This morning I did my presentation on the Indian Residential School System(IRSS) for my sociology class. It went well. I know the content was good I still need to tweak my presentation skills. My partner and I got 90%! The presentation talked about ethnocentrism, social stigma and looked at the IRSS from four major theoretical perspectives. I feel emotionally exhausted from researching the topic and reflecting on my own life and how the IRSS effected me. It was in a way healing for me to go through all those emotions. I will never again allow anyone to make me feel ashamed of my Indigenous ancestry. Because I know that shame doesnt belong to me and that is a method of social control that is used to continue to oppress a people. For now though Im tired of being angry. I know more truths about the IRSS and will still learn more about the history between the European settlers and First Nations peoples. Im still passionate about seeing more Indigenous peoples empowered, to help end the social stigmas and in my own small way, to give people hope for something better than living in daily crisis. I still want to give the spark of hope to the possibility of rising above current circumstances. To nurture the feeling of pride of having ancestry that has survived and overcome so many deliberate atrocities. An ancestry that continues to fight for justice against an unfair system. A system that gets to decide what justice means. I now know that poverty, abuse in all it forms, family breakdown, health issues (obesity, diabetes, substance abuse and mental health issues are not inherently part of Indigenous cultures. Any and all the social dysfunction is due to 100s of years of oppression from the people in powerful positions. I know all this now. I have to find ways to share my new understanding because its liberating to let go of the oppressors mentality of myself. Its an empowering mental shift to see things for what they really are for the first time.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 17:24:53 +0000
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