As many people might have learned by now, Canadian history is not as pretty as people like to think, there have been plenty of examples of the horrors that make up Canadian history. One of the biggest horrors on Canada’s historical resume is the treatment of Indigenous people more notably the creation of Residential schools and the Indian Act. In this course and semester in general being my first as an education student has been quite awakening. Being an Indigneous person myself and also being a pretty privileged kid my whole life my journey towards reconciliation might be a lot different than most. To be truthfully honest it was not until I got a little older, when I finally came to embrace my culture. When I was younger it was not like I fully dismissed the idea that I was Indigenous it was more or so it took me longer to accept that. Like if you asked my 14 year old self to tell you what it feels like to be an Indigenous person I probably would have made something up or said I don’t know, but my 19 year old self would say that I am proud to be an Indigenous person. So for my personal journey towards reconciliation,I would have to say it began when I was around 15 years old, it was not until then did I fully embrace and accept my Indigneous culture. Since the journey has begun I would have to say in the past six months I have made the most progress, and a lot of it has to do with being a student in the education faculty, and taking courses like ECS 101 as well as Indigenous studies class.
As far as changing the way I think about certain topics, this course has changed many of my original beliefs when it comes to being an Indignous person as well as a future educator. One thing I have learned about and really sticks out to me is the term intergenerational trauma. This is one that I have come across many times in my first semester as an education student. At first when it was introduced to me I understood what the definition meant but it was not until I took the time to look into what it meant and researched examples of it. Intergenerational trauma is something that after learning about it kind of flies under the radar when meeting different people and not only Indigenous. It was not until I looked back at the 751 gravesites found on my own reserve here in Saskatchewan did I truly understand what intergenerational trauma is.When it comes to reflecting on my experiences as a child as well as my life topics like racism, unearned privileges, whiteness, it is as if I’ve played on both sides. Half of me has lived that “privileged white life” whereas the other half lived a life where I was the one of very few other indigenous kids at my elementary school, and for some people I am the only indigenous person some people are friends with. I would say that the biggest thing that has caused me to think differently in this course is what it takes to make a difference within a classroom. Things just don’t happen out of nowhere and to make a difference whether it’s with anything in life not just focused on Indigenous life.
For my aesthetic piece I wanted to create something that means something to me so I chose to create a word art. The reason for choosing a word art is because I remember creating one in elementary school, and I remembered how much fun it truly was to do different types of assignments at school, and how fun school actually was at a young age. Then I thought about all the people that didn’t get the pleasures of having fun at school whether it was because they attended residential school or they were bullied it doesn’t matter. As far as the image I chose I went for the two hands reaching out for each other or two hands coming back together. For me I see them as two hands reaching out and reforming their connection to one another. Or in my case I see the hands as mine reaching out for each other and becoming one rather than two different halves. Now for the words I chose words that when I think of myself being an Indigenous person these are the words I think of, as well as words I have added from material in this course. But I will give two examples, for example, in big letters is Proud, I am proud to be an indigenous person, or Growth I see the growth that society has made when it comes to indigenous people and culture. Some may find my aesthetic piece as simple but to me it is very complex.
Not only has this course increased my prior knowledge when it comes to learning more about myself and my culture, this course has also really helped me mature. With this particular assignment being very helpful towards my journey towards reconciliation. This assignment as well as the topic itself have forced me to get out of my comfort zone and I have learned that being a teacher you must learn to thrive out of your own personal comfort zone. Like most people I would assume, the topic of residential schools is a little much to handle emotionally because it is very dark and quite horrific. A good example would be the Muffins For Granny documentary, I actually got to watch it in two separate classes and the stories told are not ones you want to hear twice. So as far as what my responsibilities are and what I can do as an Indigenous person, it is to actually do something that can have a real positive impact on the indignous community, there is a lot more to saying something than actually putting in the time to do something. My journey towards reconciliation has been quite a bumpy ride and I am very proud of not only my growth but society’s as well. I think that everyone is taking a step in the right direction, especially over the last couple of years, but there is still a very long way to go.
Journey Towards Reconciliation Aesthetic Piece
For my own aesthetic piece I chose to create a word art. The reason I chose to create a word art is because it reminded me of a time when I created a word art in elementary school, and it reminded me of all of the fun I was able to experience when I was in school at a young age. Fun that others might not have had during their times in school. And school should be a place where people have fun.
As far as the image I chose I went for the two hands reaching out for each other or two hands coming back together. For me I see them as two hands reaching out and reforming their connection to one another.
Now for the words I chose words that when I think of myself being an Indigenous person these are the words I think of, as well as words I have added from material in this course. But I will give two examples ,for example, in big letters is Proud, I am proud to be an indigenous person, or Growth I see the growth that society has made when it comes to indigenous people and culture. Intergenerational Trauma is a word I have come across in this past semester of school, is defined as trauma that gets passed down from those who directly experience an incident to subsequent generations it’s quite a difficult word to understand after just hearing the definition but intergenerational trauma is something that was foriegn to me when it was first introduced. I never understood how much intergenerational trauma actually has on people and in this case Indigenous people.
Works Cited
Bombay, A., Matheson, K., & Anisman, H. (2013). The intergenerational effects of Indian residential schools: Implications for the concept of historical trauma. Transcultural Psychiatry, 51(3), 320–338. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461513503380
Franco, D. F. (2021, January 7). Understanding intergenerational trauma: An introduction for clinicians. GoodTherapy.org Therapy Blog. Retrieved November 23, 2021, from https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/Understanding_Intergenerational_Trauma.
Kirkby, C. (2019). Reconstituting Canada: The Enfranchisement and disenfranchisement of ‘Indians,’ circa 1837–1900. University of Toronto Law Journal, 69(4), 497–539. https://doi.org/10.3138/utlj.2018-0078
Morden, M. (2016). Theorizing the resilience of the Indian Act. Canadian Public Administration, 59(1), 113–133. https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.12162
Wilk, P., Maltby, A., & Cooke, M. (2017). Residential schools and the effects on indigenous health and well-being in Canada—a scoping review. Public Health Reviews, 38(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40985-017-0055-6