11: Stolen Daughters of Ireland and North America

Today we confront the haunting legacies of the Magdalene Laundries of the Catholic Church and their chilling influence on the Native American boarding school system, the Sixties Scoop, and the U.S. child welfare and adoption industries. With raw survivor testimony, historical records, and literary excerpts from Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog, we expose the brutal realities endured by Indigenous girls and women—forced labor, physical abuse, sexual violence, family separation, and coerced sterilization.We trace how Catholic-run institutions and state-backed assimilation policies worked hand in hand to erase culture, crush autonomy, and exploit the most vulnerable. We also examine the eugenics ideologies—rooted in early 20th-century American science—that justified these atrocities and continue to influence U.S. institutions today.Ripples of Rebels is a reader-supported publication. To join the rebellion through education, subscribe below!You’ll learn about real places you can visit that still hold the physical remnants of these atrocities, hear about the fight for recognition and reparations, and understand how these dark systems laid the foundation for today’s controversial child removal and adoption practices.If you’ve ever heard someone say “that history has been debunked”—this episode will show you why they’re wrong.📚 BooksCrow Dog, Mary, and Richard Erdoes. Lakota Woman. Grove Press, 1990.McCarthy, Rebecca Lea. Origins of the Magdalene Laundries: An Analytical History. McFarland & Company, 2010.Smith, Andrea. Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide. South End Press, 2005.Black, Edwin. War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America’s Campaign to Create a Master Race. Dialog Press, 2012.🗂️ Government & Official ReportsUnited States Congress. American Indian Policy Review Commission Final Report. Government Printing Office, 1977.Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015.https://nctr.ca/records/reports/National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry. 2019.https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/United States Government Accountability Office. Indian Child Welfare Act: Agencies Need to Improve Oversight of Health and Welfare Services. GAO-05-290, 2005.https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-05-290📰 Articles & News ReportsThe Associated Press. “U.S. Catholic Church Shielded Abuse in Institutions Like Magdalene Laundries, Report Says.” NPR, 5 Feb. 2023.https://www.npr.orgHolland, Megan. “Native Women Sterilized by Indian Health Service in the 1970s Seek Justice.” Anchorage Daily News, 15 Mar. 2022.https://www.adn.com📄 Academic ArticlesLawrence, Bonita. “Real” Indians and Others: Mixed-Blood Urban Native Peoples and Indigenous Nationhood. University of Nebraska Press, 2004.Kuokkanen, Rauna. “Self-Determination and Indigenous Women’s Rights at the Intersection of International Human Rights.” Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 1, 2012, pp. 225–250. Get full access to Ripples of Rebels at delaneyxclara.substack.com/subscribe