Healing Historical Trauma

With contact began the introduction of diseases to which Indigenous populations had no natural immunity. European infectious diseases, such as influenza, measles and smallpox, combined with the other effects of European contact, resulted in the death of 85 to 95 percent of the pre-contact Indigenous population of the New World. Many families, clans and entire communities were wiped out. Kinship ties and legacies were lost.

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Long-term Consequences:

Today the health of Canadian Aboriginal people continues to compare unfavourably with that of non-Aboriginal Canadians.

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Addressing the Issues:

Health Canada, the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada, and the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada are working to improve the health of First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities and their members by improving education and program delivery and by promoting individual and community wellness.

The Canadian government developed a policy of “aggressive assimilation” for teachings in the church-run, government-funded industrial schools, later called residential schools. The plan was for those coming out of residential schools to pass their adopted Eurocentric lifestyle to their children; in this way, the practice of Indigenous traditions would diminish and be completely eliminated within a few generations. In all, more than 150 000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were removed from their communities and forced to attend the schools.

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Long-term Consequences:

Generations of families have been affected by the loss of culture, traditions, ways of being and living, language, pride, love and connection to family. As a result of the trauma, many survivors of residential schools have turned to substance abuse and have shielded their children from the believed “threat of schools.”

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Addressing the Issues:

In 2009, the federal government made a formal apology to First Nations people for the consequences of residential schools. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to examine the legacy of the residential schools.

First Nations (1725 to now)

Disease epidemics from the time of contact until the early 1900s forced survivors to band together to form new communities, which resulted in loss of cultural identity. With the signing of treaties and the cession of lands beginning in 1725, the movements of First Nations people have been limited. The numbered treaties further restricted movement over traditional lands and limited occupancy to defined tracts of land. In 1876 the Indian Act legislated who was recognized as an Indian. The movement of those living on reserves was restricted as the Indian agent’s permission was required to travel off reserve.

Thousands of children were removed from their families and home communities to attend residential schools, resulting in loss of community and kinship connections and identity.

Dire economic conditions on some reservation lands have driven many people into cities where they still experience poverty and displacement.

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Long-term Consequences:

Suppression and loss of identity and culture occurred. As diverse peoples were joined together by choice or reserve system allocations, traditional practices and unique cultures were lost.

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Addressing the Issues:

Governmental recognition of traditional sacred lands has led to negotiations and some agreement on use. Where there is resource exploration and use, First Nations and traditional land users are being included in negotiations as well as development. Land claims continue to be a challenge; however, positive movements are underway.

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Métis (1865 to now)

In the early 1880s, many Métis, demoralized by the labels “half-breed” and “road allowance people,” and ostracized from both mainstream Canadian society and the reserve system, were starving, angry and desperate as a result of government’s continuous disregard of their land claims. The Métis were excluded, swindled, intimidated or killed in order to move them off the land. Threatened with the loss of their rights, culture, land, their very survival, as they had been 20 years prior in Manitoba, they took up arms to resist governmental actions and its militia, in what is now known as the Riel Resistance of 1885. Political and community leaders were imprisoned, exiled or hanged, resulting in the disappearance of Métis communities and way of life.

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Long-term Consequences:

Suppression of identity and culture occurred for over 70 years during which many Métis hid their Métis identity even from their children and family.

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Addressing the Issues:

Today we see a resurgence of Métis cultural identity and political organizations with the establishment of Métis Nations across Canada. They continue to push for respectful recognition of their inherent rights and political existence within Canada.

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Inuit (1950s to now)

In 1953, Inuit families were forcibly relocated to the uninhabited and inhospitable High Arctic, 1500 kilometres north of their traditional homeland of Nunavik, in northern Québec. The goal of the move was to extend Canadian claims of sovereignty to Ellesmere Island, due to Cold War tensions. As a result, Inuit people were forced to endure the pain of families torn apart and many years of hardship. Today, northern Indigenous people still need to leave their families and communities to relocate in the south in order to receive advanced educational or medical services.

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Long-term Consequences:

There was a loss of family structures and connection to community. The result was a distrust of government and its motives regarding Inuit people and their way of living and being.

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Addressing the Issues:

The resilience and strength of the Inuit people is evidenced through moves to self-governance and representation. They moved toward reconciliation and negotiated self-government and settlements with the federal government.

Traditional rites and ceremonies, such as Sundances, powwows, potlatches and sweat lodges, went underground or ceased as a result of the Indian Act. This legislation banned all celebrations, ceremonies and rites important to Indigenous communities, taking away and attempting to destroy their cultural practices and identities.

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Long-term Consequences:

Disconnection from community and ancestors, traditions, values and teachings have left many Inuit, Métis and First Nations people searching for connections to the past to reclaim lost identities, ways of being and living, and pride in identity and community.

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Addressing the Issues:

There has been an open revival of Sundances, contemporary powwows, as well as other ceremonies in First Nation communities in Alberta. These traditional ceremonies are openly practised by many First Nations people.

Since first contact there has been a history of Indigenous individuals, especially children, being taken from their homes and families. At first they were taken back to Europe as curiosities of the New World. Later entire villages were captured and shipped to the Caribbean as slaves and labourers. With the forced assimilation of the 1920s to the late 1960s, children ages 7 to 15 were taken from home villages to be acculturated at residential schools.

The “Sixties Scoop” resulted in thousands of Aboriginal children being taken from their families and placed in foster or institutional care, or being adopted by non-Aboriginal families outside of Canada. While the overt removal of Aboriginal children from their family situations may have lessened, Aboriginal children still make up almost half of the children in the protective care of the province.

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Long-term Consequences:

The placing of Aboriginal children into non-Aboriginal families has resulted in loss of cultural identity, feelings of displacement, and low self-esteem. Victims without solid family ties and role models continue to experience dysfunction in their relationships.

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Addressing the Issues:

Aboriginal organizations and agencies are addressing the issues of the past through support programs that assist victims of cultural displacement and social welfare apprehension. Recovered and healing victims are better able to address the hidden needs of generational victims through culturally appropriate practices and supports.

The Indigenous people of Canada have contributed to the defense of Canadian lands and ideals since the days of New France. First Nations warriors were responsible for defeating each and every invasion of the colony whether it was New France or Upper and Lower Canada. In 1784 in appreciation of their loyalty and commitment to the English Crown, the Six Nations People were given lands around what is now Brantford, Ontario. These lands were named for Thayendanegea, known to the English as Captain Joseph Brant, the first Aboriginal leader to be commissioned as an officer of the British army.

In each of the modern wars and international conflicts, Aboriginal men and now women have enlisted to serve Canada. It is estimated that up to 12 000 Aboriginal soldiers served in the two World Wars and the Korean War alone. The volunteer rate of 35 percent of those eligible to enlist was higher than for any other ethnic group in Canada. During the World Wars, First Nation, Métis and Inuit communities across Canada supported the war effort through purchase of war bonds, increased agricultural production and provision of lands to the government for military purposes.

Upon their return Aboriginal veterans did not receive any of the standard veteran benefits extended toward non-Aboriginal Canadians. For over 50 years Aboriginal veterans, their families and their communities dealt with not only the painful memories of war, but also with the lack of recognition of their contribution and sacrifice. Not until 2002 were the efforts of Aboriginal war veterans officially addressed.

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Long-term Consequences:

Many returning veterans have experienced displacement, disregard and damaged self-image as they were treated as second-class citizens. As second-class people they were not accepted by Canadian society, and due to the trauma they had witnessed, they were unable to effectively reintegrate. Just as other veterans of military violence suffered from post–traumatic syndrome, so too did Aboriginal veterans, but without the understanding and supports provided to others.

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Addressing the Issues:

In 2002 the federal government recognized the contribution of Aboriginal veterans by offering First Nations veterans and their spouses settlements of $20 000. This offer did not extend to non-status First Nations, Métis or Inuit veterans. In 2002 the National Métis Veterans Association launched a legal suit against the federal government; in response the government has provided funding for a Métis Veterans Outreach Program and a documentary film about the military contributions of Métis veterans and their experience upon returning home to Canada.