Ohpikiihaakan-ohpihmeh (Raised somewhere else): A 60s Scoop Adoptee’s Story of Coming Home

by Colleen Cardinal, Colleen Cardinal

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Indigenous, Memoir, Biography

214 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2018

Reviews

[Wiola Myszkowska Re:telling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave it 5 stars not because of groundbreaking writing style or storyteller skills. It’s simply a book which need to be read.
We know Canada as all-friendly-neighbourhood- superhero in the world of politics. The truth is it has got it’s own post-colonialism issues, and we need more books about that, more voices in public area just to discus them and find a solution.
Author of the book went through hell and I can’t imagine how paintful it was to go back to those memories to share them with a reader. And just because of that - her book needs to be read.
Therefore I won’t write about the technicalities, editor’s job because the story is worth to be heard anyways.

[Carolyn McBride · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a difficult book to read, so full of heartbreak and pain. I felt so bad for Colleen and her sisters. No child deserves any of what they went through. I am ashamed of her adoptive parents. Even more so because I live not too far from where they used to live. I was mortified to learn that people that lived less than 40 kilometres away from me could treat helpless and fragile children so horribly. I confess, there were tears shed on my part.

I am proud of Colleen for surviving, for seeking out help and pushing her boundaries to grow and heal. She has such strength of spirit that it is surely the only thing that saved her life.

Yes, this is a hard book to read, but it reminds us that people, women, are stronger than they look, than we think, and even stronger than they believe. It reminds us that far too many of us have forgotten how to treat our fellow human beings.
It reminds us that we are all fragile and worthy of love. No matter our gender or colour of our skin.

[chan · Rating 2 out of 5]

CW: abuse and assault of all kinds, addiction, destructive relationships, homelessness, mental and physical illness, miscarriage, poverty, racism, suicide

It is hard work to continually unlearn and challenge yourself, honestly examine your world views, change and do better.

Official paperwork states that Colleen Cardinal and her two sisters were taken from their parents' home in the early 1970s because of "neglect, unfit conditions, and severe alcohol issues". But it's more complicated than that because over the years their father offered different versions of what happenend when, whereas their mother never told her side of the story. At the time the home life wasn't the best, but there was no help offered either to these young parents, instead they took the children away. The three sisters spent the first couple of years in a few unsavoury foster homes and were then placed in in a non-Indigenous household 3'000 kilometres away from their home in Onihcikiskowapowin (Saddle Lake Cree Nation) – and the second part is, what's now known as the Sixties Scoop.

Thousands of Indigenous children were adopted into white settler Canadian families, with most of those adoptions taking place in the 1960s and 1970s. Children were apprehended in large numbers. Some First Nations communities lost virtually all their children in certain age groups. Children were adopted and fostered into families of all sorts, and [...] homes were often not adequately assessed for suitability or safety. Some children were fortunate to find loving families, while many thousands of others suffered all forms of abuse and neglect as well as racism from within their adoptive family units.
— Identity Lost And Found: Lessons From The Sixties Scoop by Raven Sinclair

For about 3/4, Ohpikiihaakan-ohpihmeh (Raised somewhere else): A 60s Scoop Adoptee’s Story of Coming Home is a story of shame, sadness, hurt, humiliation, loneliness, grief and anger that shows how for Colleen Cardinal the trauma and theft of her birth culture snowballed into decades of struggle with even more abuse, addiction, mental and physical illness, poverty and racist thinking towards her own people.
While still making a lot of mistakes by being irrational or selfish at times, in the last 1/4 of the book, her story gets more hopeful. Through therapy and the love for her (grand)children she is finally able to come to terms with her past and take back control of her own life. She sobers up, goes back to school, gets a diploma, starts working in women's shelters and not only co-founds the National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare Network but also reconnects with her roots.

I feel very conflicted about even giving this book something as simple as a star rating because who am I to judge Colleen Cardinal's story? It was hard to read and I began to tear up many times, but it was also very educational and I admire her strength, courage and honesty.

Therefore I decided to rate this book as to how it is written and how it was to read it. At times it felt like, Colleen Cardinal sat across from me, telling me about what she went through, other times it read more like a letter, diary, raw draft or even the transcript of a recording an author made in order to put together this memoir. Throughout the narrative travels back and forth to moments already depicted, certain sentences are brought up repetitively (sometimes on the same page) and I can't say how often an account starts with "One time". I also had a bit of a hard time following all those different peoples' names – oncles, aunts and cousins, neighbours, friends and acquaintances.
I completely understand and appreciate that Colleen Cardinal had to write down her own story the way she needed to tell it as another step in her healing process. With that in mind I see why it wasn't overly edited but as a reader I wished that it was more elaborately structured.

Nonetheless I highly recommend this heart wrenching book to anyone who is interested in learning more about how violent colonial policies throughout the history of the making of Canada made the Sixties Scoop possible and how it affected generations of Indigenous people to this day. To say I enjoyed reading it would be a lie, but I now have a better understanding about this part of Canadian history that was hushed up for so long and I am interested in learning even more.

Thank you to NetGalley, Fernwood Publishing and Roseway Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

[Kristen Van Den Neucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for a university class and I’m so glad my prof chose this book. This is a great memoir highlighting the 60s scoop, which is not talked about a lot in Canada. I didn’t even know what the 60’s scoop was until this class. It’s a story of heartache but it encompasses the struggles and trama that Ingenious Peoples are going through it have gone through & the general trauma that follows. This story is insightful & Colleen is very open about her experiences of abuse and violence. I found her story to be very empowering & it makes you reflect on you’re own life.
I felt like through this book she taught me so much & made me reflect on how much more I need to learn. I highly recommend this book!

[Travel By Bookmarks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells the tale of an Indigenous girl stolen from her family when she was a toddler. This personal memoir follows a 60s Scoop survivor’s journey of growing up in abusive non-Indigenous households and the long-lasting effects for the rest of her life. Colleen recounts the traumatic events she faced and the long road to healing.

This intense novel was fast-paced and covered most of the author’s foundational years, beginning when the author was a child and ending in her adulthood. The book delves into the tragedies and challenges that Indigenous individuals faced. The generational trauma that Collen and her family suffered caused a vicious cycle of poor lifestyle choices. The book included many dark topics like various types of abuse, colonialism, murder, severe alcoholism, and other unfathomable atrocities. Positive themes such as regaining hope, and reconnecting to culture/ancestry were also emphasized.

The descriptive story is uncomfortable at times, albeit an important one. Although I respectfully acknowledge the pain and significance of recounting events, I believe explicitly graphic content can be jarring. I had to skim occasionally because of how explicitly the sexual abuse was described. I wish translations for Indigenous chapter titles were included. I loved that Colleen shed light on the racism of the Canadian court and child welfare system towards Indigenous People, especially her being the daughter of a residential school survivor. I also loved that the author mentions realizing how insidious politicians were in using events to declare war in the Middle East and use tactics of fear mongering and Islamophobia. I didn’t expect to read that, so I was pleasantly surprised to read her accurate insight.

This memoir is very authentic and portrays the tragic suffering of Indigenous People in a heavy-hearted way. It’s definitely a read for adults. This eye-opening book depicts Colleen’s search for belonging and her extraordinary resilience.

[Elizabeth Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Courtesy of NetGalley)
Tragic doesn’t even began to explain the life of Colleen Cardinal. Her biological parents, Esther and Ricky, were from Onihcikiskowapowin First Nation (Saddle Lake Cree Nation) in Alberta, Canada. This memoir is a remarkable journey for Colleen from her birth in 1972 to being torn from her parents who were deemed neglectful drunks in the first year of her life; through the horrific physical, emotional, and sexual abuse that she and her biological sisters suffered at the hands of their white adoptive father, Ronald White. Ronald, his white Mary (who was secretly biracial white and indigenous), and their biological son, Scott lived different lives than the girls who they forced into hard labor around the house and sexual abuse.

There are many passages in this book that I highlighted because the pain, misery, utter below-bottom despair, and rare signs of hope propelled me to want to keep reading even though the chapters were graphic and unpleasant traumatic stories. Colleen had five children of her own. It was hard to keep track of who fathered whom. I think there were three different fathers — all abusive to Colleen. Joseph, she described as the worst since he nearly killed her. She suffered through rape and beatings; one instance so intense she miscarried.

Colleen Cardinal’s abusive history is vital to understand because she was part of the “60’s Scoop” where Canada child services tore thousands of children from their people. They weren’t given to family or tribal kin for adoption. They were given to terrible white parents. The generation prior had been removed from their families and tribes too and sent off to residential schools which meet the definition of genocide. The white people who ran these schools forbid the indigenous students to use their native language, customs, clothing, or any identity at all.

“I thought this was how my life was meant to be: a broke-ass Indian living on welfare, just like the stereotype.”

The generational poverty, alcoholism, personality disorders, cycles of abuse, and PTSD are specifically rooted in the racism of colonialism. Colleen’s sisters had both become sex workers when they ran away from the White household. They didn’t have any choice. Unfortunately, her oldest sister Gina was murdered during this leaving behind orphaned children which different family members took stints in raising. The fleeting moments of hope came each time Colleen tried to go to college. She wanted to become a social worker and even found a long period of steady employment in crisis work. Trying to care for children without reliable babysitters forced her to leave job after job. The crisis work became too traumatizing as did what she believed would be an “easy, stress-free” job as a receptionist for the Assembly of First Nations.

Colleen was failed by the social systems in place until she finally encountered the right people — people who would dedicate their lives to helping the indigenous population. Life turned around again when she entered Sault College’s Addictions Counselor program. It was her first exposure to sharing circles and building trust in a group of people.

“I began to heal but something even more valuable was happening: I was learning spirituality, language, and culture. In my whole life I had never been exposed to smudging, praying, sweat lodge, ceremonies or any teachings about our Creator.”

The pace of the book feels natural. The author’s language changes about eighty percent through. Once Colleen had found some roots, she started to weave phrases of her Cree language into the text. Poor health forced her to seek out disability income but there was a silver lining here. She was able to set her own pace, her own passions, and begin to give to her community through public speaking. She co-founded gatherings for 60’s Scoop survivors. After finding the right friends, the right connections, there was no way not to keep internally cheering for Colleen, a woman by her own definition who failed as a mother. Her new found knowledge allowed her to educate others on the harms of colonialism, the complex PTSD (C-PTSD), and survival.

As stated, it’s not a pleasant story, but it is a necessary one that white people of North America need to read. In a time where the United States is "scooping" up children who are crossing in from Mexico looking for new lives and then sticking those children in concentration camps away from their siblings and parents, there has never been a more critical time to get educated on the trauma this causes.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

After watching a 6-part series video, "Little Bird" a true story about Indigenous children in Canada who were removed from their families and photographed for advertisements promoting adoption I had to learn more. Known as the Sixties Scoop refers to the time period, primarily throughout the 1960s when Indigenous children were taken or “scooped away” from their birth families and communities, usually without the consent of their family and band in Canada. Throughout the 1960s and onwards, many Indigenous children were taken from their communities and adopted into predominantly white, middle-class families throughout North America. The Sixties Scoop occurred not because the government was genuinely concerned for the wellbeing of Indigenous children, but primarily as an extension of the racist policies against Indigenous communities meant to assimilate Indigenous children into Western society and strip them from their culture and communities.

This book recounts Ohpikiihaakan-ohpihmeh(Raised somewhere else) as it delves into the personal and provocative narrative of Colleen Cardinal's and her sisters journey growing up in a non- Indigenous household as a 60s Scoop adoptee. Another dark period of our treatment of Indigenous people. Much like the Native American assimilation schools (also known as Indian Boarding Schools) were established by the U.S. government in the late 19th century as an effort to assimilate Indigenous youth into mainstream American culture through education. This era was part of the United States’ overall attempt to kill, annihilate, or assimilate Indigenous peoples and eradicate Indigenous culture.

The novel is largely centered on vivid depictions of navigating and coping with violence, poverty, sexual assault, and misogyny through the representations of Cardinal and her sisters experience. Cardinal speaks frankly and intimately about instances of violence and abuse throughout her life. This is quite eye opener as the author is very open about her experience.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This marks my first read of 2025 and what an important and eye-opening way to begin the year. Colleen courageously recounts her trauma and never shies away from the hard truths of how she and many other Indigenous people were, and continued to be, treated. I commend Colleen for being able to so bravely share the details of her lives so that others may listen and learn.

As a white settler, I have the privilege of reading this memoir as a way to learn and not as a tool along a healing journey. At times in the book I would ask, 'how can people choose this' and be frustrated at decisions Colleen made - and then I stopped and asked myself: Why am I not frustrated and angry at the government who put people in these positions to make decisions like these?

For anyone else like myself, who is learning what it means to be an ally, I urge you to read this book. It is not a glamourized editorial or literary fiction. Colleen writes a bold and brave piece of history that offers white settlers a glimpse into what it means to live with the trauma of stolen life and culture.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have this book on my course list for an M.Ed. class. We had the pleasure of meeting with the author in class just today and though I am familiar with the history of residential schooling and the 60's scoop, Colleen's book brings one as close to the experience of trauma and healing as it is possible to do so from my white privileged position. As Colleen stated, " I didn't write this book for the survivors". It is a book to educate all Canadians about our shared history, about the assimilationist goals the government pursued on our behalf. Colleen's story is of strength, survival and how family is a complicated concept for children who have had their cultural identity taken away. I am glad I chose this uncomfortable , necessary and highly educational read for my course resources.

[Anneke Alnatour · Rating 5 out of 5]

This did not really read like a book. The honest recount of her life by Colleen Cardinal was heart wrenching, but written in a way that it was almost like she was telling the story to you. There did not seem to be embellishments, and Cardinal doesn't shy away from the hard realities and difficult choices she encountered in her life. Every time you'd think that things got better, they actually got worse, and I am not sure if I'd be half the woman she is if I had faced just a fragment of things that came her way.

Much respect to her, and all of the victims of the 60s scoop. Recommended

[Emily Princi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very powerful, moving and emotional story. It showcases the raw and intimate details into Colleen’s childhood and life. She takes you through her journey through life and how she struggled due to the intergenerational trauma and abuse she faced. It was very well written and easily accessible, however, I will state that some writing in the chapters felt very choppy. It would jump from one thing to another and I thought I skipped a page or two.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put it down. Every Chapter ended with wanting to know more. Colleen shared her life in the most honest way possible, through her heart and spirit. She lived it, yet so many parts of her story, were my story, your stories. Stories of so many of us.

It was a true experience with hope & faith & perseverance prevailing.

Ahkamayomok
Kinanâskomtin niwahkomakan Colleen
Kisâkihitin

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hard and terrible story that needs to be shared. She is so brave and strong for sharing her trauma and dedicating her life to helping others. I have no words.

[Moon Beam Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great novel of the 60s scoop

[Christine Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What they didn’t see was the pain, trauma and suffering that we endured living under that roof with those people.” – Colleen Cardinal

It’s been a few days since I finished Colleen’s story. I had a lot to think about. Colleen, an Indigenous woman, grew up in the Sixties Scoop – a practice that occurred primarily in Canada where Indigenous children were taken from their families and sent to foster homes or adopted (usually by white families) in the late 1950s on. Her story is one of growing up in a family different from her own and how it snowballed into the life she created for several decades. Colleen dealt with abuses abound including mental, emotional, physical, and even sexual. Trauma can alter people in vastly different ways and this story was a look at how Colleen coped through her life (very rough, detailed patches and all) and found her way back to herself and to the people and culture she was taken from years ago.

Colleen told this story as if she were sitting across from me speaking her truths. Honestly, there were a few instances I looked up almost expecting someone to be there telling me what her words were telling me about her life. What also impressed me is how she has owned up to so many things about her past that even she admitted aren’t easy to do for many people. In that, I applauded her greatly.

“I am not perfect by any means and have hurt and been violent to other people in my past.” – Colleen Cardinal

“Like a familiar piece of luggage, I have dragged my abuse right along with me, and in many ways have taken it out on my children.” – Colleen Cardinal

Perhaps wisdom does come with age and watching Colleen’s story unravel and lead her to a place of self-discovery was inspiring, hopeful, and educational (the Sixties Scoop was yet another piece of Indigenous culture I didn’t know existed beforehand). Additionally, her extreme love for her children was something to be cherished as I read. Yes, she has made many errors in her life (which of us haven’t?), and sometimes her own desires sadly did come before her children’s desires. However, she credits them for her ability to grow and change constantly and I appreciate that as I never had a mother who loved me as much as she loves her children.

The downside to her story, for me, was certain parts felt slightly repetitive. It wasn’t necessarily overdone to a point I was irritated or annoyed, however, it did detract from the way her story unraveled when we would see her travel back a moment to re-live something already discussed. I think why this was hard for me is that Colleen’s story has a lot of emotional and rough spots in it – things I have never experienced and things I wish no one would ever have to experience. Rehashing a section that I already felt sad about was difficult the first time and sometimes I didn’t want to stomach things a second time.

This book was neither easy to read nor bursting with warm, fuzzy feelings. I cannot relate to her on many levels, yet that is why I loved her story so deeply. I have been in awe of Native American and Indigenous culture since I was around five or six and have felt that so many of their stories have been skipped over or not given a platform or opportunity to reach as many people as they should. What has happened to their lifestyles and culture has unsettled me for decades and in listening to Colleen’s story I felt proud for her and her people to finally raise a voice and put a foot down to accepting what they are told to accept. While many voices are still not heard, this story was fascinating, saddening, and hopeful. I hope it allows others like her to find their way back to their true selves and allow the rest of us to see what has happened to so many Indigenous people. Those actions cannot be taken back – history is history. Yet there is always time to change the future to be better and brighter for future generations that have been previously been wronged for so long.

“There are things you just keep on doing no matter what. You drag your ass out of bed or off the couch and you keep going because you have to, because no one is going to do it for you.” – Colleen Cardinal

This is just one of many stories that should be read by many to help further the knowledge of what has happened under the rug to so many for years upon years. Don’t assume you know the full story unless you’ve truly looked at every angle. I highly recommend reading this story for anyone interested in learning more about the Sixties Scoop and understanding what’s really happening under the stereotypes put on many Indigenous by those who do not truly understand.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those that think that taking a child out of its culture, and raising it by another culture is just fine, this book will change your mind. For those that think that the poverty of First Nations and Native peoples are not conducive to raising children, and that they are better off with wealthier, white families, then this book will change your mind. And for those that think that children are resilient and will bounce back from anything, this book proves otherwise.

Colleen recounts how she, and her two sisters, were removed from her parents home because of neglect, and placed with a white family, and there treated like second class citizens, because they weren't their birth children.

The author says that she was told that this was better, that she was not neglected in her new home, that she was taken care of. But, her new father sexually assaulted her sister, and tried to do the same to her. He would beat them for small infractions, and treat them cruelly, and her foster mother did nothing to save her.

This is not fun reading. This is not for the faint of heart. This is something that should be read, however, to understand the damage that 60s scoop, the process of removing Indigenous children from their birth parents, did to the children.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought I was - Scooped...not me!! Until I read this book! It opened my eyes ears & heart to the knowledge that I was not the only one. That I was not lost for no reason. That I was not alone with the struggles of being raised blonde hair blue eyes. I was not alone. An amazing eye opening jarring maddening disgusting heartbreaking lesson & knowledge of realities that have been so painful for so many.