The Sixties Scoop was a series of policies and programs in Canada where welfare agencies adopted or fostered thousands of Indigenous children to predominately non-Native families. For many it meant the end of connection to their Indigenous communities and culture.
The new narrative film Meadowlarks by Cree director Tasha Hubbard explores the journey of reunion and healing in adulthood. Hubbard spoke with BTPM NPR about the film, which recently had a screening at Toronto’s imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and premiere on Canadian streamer Crave.
Meadowlarks tells the story of four fictional siblings all separated by Sixties Scoop programs, who reunite for one week in a remote vacation rental in Alberta. While the middle-aged siblings may be fictional, their life story is very much a reality for many First Nations people.
"I grew up in a farm community. The only other Indigenous people in my community were other Sixties Scoop kids," said Hubbard, who was adopted through the Saskatchewan Adopt Indian Metis project. "How did I get to learn about anything Indigenous? Caricatures and stereotypes on television… and I felt so alone."
It’s Hubbard’s first narrative film, but she’s a veteran of countless documentaries over the years exploring Indigenous topics.
In fact the movie was inspired by a documentary called Birth of a Family she made alongside Betty Adam, a newspaper reporter who herself was a Sixties Scoop child. Hubbard followed Adam and her three siblings as they also reunited for a week in Alberta.
"[They] essentially invited me and my crew to be along with them for this week, this monumental event, right from arrival in the airport to goodbye in the airport," she said. "It's a beautiful film, beautiful experience. I filmed it quite observationally, we tried to not interfere in this special time."
A producer approached Hubbard after the documentary premiered, and asked her if she was interested in turning the premise into a drama.
"If I have fictional characters that are not directly correlated to these real people, but are this amalgamation of so many Sixties Scoop survivors' experiences, then be able to dive into their experiences in their adoptive and foster homes."
Those performances are brought to life by an all-Indigenous cast that includes Michael Greyeyes, Carmen Moore, Alex Rice and Michelle Thurst.
"One of the most interesting things is Michael Greyeyes and Alex Rice acted together when they were young, and they often played each other's love interest in these different early 2000s shows that were out there," Hubbard said. "They formed a real sibling bond working together, and so they were so happy to have this opportunity to play these reconnecting siblings and use that energy, friendship that already existed, to bring to that."
While there are many moments in Meadowlarks that confront trauma, there are softer moments and humorous ones. Hubbard wanted the film to be reflective of what she called the complexity of Native people.
"I think sometimes, especially non-Indigenous filmmakers, they lean into the trauma. And it's not that we can't represent that, it is part of our experience, but it's not the sum of who we are as a people," she said. "And I think for me, just being really wanting to focus on these four: interesting and beautiful and flawed and funny and heartbreaking."
For many, the Sixties Scoop, which actually began in the mid 1950s and extended into the 1980s, was seen as another extension of residential boarding schools. Government policy meant to eradicate Native identity and force assimilation into white society.
Before Sixties Scoop policies were enacted, Indigenous youth only made up about 1% of those in Canadian child protective services. By the late 1960s that number had grown to more than one-third.
Hubbard hopes Indigenous audiences of Meadowlarks feel the authenticity in the film, and that non-Indigenous viewers experience storytelling and worldviews from a Native lens.
"Being able to see screen content that is truly reflective of us. I want that for our audiences, I want that for our youth," she said. "I think for general audiences, it's just come and learn. But it's not even the learning, it's just come and be a part of our storytelling. Come be entertained. Come get transported into a particular place and time in the way that film does."
Meadowlarks is now available on major streaming platforms in the U.S. and Canada.
