Adoptees on the healing path

Thunderbird clan For Two Row Times Taking the Indian out of the Indian. Such is the kind of thing that the Children’s Aid Society did to thousands of native children when we were taken away from our birth families. Many were told to be quiet, told they were no good, told that they were worthless. Many grew up with childhood trauma, low self esteem. Many had an inferiority complex.

Later in life some ended up in prison, living on the street, psychiatric wards, and alcohol and drug addictions. Many native adoptees thought to ourselves: there is something missing in my life but I don’t know what it is. Loss of culture, spirituality, language and loss of Indian status.

In short an identity crisis and a feeling that we don’t belong. Also the fact that many were given the wrong birth records and information about who we really were and are. Some Metis adoptees were told that we were white and not native at all. Such is the way of assimilation. If we looked white then we were told that we were. All of this happened right up to the early 1980’s.

The same kind of thing happened to aboriginal children in Australia too. Many adoptees walked alone through life with a big gaping hole in their chests unsure what to fill it with. There were birth mothers and family members who thought they would never again see their children that were adopted out. But the creator brought back many of those “lost bundles” to their original homes.

Some adoptees are now going to first nations healing centres to deal with early childhood trauma. One of these is Enaahtig healing lodge and learning centre. It is just a half hour drive north west of Barrie, Ontario. A lot of adoptees are finding out about leaving drugs and alcohol behind them to have a better life.

Many also have found that their first nations culture, spirituality are taking the place of drugs, alcohol and low self esteem. I am a firm believer that we should follow our dreams and what our heart and spirit tell us. The creator gave each of us beautiful gifts that we may use to help each other and mother earth as well.

With love behind us we can do anything. Love is the most powerful thing in the whole universe.

Life itself is the most sacred of all of the gifts the creator gave us. And when we learn how to heal ourselves we learn then how to heal each other. Adoptees are not alone: the creator has always been with us and our birth families.

Finally we know who we are and where we come from: finally we have better self esteem. There is now a law suit against the Children’s Aid Society and the federal government about the abuses many first nations children went through. It is called the www.sixtiesscooplawsuit.com.

I was looking at it and I was wishing that there was some kind of traditional feast or gathering for native adoptees and their families. It linked up to another website and guess what: it was about a traditional gathering for adoptees of the first nations. It is in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada at the end of September.

It’s amazing how the creator answers our prayers and blesses us with good things. The social gathering is called the “Bigiwen Indigenous adoptee gathering 2014. The website address is www.indigenousadoptee.com