During the 60s Scoop, over 20,000 Indigenous children in Canada were removed from their biological families, lands and culture and trafficked across provinces, borders and overseas to be raised in non-Indigenous households.

Ohpikiihaakan-ohpihmeh delves into the personal and provocative narrative of Colleen Cardinal’s journey growing up in a non- Indigenous household as a 60s Scoop adoptee. Cardinal speaks frankly and intimately about instances of violence and abuse throughout her life, but this book is not a story of tragedy. It is a story of empowerment, reclamation and, ultimately, personal reconciliation. It is a form of Indigenous resistance through truth-telling, a story that informs the narrative on missing and murdered Indigenous women, colonial violence, racism and the Indigenous child welfare system.

Colleen Cardinal is Nehiyaw Iskwew from Onihcikiskowapowin Saddle Lake First Nation Alberta, daughter of a residential school survivor, 60s scoop adoptee and MMIWG family member and social justice activist organizer. She is co-founder of the National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare Network and has successfully organized two national Indigenous Adoptee Gatherings in 2014 and 2015. Colleen is the proud mother of four grown children and enjoys spending all her free time with her grandchildren.

Colleen Cardinal's profile page

Raven Sinclair (Ótiskewápíwskew) is Cree/Assinniboine/Saulteaux from Gordon’s First Nation. She is an assistant professor of social work at the University of Regina and the Assistant Director of the Indigenous Peoples’ Health Research Centre. She is interested and enthusiastic about everything except sewing and knitting, and she has a four-year-old daughter who keeps her on her toes.

Raven Sinclair (Ótiskewápíwskew)'s profile page

“Offers a window through which readers can see why cultural suppression is such a dark chapter in Canada’s history.”

Winnipeg Free Press

“With Canadians slowly awakening to the reality of the 60s Scoop and its ongoing repercussions, Cardinal’s inspiring work here is essential reading and will be an integral resource for generations to come.”

Waubgeshig Rice, author of Legacy