June is National Indigenous History Month in Canada.

On this page:

  1. Our commitment
  2. Indigenous research and academia
  3. Residential Schools, '60s Scoop and Millennial Scoop
  4. Support resources

Our commitment

We believe that progress comes from acknowledging our shared history, even the painful parts. As we support Indigenous communities, we want to be open about the harsh realities of colonialism and racism. By facing these truths, we can create real change.

Throughout this month, we invite you to explore the strength and triumphs of Indigenous peoples. Discover their vibrant culture, powerful activism, inspiring art, transformative education and groundbreaking contributions to science. Together we can learn, grow and celebrate the spirit that shapes Indigenous communities today.

Visit our Indigenous reconciliation page to learn more about our ongoing journey toward reconciliation. Learn from Indigenous voices and join us in building a future based on understanding, respect and solidarity. 

Let's walk this path together.


Indigenous research and academia

In Waterloo Region, Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo offer courses and programs exploring Indigenous studies and research.

Laurier’s Master of Social Work program offers an Indigenous Field of Study that integrates a holistic Indigenous worldview and contemporary social work practice. Emphasizing the guidance of Indigenous elders and traditions, the program aims to develop social work practitioners who understand and respect the history and culture of Indigenous peoples. Laurier also houses the Centre for Indigegogy, providing workshops and certificates focused on Indigenous-centred holistic development.

At the University of Waterloo, St. Paul's University College offers an Indigenous Studies minor program, allowing students to explore courses on the Indigenous experience, contemporary communities, visual culture and global perspectives. The Indigenous Workways initiative involves collaboration among scholars and Indigenous education centres across four institutions in southwest Ontario. Their research aims to address underemployment among Ontario's Indigenous workforce by empowering Indigenous youth and promoting respectful workplace practices.

Conestoga College offers land-based courses under its Indigenous studies program, such as Indigenous Land-Based Practices and Learning on the Land.

Find more information:


Residential Schools, Sixties Scoop and Millennial Scoop

In our ongoing commitment to supporting and uplifting Indigenous peoples, it is important to share difficult truths to move forward in a positive way. That includes the devastating truths about over 400 residential schools that existed across Canada.

To honour the lives of the 215 Indigenous children buried at a residential school in Kamloops, B.C., all area municipalities lowered our flags for a period of 215 hours until June 9, 2021. The flags remained lowered for one hour for every child whose life was taken.

For more ways to educate yourself on the history of residential schools in Canada as a settler, we suggest the following resources: 

As we continue to grieve this news, we want to remind you to take care of one another, and to reach out to the following resources that are available for mental health supports:

  • Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS) - 24 Hour crisis line: 1-866-925-4419, website
  • Waterloo Wellington Here 24/7 Addictions, Mental Health & Crisis Support - Phone: 1-844-437-3247, website
  • Kids Help Phone, 24/7 distress line - Phone: 1-800-668-6868, website

Residential Schools

Photo of the Mohawk Institute residential school with text saying "Residential Schools" on topThe Canadian government and Canada’s churches built the residential school system as a means to solve the “Indian question” in Canada — the perceived threat and barrier posed by Indigenous Peoples to the ongoing construction of the newly forming nation of Canada. They developed a system that mimicked schools in the United States and in British colonies, where governments and colonial powers used large, boarding-style industrial schools to convert masses of Indigenous and poor children into Catholics and Protestants, and turn them into “good industrious workers.”

These schools were used in Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, as well as in Sweden for Indigenous Sami children, as a way for new settlers to claim land traditionally occupied by Indigenous people. Canada adopted this model in order to enforce the adoption of European traditions, languages and lifestyles by First Nations, Métis and Inuit children.

There were approximately 17 residential schools across Ontario, one of them being the Mohawk Institute in Brantford (also known as the Mushhole) shown above. This school housed many Indigenous children over 142 years, until it closed in 1970.

Next door to the Mohawk Institute is the Woodland Cultural Centre. The centre began its focus on collecting research and artifacts to develop its library and museum collections, but by 1975, expanded to include Indigenous art and programming. The Centre currently runs “Save the Evidence,” a campaign to raise awareness and support for the restoration of the former Mohawk Institute Residential School, and to develop the building into an Interpreted Historic Site and Educational Resource. As a site of conscience, the final goal is to create a fully-realized Interpretive Centre that will be the definitive destination for information about the history of Residential Schools in Canada, the experiences of Survivors of the schools, and the impact that the Residential School system has had on our communities.

The Sixties Scoop and the Millennial Scoop

The term Sixties Scoop was coined by Patrick Johnston, author of the 1983 report Native Children and the Child Welfare System. It refers to the mass removal of Indigenous children from their families into the child welfare system, in most cases without the consent of their families or bands. 

Professor Raven Sinclair recounts that Johnston told her that a B.C. social worker provided the phrase when she told him “…with tears in her eyes — that it was common practice in B.C. in the mid-sixties to ‘scoop’ from their mothers on reserves almost all newly born children. She was crying because she realized — 20 years later — what a mistake that had been."

The Sixties Scoop refers to a particular phase of a larger history and not to an explicit government policy. Although the practice of removing Indigenous children from their families and into state care existed before the 1960s (with the residential school system, for example), the drastic overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system accelerated in the 1960s, when Indigenous children were seized and taken from their homes and placed, in most cases, into middle-class Euro-Canadian families. 

The discrimination and overrepresentation against Indigenous children continue to this day. Many experts use the Millennial Scoop instead of the Sixties Scoop. The recent data about discrimination and racism against Indigenous children is shocking. A large percentage of Indigenous children, around 50 percent, are in foster care. Indigenous children make up only 7.7 percent of all children. This reveals a significant level of unequal treatment. Yet, the child welfare system is just one piece of the problem. Indigenous children have to deal with many other hardships, including high poverty levels.

Learn more:

Sources:


Support resources

These posts for National Indigenous History Month were created before we learned the painful news from Kamloops, BC regarding the discovery of the remains of 215 children at a former residential school. We acknowledge that celebrating Indigenous history and culture is difficult for many people right now, but believe that we still have a responsibility to share information during this difficult time. As we continue to grieve this news, we want to remind you to take care of one another, and to reach out to the following resources that are available for mental health supports: