Sixties Scoop survivor shares her healing story through new Manitoba-made web series

PREMIERS TODAY

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2025/11/07/sixties-scoop-survivor-shares-her-healing-story-through-new-manitoba-made-web-series/

A Manitoba-made web series has been created to shine a light on the Sixties Scoop, where thousands of Indigenous children were taken from their families and placed into non-Indigenous homes.

Now the stories that are about to be told by a Winnipeg survivor turned director, looks to give people a way to reconnect with their culture and identity. 

Colleen Rajotte, a Sixties Scoop survivor and longtime Manitoba journalist, has spent much of her life telling stories about loss and resilience. Now she’s sharing in a new way, through Amanda’s Choice, a six-part web series inspired by her experiences after finding her birth family.

“I had this idea of why not make a web series about the Sixties Scoop, incorporating things I’ve gone through, friends have gone through, so I sketched it out on a napkin and here we are,” explained Rajotte.

Colleen Rajotte, a Sixties Scoop survivor and longtime Manitoba journalist. (Photo Credit: Mitchell Ringos, CityNews)

The series follows three urban Indigenous women navigating identity, family, and everyday life after reconnection, blending humour and heartbreak through stories drawn from real moments.

“It was difficult at times because it brought up memories and past experiences, but knowing I could share these stories in a different was very healing.”

One episode, titled “The Interview,” was sparked by Rajotte’s own experience in her twenties, fielding painful questions during a documentary taping and feeling those emotions surge back.

“Some of the questions were very deep, involved, and emotional, and I ended up having an anxiety reaction,” said Rajotte.

Rajotte says Amanda’s Choice is about more than entertainment; it’s a reminder that the legacy of the Sixties Scoop continues to shape lives today.

“This is just a different way to entertain people, but remind them that the Sixties Scoop is something very real and needs attention,” she explained.

“The Sixties Scoop in general, has not received the same amount of public attention as residential school survivors had got, and we need to remind people that 30,000 of our children were removed.”

Amanda’s Choice premieres November 12, with one new episode daily on YouTube and Facebook. 

60s Scoop: That little sister was Elizabeth

Canadian siblings reunite with long-lost sister taken in the Sixties Scoop

Decades after being separated, three siblings from Northern Manitoba travel to North Dakota as they work to bring their sister home

Cindy Munro, right, embraces her sister Elizabeth Kostecky during their emotional reunion in North Dakota. Kostecky was removed from the family in Canada during the Sixties Scoop and adopted by a White family in Minnesota. Credit: Coleen Rajotte for ICT

Coleen Rajotte
Special to ICT 

FARGO, North Dakota — Lorraine Sinclair had been waiting for this moment her entire life.

Sinclair and her siblings, Cindy and Gerald Munro, traveled from Northern Manitoba in Canada to North Dakota to finally meet up with their long-missing sister.

Now known as Elizabeth Kostecky, she was taken from their family in 1971 during an era known as the Sixties Scoop, a period when Canadian authorities removed an estimated 30,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children from their homes. The siblings, who are Cree from the Sapotewayak Cree Nation in Manitoba, were among them.

Many of the Native children caught up in the Sixties Scoop were adopted into non-Native families across Canada, the United States and beyond. Elizabeth was just 1 year old when she was adopted by a White family in Minnesota. Lorraine, Cindy and Gerald were also taken from their mother and placed into foster care, where they were largely raised in separate households.

The three reunited in the early 1990s, but they had not seen Elizabeth in decades, if ever. 

The siblings’ journey in mid-August took them from Fargo to Ellendale, a two-hour drive, where they knew their sister was waiting. Elizabeth is currently a ward of the state of North Dakota and is in an assisted-living facility, they said.

When they arrived, the emotional reunion began at the front door, where Elizabeth was waiting. Tears and hugs filled the air as the four siblings embraced. They are now trying to get her returned to Canada.

“Everybody has to find their family,” Lorraine said. “We can’t leave anybody behind.”

The family story

Cindy and Lorraine were taken away as toddlers from their home in Birch River, Manitoba. Cindy was 3 and Lorraine was just 2. They were placed in a foster home on a farm, but they were then moved around to other placements.

Both sisters say they were abused during their time in foster homes.  Cindy recalls that “social workers never checked up to see if we were safe.”

Reunited at last: Siblings, from left, Lorraine Sinclair, Gerald Munro, Cindy Munro and Elizabeth Kostecky gather in North Dakota after being reconciled decades after Kostecky was taken from the family during Canada’s Sixties Scoop. Credit: Coleen Rajotte for ICT

The two sisters found each other again when they attended the same high school in Swan River, Manitoba. By then, Cindy had run away and was living in a motel while attending high school. She cleaned rooms at night, and Canada’s social assistance program paid her accommodations.

They had no idea their mother had given birth to their younger brother, Gerald, and younger sister, Elizabeth.  The younger siblings were in Winnipeg, and they did not find out about them until they were adults. In all, they were among 11 children in the family, four of whom have died.

Their dad died in 1974. To this day, none of the children has ever found their mother.  

Elizabeth’s story

Elizabeth was adopted by an American family in Minnesota, and by all accounts, had loving adoptive parents. Her parents owned a fishing and hunting lodge where Elizabeth worked.

She described experiencing racism as a child in school. “They would be very mean to me,” she said. “They would powwow around me, make sounds, wear feathers — always trying to make fun of me.”

A childhood photo of Elizabeth Kostecky, who was taken from her family in Canada in 1971 during the Sixties Scoop. She was adopted by a White family in Minnesota and finally reunited with her siblings in August 2025 in North Dakota. Credit: Courtesy photo

Elizabeth said she hadn’t realized just how many Indigenous children were taken during the Sixties Scoop. “I only met one Native my whole life growing up,” she said. 

About four years ago, her adoptive parents died, just months apart, she told ICT. The lodge was sold and Elizabeth said she did not get any money from the sale.

Shortly afterward, she ended up in an  assisted living facility and became a ward of the state of North Dakota. Elizabeth told her siblings she was told she had memory problems.

Reuniting

Cindy and Lorraine were able to find Gerald in the 1990s. Gerald told them he had a little sister who was taken away while he was a toddler in Winnipeg.  That little sister was Elizabeth.  Cindy and Lorraine, who remain very close to this day, began the search.

They were able to track her to North Dakota after someone told them she’d been adopted by the family that owned the hunting lodge.  This led to phone calls and the eventual trip to North Dakota in early August.

Elizabeth told ICT she didn’t expect to end up in North Dakota without family nearby. She said she was placed in an assisted-living facility following an arrest related to a drinking incident years ago. 

Looking ahead

The siblings say they are determined to bring Elizabeth back to Canada. Upon their return to Canada, they were able to obtain Elizabeth’s Canadian birth certificate and are consulting a lawyer about removing the legal restraints that keep her in the U.S.

“I think our sister would be capable of looking after herself, maybe with a little help at first,” Lorraine said. 

The siblings visited in the lobby of the facility where Elizabeth lives, in a clean, institutional dining room that overlooks a string of old brick buildings in Ellendale.

There were lots of tears as they sat close to one another.  The siblings brought gifts for Elizabeth – craft supplies, a smudge bowl and traditional medicines. They ate lunch together at the local Subway.

They found a park where they could smudge together. But the one-day visit came to a close too soon, and the three dreaded leaving their sister alone.

The only contact they have had since they returned home is through Facebook.  Elizabeth messages them to say she loves them. 

The siblings say their story draws attention to the thousands of families separated during the Sixties Scoop, and that work is still needed to help survivors return home. 

As they said their goodbyes, the siblings promised this was not the end of their time together.

 “It’s not goodbye,” one said. “It’s ‘see you later.’” 

SOURCE:  https://ictnews.org/news/canadian-siblings-reunite-with-long-lost-sister-taken-in-the-sixties-scoop/

10 years after Apology

'60s Scoop survivors call for support beyond 'grossly inadequate' payout

First Nation, Métis, Inuit children taken from families 'have often been forgotten about': Manitoba advocate 

Bryce Hoye · CBC News · June 18

VIDEOS LINK: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/sixties-scoop-apology-decade-anniversary-1.7564426 

Sisters Lorraine Sinclair, left, and Cindy Munro attend an event marking 10 years since then Manitoba premier Greg Selinger apologized to survivors, like them, of the Sixties Scoop. (Zubina Ahmed/CBC)

Survivors of an infamous Canadian campaign to take Indigenous children from their families are underscoring the need for more action on the 10-year anniversary of the Manitoba's government formal apology for its role.

Lorraine Sinclair and Cindy Munro are grateful they reunited. The sisters say they're from a family of 11 children — nine of whom, including them, were separated and adopted out during the Sixties Scoop.

"We're learning about each other. Our other extended family and our other brothers and sisters, we don't really know them," said Munro. "I don't know who they are. That's not fair — that's not fair to my children, my grandchildren, my siblings."

The sisters were among a group of survivors and supporters at an event at St. John's Park in north Winnipeg on Wednesday to mark a decade since then premier Greg Selinger apologized to families caught in the Sixties Scoop.

The once legal and systematic practice removed thousands of First Nation, Métis and Inuit children from their birth families from the late 1950s into the 1980s. Most were adopted out to non-Indigenous families in Canada and abroad.

• Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger apologizes for Sixties Scoop

• Manitoban taken during Sixties Scoop returns after 2 decades behind bars in U.S.
• KEEP READING👇 

#60s Scoop seek formal apology

Sixties Scoop: Aboriginals Adopted Into White Families Seek Apology

  By Chinta Puxley, The Canadian Press 

WINNIPEG - Some aboriginal people who were adopted into white families during the so-called Sixties Scoop say it's their turn for reconciliation and are calling for a formal apology from the federal government.
Dozens of adoptees gathered in Winnipeg on Monday to tell their stories — many for the first time — and figure out how to get justice.
Coleen Rajotte was taken from her Cree community in Saskatchewan when she was three months old and raised by a Manitoba family. Adoptees were robbed of their real families and feel someone has to be held accountable, she said.
"If someone came into your home today, took your children and shipped them to the United States and around the world, we would want answers," she said. "That's what we as adoptees are asking for. Someone has to take responsibility for this."
From the 1960s to the 1980s, thousands of aboriginal children were taken from their homes by child welfare services and placed with non-aboriginal families. Many consider the adoptions as an extension of the residential school system, which aimed to "take the Indian out of the child."
Rajotte said she was lucky enough to be placed into a loving home, but she lost her language, her culture and her connection to her ancestral home. When she recently went to the home she would have grown up in had she not been adopted, Rajotte said it was overwhelming.
"I was physically ill for days just trying to process all of that," she said.
But while residential school survivors have had a formal apology and are the subjects of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, adoptees haven't been formally recognized.
"Personally, I would like to see some kind of formal apology to all adoptees that were taken from their homes," Rajotte said. "That's a lot of children — 20,000 children across Canada."
A spokeswoman for federal Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt said there would be no comment.
"As this case is currently before the courts it would be inappropriate to comment further," she said in an email.
A class-action lawsuit launched by some survivors in Ontario in 2009 is slowly making its way through the courts. The lawsuit was certified, but Canada recently won leave to appeal that decision.
Manitoba Aboriginal Affairs Minister Eric Robinson said it's time adoptees were given the same opportunity for reconciliation as residential school survivors. Some adoptees were put with families where they were treated as farm hands or subjected to horrific abuse, he said.
"It's not an easy thing to talk about the hurts that many of them endured as children, not knowing who they were, being a brown face in an all-white school as an example," said Robinson, a residential school survivor who organized the two-day gathering.
"Those things are very difficult to talk about in this current day but they have to be addressed."
Those adoptees at the gathering hope to emerge with a strategy for recognition and a sense of what supports they need to heal, he said.
"Compensation no doubt will come up," Robinson said. "There's got to be a certain degree of accountability by governments."
SOURCE