IndigenousJonathan Hooker returned home to a warm welcome from friends, family, and supporters at the Winnipeg airport on Wednesday.Jonathan Hooker receives warm welcome at Winnipeg airportStefan Richard · CBC News · Posted: Aug 28, 2025 4:46 PM EDT | Last Updated: 44 minutes agoPatsy George, birth mother of Jonathan Hooker, speaks to reporters. (Stefan Richard/CBC)A man who was taken from his home in Moose Lake during the Sixties Scoop has finally returned to Manitoba.Jonathan Hooker came down the steps at the James Richardson International Airport in Winnipeg on Wednesday to the sounds of cheers and powwow drumming.But it was the woman waiting at the bottom of the steps that Hooker had come for: his birth mother, Patsy George. A crowd of about 75 people awaited at the “Hug Rug,” a popular welcoming station for travellers arriving at the Winnipeg airport, surrounding George as she sat awaiting the arrival of her son who she hadn’t seen since he was an infant.”I’m happy to see my son; I thought I would never see him again,” George said.The Sixties Scoop refers to when First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were removed from their homes and placed with non-Indigenous foster or adoptive parents between 1951 and 1991, and lost their cultural identities as a result.In 1973, Hooker was taken from his mother and adopted by a family from the United Kingdom living in Canada who later settled in New Zealand. He was able to track down his biological family thanks to a DNA kit, social media and the help of Sixties Scoop survivor and advocate Colleen Rajotte.Hooker met in Texas last year with members of his biological family who live in Texas and northern Manitoba but this was his first time back in Manitoba and seeing his mother.WATCH | Sixties Scoop adoptee meets his birth mom: Sixties Scoop survivor from New Zealand comes home to ManitobaJonathan Hooker, who was removed from his northern Manitoba community and taken to New Zealand after he was adopted during the Sixties Scoop, returned to Winnipeg for the first time since his adoption on Wednesday. He was reunited with his birth mother at the airport after 52 years apart. As Hooker reached the bottom of the stairs, he snuck past other travellers and embraced George.The crowd of supporters erupted into a mix of applause and tears. “It’s cool to meet her. I’m just a bit overwhelmed really,” Hooker said.After the embrace, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee, among others, wrapped Hooker in a traditional blanket to welcome him home.Jonathan Hooker, Sixties Scoop survivor, is welcomed back to Manitoba for the first time in five decades with a traditional blanket. (Stefan Richard/CBC)”This is something that needs to happen,” MKO Grand Chief Settee said of the reunion.”There’s so many people out there still that are looking for their family members. This is a very powerful moment. This is a moment to celebrate.”Hooker’s three-week visit to the province will include a stop in Moose Lake, his first home, about 725 kilometres north of Winnipeg.”[I’ll] just go up there and embrace it, I guess. Just go there and see what it’s like,” Hooker said.”It’s going to be amazing, I think.” ABOUT THE AUTHORStefan Richard is a reporter for CBC Indigenous, based in Treaty 1 territory. His work has appeared on APTN, NPR, Corus Radio, Native Communications Inc., and Slam Wrestling. Stefan is a proud member of Sagkeeng Anicinabe Nation.
’60s Scoop survivor travels from New Zealand to Manitoba to meet his birth mother
