A cross-country information tour for people who are survivors of the "60's Scoop" has stopped in Windsor.
It's for indigenous people who were taken from their families between 1951 and 1991 and put in foster care or adopted out.
They were all placed with non-indigenous families and lost their cultural and family connections.
In 2018, the federal government reached a settlement to compensate the survivors of the program.
Now there's a call for the survivors to register and verify they were taken during the program to receive the compensation.
Jane Gray is the Aboriginal Liason Officer for Eastern Canada and says there is emotional pain for the survivors.
"A lot of them weren't allowed to speak their language, never knew or found out later in life. So for them it's a cultural shock to find out you're first nations. You don't see your cousins, your aunties, your uncles. You miss out on all that family life and the traditions of your community. So there is a big loss there."
Audrey Logan, Erie St. Clair Regional Cancer Program Indigenous Navigator, July 17, 2019 (by AM800's Peter Langille)
Audrey Logan is the Erie St. Clair Regional Cancer Program Indigenous Navigator.
She's helping three patients with the process, which she says is somewhat complicated.
"It's looking at an individual's life, they have to walk in here. Have the courage to come here, have the courage to fill out that application and have the courage to go and wait through all of this process and rehash that part of their life that in many instances they've buried."
Michelle Nahdee, the Indigenous Legal Studies Coordinator at the University of Windsor, hopes to share the information within the local aboriginal community.
"I learned about eligibility for our community members. The application process, resources and just what people can expect."
Michelle Nahdee, the Indigenous Legal Studies Coordinator at the University of Windsor, July 17, 2019 (by AM800's Peter Langille)
Gray says the goal is to gather all the information and disperse the settlements in the spring of next year.
She says the total settlement pool is $750-million and depending on how many survivors are included the amount could be between $20 and $25,000 per person.
Gray says about 16,000 of the estimated 20,000 survivors have signed up already with a deadline of August 30, 2019.
People who believe they should be included can go to sixtiesscoopsettlement.info.
After the settlement distribution is completed a foundation will be created to support the survivors.