Last Friday, Sep. 28, Grade 8 had a special visitor who came to class on Orange Shirt Day. Vicky Catagas is an Indigenous woman who was in the Sixties Scoop along with her brothers and sisters.
During her visit, she talked about the story of what happened to her during and after the Scoop. While she and her siblings were playing, a group of RCMP officers came and picked them up and put them with a foster family. Vicky talked about how the foster family took their culture away from them by cutting their hair, telling them it was full of lice and bugs, and not allow them to speak their own language, though that was the only language they knew at the time. The foster family continued to tell them lies about their former family, and once she reached the age of 18 she was kicked out of the home with only $50 to build a life of her own.
Many have heard of the quote “forgive and forget.” Though some can forgive, such as Vicky, no one can forget what they had to go through at such a young age. Vicky said that the only way she could forgive and move on was with the help of the Creator who guided her and gave her help when she needed it.
The Grade 8 students learned a lot about the Sixties Scoop and about the Aboriginal community.
We appreciated Vicky’s visit, and we hope she can come back another time to talk more about her life and experiences.