Little Bird - General Discussion

[luckyroll3]

Quote

Removed from her home in Saskatchewan, Bezhig Little Bird is adopted into a Montréal Jewish family at the age of 5, becoming Esther Rosenblum; now in her 20s, Bezhig longs for the family she lost and is willing to sacrifice everything to find them.

Premiered: May 2023

[nachomama]

Very first episode might be my undoing. I don’t even have children but holy Moses I wanted to snatch up the welfare worker by the hair and slam her face into pavement about 64 times. 1968 no electricity or water was not grounds for removing children. This was clearly not a drug or alcohol abuse home. I don’t even know if I can stomach to watch it much less people actually lived through exactly these same things. 

[pasdetrois]

In many cases, there were the flimsiest of excuses so white folks could have a brand-new baby, while patting themselves on the back for "rescuing" said baby.

I posted elsewhere that a friend, who suspects he is Lakota, was taken as an infant from his birth parents, and he has never been able to find any trace of them. He has no paper trail to follow. He assumes they are now deceased. He helped another friend get her paperwork, using a US law that provides for this for Native adoptees specifically.

Edited October 16, 2023 by pasdetrois

[nachomama]

With only 1 episode I’m hoping that her “adoptive” parents were unaware. Her mom seems to love her and even though I would come unglued on the future mother in law she’s kinda sweeping it under the rug. I don’t think she considers her daughter less-than. The fiancée seems to love her. 

[Js Nana]

On 10/16/2023 at 1:33 PM, nachomama said:

This was clearly not a drug or alcohol abuse home.

The removal of children from indigenous parents was part of an ethnic cleansing scheme carried out by both the Canadian and US governments, the intent being to eradicate indigenous culture by legally kidnapping the children and placing them with white families.

Not all the children stolen from their families were placed with adoptive families, some were placed in schools that used corporal punishment to beat their indigenous culture out of them.

[Js Nana]

On 10/16/2023 at 7:56 PM, pasdetrois said:

a friend, who suspects he is Lakota

Just wondering if it would be a good idea for the Lakota, and other peoples, who were the victims of this legalized child-stealing were to create a joint DNA database to which anyone who suspects they may have been a stolen child can submit a DNA sample.

Thank you, luckyroll3, for starting this site.

[nachomama]

They definitely would have to create their own database. All my friends who are Navajo, there just isn’t enough data to compare and it comes back telling them they’re Asian and European. I’m sure there’s European and if the whole continental drift/traveling bands of indigenous people literally walked from the other side of the globe over the Russian peninsula then maybe southeast Asian?? I think the more dna testing and more indigenous people get added the system might catch up. But for now they would have to concentrate on their own people. I do know there’s a Navajo guy who made an app for tracking clans. It’s not dna and quite frankly I have no earthly clue how the clan system works. I know it’s matriarchal. You are born into your mothers clan. Then depending on who you marry you become their clan. Obituaries are fascinating. But it isn’t dna related. And I have no idea how other tribes/peoples do it. 

[pasdetrois]

Many Native people resist DNA tracking. I worked on a federal project that had a DNA component, and my Native colleagues explained that the mistrust stems from the government's history of "collecting" Indians, including their remains, and anthropological activities. As expressed to me, they mistrust how the DNA data will be used.

I watched the first episode and it was almost unbearable, even knowing what would come. The little one crying for her mother in the night was heartbreaking.

I kept thinking how many White Americans also lived in poverty at that time, "poverty" meaning no plumbing, electricity, telephones and so on. But the Indians were harshly punished for it.

Edited October 19, 2023 by pasdetrois

[nachomama]

Oh yeah. I understand the distrust. And nope poverty wasn’t a criteria. It wasn’t so rare to not have plumbing or electricity because it was prohibitively expensive to get so remotely. Their house was clean. The kids weren’t abused. As long as the kids attended school there should have been no problem. Other than the one sick child hidden in a crawl space. That looked bad but we obviously see why she did it. Do we even know which kid our adult is? Was she the youngest sick one or the oldest girl who tried to warn her brother not to shoot the car? 

[Js Nana]

7 hours ago, pasdetrois said:

they mistrust how the DNA data will be used.

Which is more than understandable - I guess it would take discrete, not publicly accessible, databases, each one held in sole proprietorship by interested indigenous groups, to thwart any incursion by outside interests, which is something that would take a lot of time, energy and money away from each First Nation's more immediate needs.

[Js Nana]

8 hours ago, pasdetrois said:

But the Indians were harshly punished for it.

Eugenics laws were passed in practically every state of the union, laws which were used to justify sterilizing the children of the poor in order to "break the cycle of poverty."

[meep.meep]

This show is set in Canada, not the US.

It's frightening that both countries used similar methods to control their indigenous populations.

[nachomama]

It’s a sad world where I’m like holy cow I think Canada was worse. Generally I think of Canadians as being so nice. And I can’t say definitively they were worse. But every time I hear another report of burial sites of the children at the residential schools I silently pray it wasn’t the USA. Doesn’t make it any better. A child is still a child. They had some kind of “homecoming “ for the remains of a bunch of children found in Oklahoma. From nearly a hundred years ago but they gave them a funeral and it just breaks your heart

[possibilities]

I am glad this is being exposed more widely through this show, but it's simultaneously depressing that it's necessary to do so. There has been so much documentation of this atrocity, yet it has not attracted  any interest or attention outside of the families directly affected.

I hope this show helps, but I am so cynical at this point, that I'm not optimistic that it will.  It's important that people know, and care, though. Maybe if more did, it could help make changes going forward.

 

[possibilities]

The behind the scenes documentary is really good. It explains things lke: why did they chose to show a Jewish family as the ones who adopted Bezhig/Esther, as well as talking extensively about the reality of the "Sixties Scoop" [taking of children] through interviews with people who experienced it. One woman was in the hospital fer three weeks after a vehicular accident, left her children with her sister, and when she got out of the hospital her kids had already been taken.

https://www.pbs.org/video/little-bird-wanna-icipus-kupi-coming-home-64jchd/

They also talk about how children are still being taken in the present, despite public relations efforts on thee part of the non-indigenous government that claim otherwise.

[nachomama]

Second episode not as hard to watch. (I hope daddy didn’t die) I did google, Esther/bezhig was 5 ish when she was adopted.  The little girl playing her, I get it, is older so I was wondering how old she was supposed to be or how much she could remember depending on her age. I was thinking 7-8 ish but supposed to be 5. I get that Dora was kind of the baby and would not remember much. 

[nachomama]

On 10/21/2023 at 1:35 AM, possibilities said:

https://www.pbs.org/video/little-bird-wanna-icipus-kupi-coming-home-64jchd/

They also talk about how children are still being taken in the present, despite public relations efforts on thee part of the non-indigenous government that claim otherwise.

I want to watch the documentary but it fucks me up to put real names and faces on these situations. I’m  not quite as old but in my childhood my parents let us out as wild animals in the morning and pretty much didn’t see us again until it got dark. We rode our bikes or did incredibly stupid stuff all day that could have ended up getting us hurt or killed all the time. And they were not “negligent”. We lived in New Mexico. All my little friends are Navajo doing same stupid shit as me. Kills me to think that if we screwed up enough somebody was gonna snatch up a friend and they don’t ever come home but if I was white they just go drop me off my parents and say “darned kids” 

Edited October 23, 2023 by nachomama

[possibilities]

I lived in upstate NY and my white family did the same thing-- "go outside and play!" . Everybody did it. As far as I know, nobody ever lost a kid over it, either. It's clearly a selective enforcement move, to scoop the kids for racist reasons.

[nachomama]

I’m glad I grew up after this time. I want to say humanity has advanced…not always convinced that’s true. Where I grew up white peoples were the minority. This is not scooping but a friend of mine fell at volleyball practice and bonked her noggin hard enough to give herself a concussion and amnesia. I went to her house and she was  scared of me. She remembered her older sister but not her younger sister. They kept asking her questions about family, school etc they were waiting for her mom to get home from work to take her to the doctor. Had been told “do not let her go to sleep” I was being melodramatic but what if she never remembered me? She was physically scared of me. She whispered and asked who was the scary white lady. And I was crushed. Literally 2 hours later she was fine and we laugh and laugh but holy shit you do not know how scared I was. What if she disappeared from my life if was taken ? She is still the most important person in my life and we live 3000 miles away from each other now. People matter, these thousands of families…the impact is enormous 

[sagittarius sue]

I was thrilled when back in June the Supreme Court upheld key provisions of the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act. 

 https://www.npr.org/2023/06/15/1182121455/indian-child-welfare-act-supreme-court-decision#:~:text=In a major victory for,decades of past government abuse.

[possibilities]

This week's episode was again sooooooo painful. I don't know how many total episodes there are, but things are moving fairly quickly so I suspect not too many more. I think they are doing a good job with this, even though it's very compressed (fast moving), and maybe it's good strategy to limit it to a fast-paced series, so that people will watch all of it and not have their attention wander? I don't know. 

The reveal about Dora's brother was not what I expected. And the absolute brutality of them kicking her out was also even more extreme than I imagined. 

The double standard is so disgusting, with that family being totally unmonitored and able to get away with all that, while the Little Bird family was completely destroyed for no good reason... there really isn't anything adequate to be said in a few sentences, so I won't even try. It's bad. Insert more adequate commentary here: ____.

I think that being able to look at "bad neighborhoods" and "difficult children" and all the other things Bezhig/Esther was being told, and  was observing, in her search in a way that doesn't overlay it with assumptions and judgments that have no basis in reality is another thing this series is really doing a good job of highlighting.

What happened to their little brother, who was also taken, I wonder? Does she remember him the way she remembers her sister? 

[nachomama]

I think 6 episodes. They are tough to get through. 

[SoMuchTV]

21 hours ago, possibilities said:

What happened to their little brother, who was also taken, I wonder? Does she remember him the way she remembers her sister? 

There was something at the very end of the episode (#3) that made me think he was going to come up next.  I did wonder why the two sisters who did find each other weren't comparing notes and reminiscing about the rest of their family members - both the brother who was "scooped" and the ones who were left behind.  I think they did show some newspaper clippings indicating Esther/Bezhig was 5 and she was the oldest (besides the older son) but the actors looked too old for that timeline to work - more like 8/6/4 or maybe 7/6/5.  Anyway if they were old enough to go play by themselves, they should have been old enough to have some memory/curiosity about their family.  I'll have to accept a little hand-waving in the service of the bigger story.

[AstridM]

On 10/24/2023 at 12:55 AM, possibilities said:

I lived in upstate NY and my white family did the same thing-- "go outside and play!" . Everybody did it. As far as I know, nobody ever lost a kid over it, either. It's clearly a selective enforcement move, to scoop the kids for racist reasons.

Ohio here, born in 1968, and we did the exact same thing. Played outside and in the neighborhood all day.

[nachomama]

Watching 3rd episode now. I guess daddy didn’t survive. And good grief could the brother have NOT been a creep? And wtf did mama do after?! Holy crap. One day you got 4 kids then none and no husband. Had to send away the oldest  so he wouldn’t get taken. 

[SoMuchTV]

On the PBS app there’s a documentary about the making of the series. A few spoilers about the end of the series so if that’s a concern, wait till you’ve seen it all, but worth watching imo. 
 

ETA sorry @possibilities I see you already mentioned this above. 

Edited October 30, 2023 by SoMuchTV

[SoMuchTV]

Wow, episode 4 is really something - very emotional!  I won't say more until folks have had a chance to watch, except to say that it did address a confusion I had about the ages of the siblings.

[possibilities]

10 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

Wow, episode 4 is really something - very emotional!  I won't say more until folks have had a chance to watch, except to say that it did address a confusion I had about the ages of the siblings.

I agree!!

I  was wondring if...

 

 

leaving

 

space

 

in 

case

 

folks

 

haven't seen it yet

 

 

 

 

Leo would ask for more info about what happened when Behzig found their sister (I was surprised he didn't), and if the rest of the family might consider trying to contact and meet her. I suspect it would go much better between them and her than it went between her and Behzig. They have a much clearer picture of how bad things might have been for her.  Behzig was very naive about everything, and paradoxically sheltered from things the others experienced.

I also wonder if they would start looking for their mom now, too. I wondered if it was a principle not to look for her anymore, out of respect, or if they had just given up, but either way they might decide to try again now that they have more information and a chance at reuniting?

[nachomama]

I do not know what happened on my phone. I got logged out and I can't sign back in. I can click the sign in button but it never goes anywhere. I cannot reply on my computer at work. So ive resorted to tablet. Why does this let me sign in and not my phone? Who knows. anywho,  did not know they were twins. Yes I think leo would have more questions. But also think he knows more about mom. I'm sad that daVid doesn't seem to be working out. And very good points she made to her adopted mom, if she's a first generation Jewish survivor she's a "never forget" generation. Esther is named for her mom's sister you'd think she would understand how important it is for Esther to find her family. If mom were to miraculously discover that her sister didn't die in the Holocaust nothing would stop her from meeting her. I get that she doesn't want to believe Esther wasn't mistreated or aBused and her adoption was a lie. 

Pardon my terrible typing. Working with lame tablet 

[possibilities]

I wonder if you have a "bad cookie" on the device that won't let you sign in? If you try clearing your cookies and cache on that device, maybe it will work? I had this problem when my credit union did some kind of system upgrade, and I was locked out of checking my account. When I called them by phone, they said I had to clear cache and cookies. That worked.

I hope Bezhig/Esther's adoptive mom comes around. She may be feeling so guilty that she just refused to listen, but will come to her senses later? I don't know if David will redeem himself, but it would also be nice if he did. I don't know how he can without really getting a lot better at not putting up with his parents being horrible, though. He has to put his wife first and not allow her to be treated badly by his family. It would probably mean putting quite a bit of distance between them and himself. His offering to move with her to the Res if she wants that shows he's not 100% resistant, but he needs to be more proactive and also give her some time to absorb the info she has just discovered. Putting off the wedding, even if it ultimately would happen, to me seems quite sensible.

[nachomama]

I don’t know what I did but I’m in. I had to go a roundabout way to sign in. And it’s sluggish but working. 
her hair is spot on for 1986 ish. I got an 8th grade pic with almost exactly the same cut and stupid Barrett on one side. And the high waisted pleated pants. The only thing she doesn’t have is an asymmetrical button up shirt/sweater with the high collar or turtle neck. 

[Nashville]

23 hours ago, possibilities said:

I hope Bezhig/Esther's adoptive mom comes around. She may be feeling so guilty that she just refused to listen, but will come to her senses later?

Something kinda interesting to think about: strip away the contextual baggage in the argument between Bezhig and Golda, and you end up with a standard-issue mother/daughter argument - each focused on defending their own position, and neither actually listening to a damn thing the other is saying.

I saw Bezhig and Golda’s discussion as being less an argument about who’s “in the wrong” (although both were certainly free with the accusation), and more a demonstration of how the entire “Sixties Scoop” program was rigged to deceive people on both ends - and presumably throughout all phases - of the process.  Behzig rails at Golda and calls her a criminal, but (on the surface, at least) it would appear Golda had every reason to believe the adoption was legitimate:

• The adoptions were initiated and advertised through a Canadian government program - the Adopt Indian Métis (AIM**) Program - which (to the mainstream citizenry of the 60s, anyway) would definitely indicate everything was on the up-and-up.
• The adoption was coordinated through Jewish Family Services, which would certainly reinforce to Golda the legitimacy of the program - especially since, in Golda’s own words, JFS had represented the adoption to Golda as a “mitzvah” (righteously good deed).
• One bit of chronological context which might be relevant here is the social stigma which was frequently associated with adoption back in the 60s - not so much regarding adoptees themselves, but birth parent(s).  Unless the children entered the system as orphans with no other family to take them in, the default societal assumption would be unfitness of the parent(s): a single mother having a child out of wedlock, a family broken by poverty or substance abuse, etc.  Golda being handed Child Protective Services paperwork listing removal factors such as “neglect”, “unsanitary conditions”, etc. would certainly reinforce that implicit social assumption.

These points explain Golda’s acceptance of the government’s representation of the adoption as legitimate, to be sure; when Bezhig confronts Golda, though - presenting photos and citing eyewitness accounts of the fraudulence of the government claims - Golda’s kneejerk reaction is to reject those accounts.  Accepting them is to open Golda herself up to scrutiny/culpability, and she can’t handle that - so Golda deflects and dissembles, which does absolutely nothing to help the situation or her part in it.

(But really, Golda; adoption from an ad in the classifieds?  Even in the 60s, picking out a child and adopting them from an ad in the local Pennysaver was more than a little out there.)

I just shudder to think what a heyday the Canadian AIM Program must’ve been for child molesters; next best thing to mail order. 😕

 

 

** This threw me for a bit the first time I saw it in the newspaper ads, as I initially thought it referred to the American Indian Movement (also identified as AIM).

[nachomama]

Her adoptive mothers worst fear is obviously losing her. She officially did nothing wrong. Esther has the right to be mad but not at her. I do think it will come full circle. Esther may lose David (also not to blame) but I think she’ll find a new normal with her mom and the siblings she finds. I don’t think David volunteered to move to the rez with her but to visit. He thinks she will get it out of her system. Go back to her original plan. She may not be a lawyer yet but I feel like she could get further applying her law degree to open these doors. 
 

we had neighbors who adopted a boy decades ago. Both of their children were adopted separately. They had been on a list for years for a “white baby girl” and it was taking too long so someone says “well we have a boy he’s 3 ish would that do?” And I guess like buying a car you got a used one with more miles on it?? Anywho no one ever told them that the boy had been  severely neglected. He wouldn’t eat. I’m the middle of the night he would get up and go through the trash. He continued to have bed wetting problems until he was a teenager. One day they get a call that their brand new baby girl was ready. And any hope this boy had was lost. They immediately forgot about him. He was second class citizen. If he wet the bed he had to wear bunny ears to school as humiliation. At about 14 they “returned” him. I don’t even know how you do that. But unadopted him. I have no earthly idea what happened to the kid. He wasn’t a bad kid. Normal teenager stuff, got in a little trouble in school but nothing egregious. He could have been helped. 
esther got very very lucky with where she ended up. Never should have happened …but lucky. I’m sure we’ll see twin brothers journey and I feel like it will be worse than Dora. 

[Nashville]

1 hour ago, nachomama said:

Her adoptive mothers worst fear is obviously losing her. She officially did nothing wrong.

“Officially” being the operative word here; legally Golda did everything by the book - and I’d suspect even if Golda did have any moral qualms about the process, she’d smother them under that blanket of legal correctness because that’s what is giving her the child she wants.

Maybe I’m misremembering, but had something been said earlier about Golda being/having been a lawyer in her own right?

 

1 hour ago, nachomama said:

Esther has the right to be mad but not at her.
 

This, in spades; Golda may have benefited from a corrupt and immoral system - but she was neither an instigator nor a cognizant participant in it.

 

1 hour ago, nachomama said:

I do think it will come full circle. Esther may lose David (also not to blame) but I think she’ll find a new normal with her mom and the siblings she finds.

Agreed;  current circumstances, not withstanding, Behzig would have to be a total sociopath to just cut off all regard for the devotion and sacrifices Golda has made for Behzig for all of Behzig‘s life to this point -  and I don’t even see that as an option in Behzig’s personal character.

 

1 hour ago, nachomama said:

I don’t think David volunteered to move to the rez with her but to visit. He thinks she will get it out of her system. Go back to her original plan.

David is useless; he (a) lacks the backbone to call out his mother on her blatant racism, and (b) hopes all Esther’s personal issues will “settle down” and allow their lives to ease back into the nice comfortable rut he had planned for them.

 

1 hour ago, nachomama said:

She may not be a lawyer yet but I feel like she could get further applying her law degree to open these doors. 

“Working within the system” could be an option, sure - but Behzig may have serious reservations about being a voluntary participant in “the system”, a part of which being what did this to her and her siblings in the first place, and I can’t say I would blame her.

 

1 hour ago, nachomama said:

we had neighbors who adopted a boy decades ago. Both of their children were adopted separately. They had been on a list for years for a “white baby girl” and it was taking too long so someone says “well we have a boy he’s 3 ish would that do?” And I guess like buying a car you got a used one with more miles on it?? Anywho no one ever told them that the boy had been  severely neglected. He wouldn’t eat. I’m the middle of the night he would get up and go through the trash. He continued to have bed wetting problems until he was a teenager. One day they get a call that their brand new baby girl was ready. And any hope this boy had was lost. They immediately forgot about him. He was second class citizen. If he wet the bed he had to wear bunny ears to school as humiliation. At about 14 they “returned” him. I don’t even know how you do that. But unadopted him. I have no earthly idea what happened to the kid. He wasn’t a bad kid. Normal teenager stuff, got in a little trouble in school but nothing egregious. He could have been helped. 
esther got very very lucky with where she ended up. Never should have happened …but lucky. I’m sure we’ll see twin brothers journey and I feel like it will be worse than Dora. 

I’m actually kinda depressed that this doesn’t shock me like it should, but I guess at some point in time I’ve lost my capacity for surprise at people’s ability to be inhumane - even to those they profess to love.  

People suck.  
Dogs are better.

[nachomama]

The woman who this story is partially based upon runs a shelter now. I’m thinking bezhig could use her lawyering to help other scooped kids find their families by opening some of these legal doors that were slammed in her face. Her adoptive family is well off and or David (if it should come to pass) could help in the support department. She couldn’t work for free and you know these families can’t pay. It isn’t so much a career as it is a journey. I feel like her mother could embrace that once she realizes Esther finding her family doesn’t mean she loses her. Can’t undo the past but you can try to repair the damage and prevent it further. I don’t think Esther wants to hurt her mother either or blames her even. Just had to get beyond what “is” and see what “can be” 

but yeah David gotta grow a pair. 

[meep.meep]

6 hours ago, Nashville said:

This, in spades; Golda may have benefited from a corrupt and immoral system - but she was neither an instigator nor a cognizant participant in it.

 

I'm not so sure about that - isn't one of the papers that Bezhig is waving around a birth certificate stating that she was born in Montreal?  Golda should have known about that if she saw an advertisement that said the child was born in Saskatchewan. 

Either way, she has been a decent mother to her (vs. Dora's adopted mother). 

[Nashville]

4 hours ago, meep.meep said:

I'm not so sure about that - isn't one of the papers that Bezhig is waving around a birth certificate stating that she was born in Montreal?  Golda should have known about that if she saw an advertisement that said the child was born in Saskatchewan. 

Either way, she has been a decent mother to her (vs. Dora's adopted mother). 

It wouldn’t surprise me overmuch if part of the closed-adoption processing included issuance of a new birth certificate which incorporated the adoptive parents’ info.

[AstridM]

14 hours ago, Nashville said:

It wouldn’t surprise me overmuch if part of the closed-adoption processing included issuance of a new birth certificate which incorporated the adoptive parents’ info.

Yes, that’s what was done. Same here in the US.

[possibilities]

I want to convince other people to watch this show, but I don't know how to sell it. It's painful, but I feel like it's necessary pain. But it's hard to sell something on that basis.

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

I want to convince other people to watch this show, but I don't know how to sell it. It's painful, but I feel like it's necessary pain. But it's hard to sell something on that basis.

I’ve recommended it to people who appreciated Reservation Dogs, as a different perspective on some of the same issues. 

And talk about painful, episode 5. 

[Renee in CA]

I just binged watched the first 5 episodes - what a well done series about such a painful chapter. Saw the ending of 5 coming so it wasnt a shock.

[possibilities]

3 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I’ve recommended it to people who appreciated Reservation Dogs, as a different perspective on some of the same issues. 

And talk about painful, episode 5. 

I guess I could also recommend both shows together, just on the cultural basis, and them both being really great storytelling, and not get into the details. 

The friends I'm particularly thinking of don't have the streaming platform Res Dogs was on, but they will watch PBS. 

And yes, the pain... I was noticing how happy and immediately comfortable Bezhig was with her twin, even though earlier she was only talking about wanting to find her sister. Her utter devastation at the end was well-acted and the contrast between how much she bonded to him vs how stiff and polite or formal she still is with Leo and his family (and Dora before them) was really intense. It does make me wonder, though, why she was only talking about finding Dora before. 

[nachomama]

Sweet Jesus on a cracker. This is as close to my dads childhood as I’ve ever seen depicted. In the summers my gramma used to rent my dad out as a farm worker. He lived in barn. (Highly doubt even as nice as where niizh lived) so it wasn’t even like my dad was in foster we care. His own mother did it. No wonder he was fucked up. 
As bad as it is that she lost her brother after literally a day reunited with him I’m glad she called golda. I been thinking golda ultimately has been funding this journey. Maybe adoptive dad has passed? But I don’t think Esther has been working. Been in school so the motels and car rental, food etc on this trip Esther has been charging etc. so golda hasn’t cut her off financially. Part of me wanted David to get out of the car too. But I’m glad golda loves her unconditionally and dropped everything. 

[nachomama]

I have to watch this at a specific time each week. I cannot do it after work or before bed. And I have to have something queued up afterwords to lift my spirits. I can’t say I like this show, to recommend, “like” seems wrong. There’s nothing to like. It’s like watching holocaust documentaries or something. I don’t look forward to it other than just wanting to know the end. Not something I could have binged without tearing out my soul. It isn’t fun. I haven’t seen killers of thr flower moon because I feel like that is just 3 hours of rage and pain inducing. I think it’s necessary viewing, for me anyway, but not pleasurable time spent. I don’t get popcorn. No snacks or food. Just curl up in the fetal position and endure. I’m not very sappy or a hugger. I’m an introvert and many people have said I’m intimidating or not very warm or welcoming in new surroundings. But holy shit I can’t imagine adopting a child merely as a worker and stuffing them in the barn and barely acknowledging them. Like how did the North Dakota sister even say the words coming out of her mouth? Maybe they weren’t unkind to him, he sent them the tape, I think more to prove “look I’m more than livestock” not out of showing your “parents” lookee ima be a star or to stay in touch. Although I would have thought he may have tried to look family up. Sigh I don’t know. I just need to hug these people. 

[SoMuchTV]

The final episode (#6) is out on PBS.  Hoo boy, get out your hankies!  I know it's based on a true story and I'm sure they played up some elements (at least I hope it wasn't that bad, but I fear I'm wrong), but so much pain that family (natural and adoptive) has endured.  There were some bright spots, but that scene in the field between the grandfather and Golda...

[nachomama]

Spoiler

I KNEW MAMA WAS ALIVE. AND AUNTIE WOULD HAVE TOLD HER. Leo too had to know  even if mama removed herself to protect him  they knew ! 

Ok was auntie brights husband Eric schweig? I have much less lust for him now which is not nice. But the curl mustache got to go! I’m processing. 

[pasdetrois]

Exquisite episode.

Quote

I hope it wasn't that bad, but I fear I'm wrong

It really was that bad.

I expected the children's mother to be dead. She was living as a maid, barely alive. Her trauma is unimaginable.

I liked the simplicity of the episode, showing how the family slipped into four days of mourning, without fuss yet deeply meaningful. I will remember this series for a long time.

[nachomama]

I think golda is a very good mother. She gave them space. She seems like excellent grandma material. Although wasn’t entirely sure what she was asking Esther to choose on the way back from visiting the hospital. At first sounded like “you wanna go back to your original family or come back be Jewish with us?” But didn’t seem like an ultimatum. Maybe choose to be a lawyer? I still say Leo and brigit knew mama was alive. I know Esther/ bezhig story is what we were watching but damn Leo and Dora need a hug too. I know it’s implied. And seemed like Dora knew people when she showed up with the baby but the relay of the news etc was not shown to us.  
I need to hunt up the making of documentary. 

[pasdetrois]

I think Golda was suggesting Esther choose between remaining with her Native family in Regina or returning to Montreal. Golda commented earlier that Regina had a decent law school, so Esther had two good choices for furthering her education.

As I watched, my thought bubble was "Stay in Regina, get your JD, and dedicate your career to rescuing the stolen children and abolishing the practice."

Edited November 20, 2023 by pasdetrois

[katenm]

I loved that Golda had checked out the law school in Regina. She loves her daughter, whether or not she lives out West or in Montreal. I also loved that no one diminished her role in Bhezig's life. 

The four days of mourning reminded me a bit of sitting Shiva.