Perspectives on Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma: The Case of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada

Perspectives on Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma: The Case of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada

Indigenous peoples

Amy Bombay, Hymie Anisman, Kim Matheson

Social Issues in Living Color : Challenges and Solutions from the Perspective of Ethnic Minority Psychology

2017

Praeger

Book chapter

English

Canada

Restricted Access

In this chapter, we outline the historical trauma experienced by Aboriginal peoples in Canada, focusing on the intergenerational impacts of Indian Residential Schools (IRSs). The IRS system was part of the government’s policy of assimilation, with the goal of eradicating the cultural identities of Aboriginal children by forcing them to live in church-run, government funded schools that separated them from their communities, families, and cultures. Although our focus is on IRS experiences, even in less affected communities that managed to maintain aspects of traditional culture and identity, the domination by European settlers has led to “mismatches” of values and ways of being that have often been disadvantageous to Aboriginal peoples. Historical trauma has increasingly been used to account for the continued economic, health, and social disparities faced by indigenous peoples across the globe. However, even within countries, communities from diverse cultural backgrounds have faced their own unique combinations of traumatic experiences and histories of colonization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

Kristen Walker