How trauma reverberates down through generations and affects kids
I?ve been on the receiving end of some very questionable comments. I?ve had people tell me that I was ?lucky? I?m so pale and ?don?t look like an Indian.? I?ve had someone laughingly point out a man sleeping in a park and refer to him as a ?drunk Indian? before saying ?no offence, I know you?re not like that.? And then on my wedding day, there I was mingling with guests when a woman came up and introduced herself. ?I heard you?re a writer,? she said ?And you?re First Nations"? ?Partly, yes,? I replied. She went on to tell me about all the time she?d spent on reserves working with First Nations people. Then she said this: ?You know the whole residential school thing" Why can?t they just get over it"?
Get over it" Get over kids being taken from their homes and families" Get over having their identities erased" Get over centuries of abuse" If only it were that simple. Many Canadians believe that what happened to Indigenous kids at residential schools was so long ago it can?t possibly be affecting anyone now. Since we weren?t taught that the schools even existed, it can seem very far removed from us. But the last school only closed in 1996, and this is only the second year that the new curriculum is being taught in public schools.
The guest?s question left me speechless. I?ve come up with countless intelligent replies since then, but in that moment, I felt attacked. She had no way of knowing my grandfather was a residential school survivor. Sh...
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COMPETITION: Win a 5-star Family Holiday in Limassol, Cyprus
27-04-2024 08:05 - (
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