Raven Sinclair (Ótiskewápíwskew) is Cree/Assinniboine/Saulteaux and a member of Gordon First Nation of the Treaty#4 area of southern Saskatchewan and Dean of Social Work at University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills.[1][2][3] She is a survivor and expert on the Sixties Scoop, the practice of taking Indigenous children from their families and placing them in foster care or adopting them out to white families.[4][5] She is a critic of the current child welfare system in Canada, especially as it relates to Indigenous peoples.[6] She is a professor, film maker, author, public speaker, and facilitator.[7] Sinclair is also a founding editorial member of IndigenousVoices in Social Work (UHawaii), and past regional editor for AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples.[8]
Sinclair is currently the Dean of Social Work at Blue Quills University, a First Nation owned and operated University in St. Paul, Alberta. She retired as a full professor from the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Regina in 2022. She has published extensively on the "Sixties scoop," with her work being cited by publications such as The Canadian Encyclopedia,[10] and has appeared on programs such as CBC's "The National."[11][12]
Sinclair was the executive producer of the 2016 film A Truth to be Told: The 60's Scoop in the Splatsin Community.[13] The film examines the idea of "child saving" and the impacts on Indigenous peoples and the child welfare system in Canada with a focus on the story of the Splatsin band’s (Shuswap) experience of child welfare removals in the 1960s and 70s.[3][13]
Raven was a writer/consultant on the award winning 2023 Crave TV Series Little Bird.[15]
She is currently writing/consulting on a feature drama/comedy.
Selected publications
Kennedy-Kish (Bell), Banakonda; Carniol, Ben; Baines, Donna; Sinclair, Raven; Carniol, Ben (2017). Case critical: social service and social justice in Canada. ISBN978-1-77113-311-1.
Pooyak, Sherri; Sinclair, Raven; Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Saskatoon; Community-University Institute for Social Research; Indigenous Peoples' Health Research Centre (2007). Aboriginal mentoring in Saskatoon: a cultural perspective. Regina, Sask.: Indigenous Peoples' Health Research Centre. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
^Bureau, International Indigenous Speakers. "Raven Sinclair". International Indigenous Speakers Bureau. Retrieved 2018-07-21. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
