nation, Margie was adopted by a caucasian couple in June of 1958, just shy of her 5th birthday.  She believes she is one of the first children who was allowed to be adopted from the tribe.

“Navajoland,” the nation’s reservation, encompasses over 27,000 square miles of land across portions of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.  With over 400,000 tribal members, the Navajo Nation is the largest of 574 federally-recognized indigenous tribes in the U.S., achieving that status in 2020, after surpassing the membership of the Cherokee Nation.

At 70, Margie still has difficulty believing the story of her adoption, one she learned of only 20 years ago.

She remembers, as a child, how excited she was when making the trip from a foster home in Albuquerque, N.M., to the Stones Prairie community, west of Purdy, to live with her adoptive parents, Edgar “Red” and Virginia Sterling.  The Sterlings did not disappoint.

Virginia and her mother had a room prepared, one decked in pink-and-white gingham, with furniture painted a pearly pink: a fairy-tale world for 4-year-old Margie.

When the Sterlings discovered they were unable to have children of their own, they began checking into the possibility of adoption in early 1957. Because Virginia’s father was of Native American descent, she set her heart on adopting a Navajo girl, and wrote a letter of inquiry about the possibility to the Navaho (or “Navajo”) Mission in St. Michaels, Ariz.

KEEP READING: https://www.cassville-democrat.com/2025/03/26/one-little-indian-girl-two-mothers-two-worlds/ 

Margie Sterling, back left, stands with her daughter, Theresa Schafer, in Sterling’s prized five-generation photo.  At front left is Sterling’s birth mother, Margaret Lopez, seated next to Sterling’s granddaughter, Jamie Lynn Stokes, who is holding Sterling’s great-granddaughter, Maddison. Contributed photo


Consider deleting and destroying any genetic data held by the company

 
23andme files for bankruptcy protection

Officials, including California’s attorney general, question what will happen to the data collected by the firm.

Published 24 Mar 2025

Genetic testing firm 23andMe has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States amid weak demand and losses from a 2023 data breach. Its co-founder and CEO has resigned.

San Francisco-based 23andMe announced on Sunday that it will look to sell “substantially all of its assets” through a court-approved reorganisation plan.

The company’s shares fell 50 percent to 88 cents in Monday trading after co-founder Anne Wojcicki, who made multiple failed takeover bids, resigned as CEO.  23andMe did not say whether there are other interested bidders.  It will continue to operate during the sale process, having secured $35m in financing over the weekend.

Wojcicki intends to still bid on 23andMe as the company pursues a sale through the bankruptcy process.  In a statement on social media, Wojcicki said she resigned as CEO to be “in the best position” as an independent bidder.

“There is no doubt that the challenges faced by 23andMe through an evolving business model have been real, but my belief in the company and its future is unwavering,” she later added.

Officials, including California Attorney General Rob Bonta, have questioned what would happen to the genetic data collected by 23andMe although the company’s privacy policies say the data could be sold to other firms.  The company said the bankruptcy process will not affect how it stores, manages or protects customer data.

23andMe garnered lots of attention from investors when it was first taken public via a special-purpose acquisition vehicle (SPAC) run by billionaire Richard Branson at a $3.5bn valuation in 2021.  Its market value peaked later that year at nearly $6bn due to booming interest in DNA testing kits, but demand has waned since, hurting 23andMe and its Blackstone-owned rival, AncestryDNA.

Sales of the consumer kits frequently picked up during the yearend holidays, but 23andMe has struggled to retain customers mainly because people would use the kits once and see little reason to order another one. Bernstein Research analysts said the market for ancestry testing kits might be close to tapped out.

In 2023, hackers exposed the personal data of nearly seven million 23andMe customers over a five-month period, dealing a major blow to the company’s reputation and compounding its growth problems. The breach raised alarm among customers concerned about their privacy and how DNA-testing firms handle their data.

23andMe eventually agreed late last year to a $30m settlement in a lawsuit related to the breach.

Founded on a promise

23andMe was founded in 2006 with a promise to revolutionise the future of genetics and healthcare. The company became known for its saliva-based DNA testing kits, purchased by millions of customers eager to learn more about their ancestry, and later dived further into health research and drug development.

But recent years have been far from smooth sailing for it. And Sunday’s voluntary bankruptcy filing caps months of turmoil.

In September, all of its independent directors resigned in a rare move after acquisition negotiations with Wojcicki.

The company then announced in November that it would lay off 40 percent of its workforce, or more than 200 employees, and discontinue its therapeutics division. And in January, the board’s special committee said it was exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale.

Beyond the data breach, uncertainty about the company’s future overall has also led some to recently urge 23andMe customers to delete their data.

On Friday, days before 23andMe’s bankruptcy filing, Bonta issued an urgent alert reminding 23andMe customers of their legal rights under state law and called on them to consider deleting and destroying any genetic data held by the company. Bonta’s office pointed to 23andMe’s ongoing financial distress and “trove of sensitive consumer data” the company has amassed.

 
ANCESTRY.com SOLD TOO:
After Ancestry caught wind of its users' data concerns, a company spokesperson stated that Blackstone would not have access to genetic or family tree information provided by users.  According to CBS News, the company has no plans to change its data storage or access rules. 
 
You trust them??
 

Friday, March 21, 2025

What my adoption cost me


(posted on lost daughters blog on 2012 and on this blog in 2014) (i want to share again in 2025, edited a little)

REBLOG
By Trace Hentz (author-blogger)

Someone asked me what had adoption cost me personally. What a loaded question, I shot back in my email.  I said I needed to think about it.

Obviously, first of all, I didn't ask to be adopted!

This situation was thrust on me by a damaged 22-year-old small-town Wisconsin girl who loved Chicago-clubbing and partying too much. She didn't want me after my 28-year-old father (also a big drinker) kicked her out.  He moved back to his Illinois farm-town and found a new wife.  She went to an unwed mothers home in Minnesota and signed me away to Catholic Charities. (Both had new kids right away.) (She kept two daughters.)

If my soul wanted a big test this lifetime, this was clearly the route to take. I am not miserable knowing the truth, not at all. I am better knowing the truth.

Finding out neither parent would ever look for me? That discovery cost me.

Who would tell a woman she cannot keep her own baby? Who made them think this way? Belief systems, religions, social workers, neighbors, parents, judges, priests? 

Even your own family can be so damaged, it's risky to find them.  There were times I wished I had never looked but I had to know why I was abandoned, handed off.  Taking those risks to find out the truth cost me years but I am not sorry.

Being told by my natural mother to never contact her again?  That rejection cost me about two years and added grief since I'd have to contact her again for my fathers name. (No one told me this was somewhat common to be rejected again.)

I made all the moves, made all the calls, did all the travel and took all the risks to find both my birthparents.  I put myself out there to join a family who didn't even know I existed or cared that I did.  That cost me.  The fact is they do not understand what I went through and didn't bother to ask, this cost me and confused me.  But I do know people focus on their own pain.  No one really cared about mine.

The adoption trade in babies was booming in the 1950s.  In my opinion my adoptive parents were not carefully screened.  Despite his raging alcoholism and their marital discord after two miscarriages, Catholic social workers still qualified them to be my parents.  Very young I was sexually molested by my adoptive dad.  That betrayal cost me.

I had to pretend for years I was alright when really I wasn't.  I tried to live up to their expectations and be the baby they lost.  That impossible situation cost me.

My adoptive parents didn't know adopting kids won't fix a marriage and could even make it worse!  I had to suppress my shock and disappointment in them for too long.  It took me years to find and get therapy and counseling that worked.  This delay cost me.

My lack of trust and being able to love someone cost me a marriage.

Many years later I learn my ancestry.  My father, who had the Native blood, didn't intervene to keep me.  How did that make me feel?  Betrayed.  I had no idea what to think about being "part-Indian" since there was no one in my dad's family to reconnect me to my tribal culture.  That cost me.  (Since 2024, I found even more Indigenous ancestry with the help of my niece Tracy on my dad's side.)

How can you measure cultural loss when there is no dollar amount or apology that can undo what happened? There is no easy way to get that back. Those years are lost and cannot be returned.
 
What did adoption cost me? Everything.

What did adoption give me? Strength! And the determination to urge others to seek adoption reform and end all closed adoptions permanently.

My birthmother Helen Thrall died in 2007.  She had diabetes.  This story ran in a Florida newspaper.  I am nothing like her.  And I hate football!

Cows and Plows

This story is from February (and 2024) but I felt you need to read about how Canada makes $1.72B cows-and-plows settlement with 14 Sask. First Nations

Under treaties 4, 5, 6 and 10, the Crown promised agricultural benefits to First Nations

A man
Chief Robert Head of Peter Chapman Band, which is part of James Smith Cree Nation, said the money will be used for trusts, payments to members and infrastructure. (CBC News)

The federal government is compensating more than a dozen Saskatchewan First Nations for agricultural benefits promised in treaties signed long ago, but never provided. 

It has also reached a separate agreement with Cumberland House Cree Nation on a land claim. 

Federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Gary Anandasangaree said at a news conference Friday that the 14 First Nations involved in the agricultural settlement will get a combined $1.72 billion.

"We have an opportunity today as a country and as a people to make sure that we reset the relationship for the next generation," Anandasangaree said.

These are the latest examples of what's known as cows-and-plows settlements. 

The treaties made promises including hand tools such as spades, scythes and axes, as well as bigger equipment like plows, harrows and pit saws, to be shared among families. Many of these promises were never fulfilled.

"We're currently building our nation basically from the ground up, because we have long been denied our benefits under treaty," Chief Robert Head of Peter Chapman Band, which is part of James Smith Cree Nation, said. 

Head's First Nation will receive about $46 million. He said that the money will be used for trusts, payments to members and infrastructure.

"We weren't allowed to leave the reserves unless we had a permit or a pass. We weren't allowed to sell, you know, the produce that we grew on our reserves," Head said. 

"Residential schools, the Sixties Scoop and, you know, all the other policies … all point to genocidal policies of the Canadian government."

Head said that the compensation is justice that was long overdue, since the treaties were signed over 150 years ago. 

A woman
Tanya Aguilar-Antiman Chief of Mosquito-Grizzly Bear’s Head-Lean Man First Nation said some of the money will be put in a trust for children under 18 so that when they turn 18 they get a good head start. (CBC News)

Tanya Aguilar-Antiman Chief of Mosquito-Grizzly Bear's Head-Lean Man First Nation said that the settlement is an action-based example of reconciliation. 

"We've committed some resources to our language, and economic development is a big thing in our community right now," Aguilar-Antiman said.

Her First Nation will be getting around $114 million. She said some of the money will be put in trust for children under 18, so that when they turn 18 they get a good head start. 

The First Nations being compensated include:

  • Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation.
  • James Smith Cree Nation #370.
  • Little Black Bear First Nation.
  • Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation.
  • Moosomin First Nation.
  • Mosquito-Grizzly Bear's Head-Lean Man First Nation.
  • Pasqua First Nation.
  • Piapot First Nation.
  • Pelican Lake First Nation.
  • Poundmaker Cree Nation.
  • Saulteaux First Nation.
  • Sweetgrass First Nation.
  • Waterhen Lake First Nation.
  • Witchekan Lake First Nation.

Sask. First Nation agrees to $152M agricultural settlement with Ottawa

Sturgeon Lake First Nation to distribute $30K of settlement to each of 3,250 members

Several people stand or sit near a woman who signs a paper with a pen
Chief Christine Longjohn, centre, and the Sturgeon Lake First Nation council have announced that community members voted to accept a $152-million settlement agreement with the federal government. (Submitted by Christine Longjohn)

Sturgeon Lake First Nation says community members have voted in favour of a $152-million settlement over the federal government's reneged agricultural promises as outlined in Treaty 6.

It is among several settlements referred to as "cows and plows" agreements between Saskatchewan First Nation communities and the federal government over the failure to fulfil treaty promises to provide agricultural assistance and tools.

According to a news release from the community, issued Wednesday, Canada did not deliver promised agricultural tools, seeds and livestock that "were crucial for the community's economic development and self-sufficiency."

"We haven't been able to do a lot of things within our community … because we haven't had the funding for that," Sturgeon Lake Chief Christine Longjohn said Thursday.

"So this is a huge step and it promises a brighter future, you know, for the generation now, but also the generations ahead."

WATCH | CBC Indigenous explains 'cows and plows': 
CBC Indigenous reporter Jennifer Francis simplifies what you need to know about this settlement. Plus, she debunks the myth that cows and plows eliminates your treaty rights.

The Cree community, located about 146 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, has about 3,250 members. 

Longjohn said each registered member alive on the date of the ratification vote, which ran from July 22 to July 26, will receive $30,000 of the total settlement. Funds for minors will go into a trust until they are 18.

Of the remainder, $36 million is being put into a legacy trust fund, $12 million into a community development fund and the rest toward ratification costs, loan payment, legal fees and the legacy account, she said. 

"With the legacy fund, that is going to ensure there is always funds available for the community for generations to come," Longjohn said.

A news release from the community said 51 per cent of eligible members voted, with 88 per cent voting in favour.

Now that the ratification vote is complete, Longjohn said the First Nation council can sign the agreement, which will then go to Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Gary Anandasangaree to sign on behalf of Canada.

The process of signing the agreement and delivering the money is expected to take about six months, according to the First Nation. The federal government said the compensation will be paid within 45 days of the agreement being signed.

According to data from the federal government website, more than $729 million has been paid to Saskatchewan First Nation communities in similar settlements, including certain situations where the government did not provide promised ammunition and twine.

In an email, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada spokesperson Ryan Tyndall said each settlement is negotiated separately and considers several factors.

"We are very pleased that the First Nation's membership has approved the proposed settlement, which will help to renew our relationship with and advance reconciliation with the First Nation," the email said.

"The Government of Canada has no involvement in how a First Nation uses settlement monies. First Nations can use their settlements to invest in community priorities and initiatives as they see fit."

READ MORE: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/1-72-billion-cows-and-plows-deal-1.7465807

The journey home: Sixties Scoop survivor discovers his Indigenous roots in the Yukon

Jay Mitchell traced his biological family to the Yukon, then moved to Whitehorse to reconnect

A man stands beside a river in the snow.
Jay Mitchell by the Yukon River in Whitehorse. Mitchell has spent most of his life in Alberta and Ontario and believed he was Métis — until a DNA test helped him find his true biological family in the Yukon, and prompted him to pick up and move to the North. (Cali McTavish/CBC)

Having spent his whole life in bigger cities, Jay Mitchell says he's still getting used to the pace of life in the relatively small town of Whitehorse. 

"It's a shock. I'm so used to city life," said Mitchell. 

He's also getting used to meeting new members of his extended biological family. He says people often come up to him on the street in Whitehorse and tell him, "you're my cousin," "you're my second cousin," or "you're my nephew."

Mitchell moved to the Yukon last May after discovering errors in his Sixties Scoop adoption papers and then learning the truth about his ancestry. He spent most of his life believing he was Métis, only to have a DNA test reveal that both of his biological parents were from Yukon First Nations.

Mitchell says he misses his wife and son back home in Oshawa, Ont., but he says they'll join him soon.  He's grateful to the Kwanlin Dün First Nation in Whitehorse for embracing him and giving him a job, and a place to live, while he waits for his family. He is now a citizen of Kwanlin Dün, and works as a records keeper for the First Nation. 

Mitchell's family's move to the North is about building connections with his biological family, and finding support for Mitchell's 17-year-old son Nicholas who has autism. 

A man and woman stand on a sidewalk with a small child riding a toy bike.
A photo of a younger Mitchell with his wife Lisa Hughes and their son, Nicholas Hughes Mitchell who is now 17 years old. (Submitted by Jay Mitchell)

"We're doing this for my son," says Mitchell, "to make sure that, you know, there's family to take care of him, if anything happens to us."

A case of mistaken identity

Mitchell, 57, was born in Edmonton and raised there by his adoptive family before they moved to Oshawa. He was 10 years old when his mother told him he had been adopted. He says it was a shock. 

"I had no idea," said Mitchell.

His mother also then showed him his birth certificate which said Mitchell was Métis. That set him on a path to discover his cultural roots. 

"I went to Métis celebrations, and I met the Ontario Métis chief in Oshawa," he recalled.

When he was in his 50s, a health issue prompted a doctor to encourage Mitchell to try to learn about his biological family's medical history. That led to another surprise for Mitchell, when a DNA test and an ancestry research service revealed that he was not in fact Métis.

He learned that his biological family were Yukon First Nations members. He soon connected with his biological half-brother Jeffrey Kalles in Whitehorse, and eventually his two half-sisters as well.

Grandmother, father and son sit on a couch.
Jay Mitchell, centre, with his adoptive mother Barb Mitchell, and his son Nicholas Hughes Mitchell. (Submitted by Jay Mitchell)

Kalles describes the first time he talked on the phone with Mitchell.

"Hearing that voice, and just really realizing that's [my] big brother — it's surreal," Kalles recalled.

It was also surreal for Mitchell to learn about his biological family.

"The funny thing is that with my adopted family, I'm the baby of all the siblings — and in my biological family, I'm the oldest. It's kind of weird how that works," said Mitchell. 

A group of people pose for a photo in a picnic shelter.
Kwanlin Dün First Nation members welcome Mitchell to Whitehorse last year. Mitchell is standing at the back with a ball cap and red vest on. (Submitted by Jay Mitchell)

Putting the pieces together

Through a Freedom of Information request, Mitchell was able to get his adoption records from the Alberta government and confirm the identities of his biological parents as Yukon First Nations. 

"I don't understand why they didn't put me as First Nations. It's kind of puzzling, but a lot of people say that things were different back then, in the '60s," said Mitchell. 

The Sixties Scoop refers to the practice from the 1950s to the 1980s of removing First Nations and Inuit children from their families and communities and placing them in foster care or adopting them out to non-Indigenous families. According to Sixties Scoop class action lawsuit settlement website, many claimants described being cut off from their culture and language. 

Mitchell says when he learned about the class action lawsuit he was told he didn't qualify because of his Métis status. By the time he found out the truth about his Indigenous ancestry, the deadline to join the claim had passed.

'A lot of people were shocked ... that I existed'

After moving to Whitehorse and reuniting with biological family, Mitchell learned there were two people he would not be able to meet: his biological parents. Dennis Ladue and Joyce Jonathan had both died a few years earlier. 

"A lot of people were shocked about who I was, and that I existed," says Mitchell. 

Duran Henry is one of Mitchell's cousins. He thinks Ladue would have loved to meet Mitchell. 

A close up of two men staring into the camera.
Mitchell, left, with his cousin Duran Henry. (Submitted by Jay Mitchell)

"I think he would have been surprised, and then just overwhelmed by joy and love," says Henry.

He says sometimes Mitchell reminds him of Ladue.

"The way he laughs and, you know, the way we joke around — he's just a happy guy, and [Ladue] was like that."

Kalles was also adopted and also never met Joyce Jonathan, his biological mother. But he says their parents live on through the siblings. 

On the left, a man sits holding a cup of tea. On the right, a woman smiles laughing at a camera.
Jay Mitchell's biological parents Dennis Ladue and Joyce Jonathan who both died before Mitchell had a chance to meet them. (Submitted by Jay Mitchell)

"There are these idiosyncrasies — we didn't grow up together, but the way we talk and the way he looks around and stuff like that. I guess, when I talk to him and look at him, I just know, that's my brother," said Kalles. 

Mitchell says he can't wait for his family to join him in Whitehorse this summer. 

"Every day I miss my wife and son. My son and I do everything together," he said. 

Kalles says he's also excited to meet more of his extended family.  

"I'm going to retire here shortly, so I'll have a lot of time to hopefully show them around the Yukon," said Kalles.

Thursday, March 20, 2025

Indigenous People To Receive Payouts for Surviving Canada Child Welfare System, but Larger Systemic Reforms Remain Stalled


By

Starting March 10, Indigenous people who went through Canada’s child welfare system can apply for compensation for harms caused to them.

Approximately 300,000 Indigenous children and families who went through Canada’s child welfare system can apply for compensation for harms the system caused them. 

The Canadian press reports that $23 billion in payouts under a historic class-action settlement will take six to 12 months to process. Those taken as children between 1991 and 2022 from “reserves” and the northwestern territory of Yukon are eligible to submit claims, as are their caregiving parents and grandparents.

The Assembly of First Nations is helping citizens apply through its Get Ready campaign, announced in a press release earlier.  The national advocacy organization for Indigenous communities across Canada will educate and guide First Nations claimants to avoid scams and receive the assistance they need during the application and claims processing period.

“While no amount of money can make up for the harms done by Canada’s racist child welfare system, March 10 will be a historic turning point to address these past wrongs,” National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak stated. “The $23 billion compensation settlement is an important recognition of the heroic representative plaintiffs and everyone who took part in the long process of negotiations that brought us to this point.”


The pending payouts stem from a 2007 class-action lawsuit over the discriminatory treatment of First Nations children and families. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, an independent administrative body that hears complaints about discrimination, ruled on the matter in 2016. That ruling declared that families in Yukon and in reserves — the equivalent of a reservation in the U.S. — did not receive the same level of child and family services provided to other Canadians.

Yet as the claims process moves forward, a far larger and more systemic reform sought on behalf of Indigenous children and families remains stalled. 

A $47.8 billion payment to the First Nations Child and Family Services Program was initially approved last year, following an agreement between First Nations leaders and the Canadian government. The funding package designed to address the overrepresentation of First Nations children in Canada’s child welfare system would have covered a range of services to prevent child neglect and abuse and improve outcomes for young adults leaving the system. The agreement would have secured funding for 10 years, and addressed particularly high costs to deliver services in rural communities.

But in October, before the terms were finalized, First Nations leaders voted down the $47.8 billion settlement offer, amid complaints that it lacked transparency and accountability, among other concerns. 

Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society which has been a party to the case for years, said the deal reached last year would have been too “secretive” and unreliable.  Indigenous leaders “want to make sure the money is secure, and stops the discrimination now and forever,” Blackstock said.

Some Indigenous leaders are now seeking to renegotiate the deal, although there is an ongoing dispute over whether parties such as the Caring Society should be involved. 


Meanwhile, national politics in Canada may have introduced an additional unknown. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — whose government presided over last year’s settlement agreement with First Nations that has since been rejected — has resigned, causing concerns over whether a new conservative government would honor future agreements. 

In December, the Assembly of First Nations revealed the results of a legal review it commissioned, warning that the $47.8 billion reform deal could be upended by a future government.

That worries Danielle Cranmer, citizen of the Acjachemen Nation and a clinical therapist and licensed social worker. She has been closely watching the child welfare lawsuits in Canada since many of her clients are from First Nations families.

“The Assembly of First Nations and other Indigenous governance bodies have every reason to scrutinize the potential ramifications of a government change,” Cranmer said. “If the current administration loses power, a new government could claim they are not bound by this agreement, further delaying or dismantling crucial child welfare reforms.”

Cranmer said ensuring long-term commitments to reforms are essential to addressing harms of the past and helping First Nations people heal. She’ll continue monitoring how the current case unfolds, in light of historic patterns. “This underscores the precarious nature of agreements made between Indigenous nations and settler governments — particularly when they hinge on political administrations that may not honor past commitments,” Cranmer said.

Blackstock, who is Gitksan First Nation and has decades of social work experience, agreed.

“That’s why it was so important to protect against a change of government by having these legal orders, instead of moving over to this final settlement agreement that didn’t hold Canada accountable and gave them such wide discretion,” she said. “Under an adverse government, that would put at risk a lot of the gains we’ve made for First Nations’ kids.”

Can anything be said with certainty about what lies ahead?

“The short answer is, we don’t know,” Blackstock said. “But what we do know is that the legal orders are binding on whatever political party is in the government.”

 

For more information on all classes under the settlement, visit www.fnchildclaims.ca.

 


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