ABORIGINALS RALLY AT ‘60S SCOOP’ COURT AS HEARING BEGINS

Scores of aboriginals from across Ontario rallied in Toronto Tuesday ahead of a landmark court hearing on whether the federal government robbed them of their cultural identities during a two- decade period in which native children were taken from their homes and placed with non-native families. Speakers denounced the ‘ 60s Scoop and what they called “cultural genocide.” Speakers called the practice a deliberate effort to assimilate aboriginal children. “I just want to say to Canada: We will not allow the harm of our children. We need to bring our children home, the ones that were lost, the ones that were stolen,” lead plaintiff Marcia Brown Martel told the crowd. The ‘ 60s Scoop was a federal- provincial program from 1965 to 1984.