
The Sixties Scoop and the True Stories Behind 'Little Bird'
Clip: Season 1 | 4m 4sVideo has Closed Captions
Cast and crew members discuss the Sixties Scoop and the true stories behind "Little Bird."
Cast and crew members discuss the history of the Sixties Scoop and the true stories behind "Little Bird."
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback

The Sixties Scoop and the True Stories Behind 'Little Bird'
Clip: Season 1 | 4m 4sVideo has Closed Captions
Cast and crew members discuss the history of the Sixties Scoop and the true stories behind "Little Bird."
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
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History & Impact of Residential Schools
Learn more about residential schools and their ongoing impact as explored in "Little Bird" and "Little Bird: Wanna Icipus Kupi (Coming Home)."Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship(gentle serene music) - I remember long ago, there was a black car that came.
And a man and his wife, white people, they were talking to my mom and dad.
And that man, finally, he said, "Would you like to come and live with us, little boy?"
I don't know who these people are.
- "Little Bird" is a miniseries about one woman's experience after being abducted from her home in Saskatchewan and being adopted into a Jewish family in Montreal.
The story follows her journey of discovery to uncover the truth of her past about who she is.
- [Neighbor] Well, where are you from?
- Montreal.
- (giggles) No, where are you from?
- I'm not really sure.
- This role hits very close to home, because my dad being a member of the Sixties Scoop changed my entire life.
There was a level of compartmentalization that had to happen, where it was like, I need to separate my own personal experience and put that aside so that I can focus on the work and do the work because stories like this need to be told.
- Your children were apprehended.
They are under the care and protection of the government now.
- With "Little Bird," it's one of those stories, the family unit that's been taken apart.
- The Sixties Scoop story isn't unique, unfortunately.
There are thousands of us taken across the country, there's still thousands that are out there in the world right now, lost.
- You have to think to yourself, I'm saving these children from a life of poverty.
- No!
- When you're telling any Indigenous story, the process of authenticating all of the threads of the story is very complex.
You need a circle of advisors, and those advisors are essential to the authenticity and integrity of the story.
- You cannot do that!
You can't do that!
(mother crying) - (screams) No!
- Get off!
- And cut.
- Cut!
- We can't afford to not be authentic, because we're reclaiming these stories.
(child sobbing) Every single department worked on every single detail to ensure authenticity.
And then we brought in actual survivors of the Sixties Scoop to help us really shape the experience through the lens of being adopted.
- Your adoption file is sealed, but there is a note on your file that you have a sister, a Dora Mueller, who wishes to be contacted.
- I didn't know about the Sixties Scoop.
The thought to me that there was a genocide that wasn't known was just stunning and heartbreaking.
Esther is Jewish, and so representing that was also important on the screen.
I'm using my Jewishness in order to like, get the minutiae of being a part of a specific community.
- I don't know why you try so hard to fit in with these boring people.
- Who else am I supposed to try to fit in with?
- It is about coming home.
It's about welcoming those who were taken, it's about welcoming what was lost.
And it's about the land, it's the language, it's our culture.
The story in and of itself is about that relationship with home.
(bright uplifting music) - I feel very honored to tell this story.
It's a huge responsibility.
Yes, we make stories for global audiences, (crowd cheering) but we really make these stories for our people.
- I'm giving a voice to, you know, to my grandmother's story, and her sister, and many other people in my family that have gone through this.
(bright uplifting music)
The Sixties Scoop and the True Stories Behind 'Little Bird'
Video has Closed Captions
Cast and crew members discuss the Sixties Scoop and the true stories behind "Little Bird." (4m 4s)
Video has Closed Captions
Bezhig Little Bird longs for the family she lost and to fill in the missing pieces. (30s)
Episode 6 Preview | Bineshi Kwe
Video has Closed Captions
The Little Bird family comes together to mourn death and celebrate life. (30s)
Episode 5 Preview | I Want My Mom
Video has Closed Captions
When tragedy strikes, Esther realizes that she needs her mother, Golda, more than anyone. (30s)
Episode 4 Preview | Burning Down the House
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Esther returns to Montreal to confront her adoptive mother about her new revelations. (30s)
Episode 3 Preview | The Land That Takes You
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Patti Little Bird and Behzig/Esther are desperate to find their families, decades apart. (30s)
Episode 2 Preview | So Put Together
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Determined to learn more about her pre-adoption life, Esther uproots her life. (30s)
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