Course material

1. Hello can you proof read my Essay, offer any advice and fix...
Hello can you proof read my Essay, offer any advice and fix grammatical errors. It is a
reflective essay
While attending this class since the start of the semester I have come to learn a lot of
different aspects about the pain and trauma that residential schools have caused. These
traumas have ingrained themselves within the Indigenous community, even in those who
had not attended these such schools. It has been hard for me, as someone who comes from a
more privileged background, to relate to their culture, their names, and their identity being
stript from them. The intergenerational trauma has become a clearer concept to me than it
was before the class started. We spoke about how hard it was for survivors to be able to
show them the love they never received to their children. We've had the opportunity to
discuss Vera Manuels stories and how they are aiding in the healing for the survivors, and
all of the indigenous communities . Through indigenous literature, and true redress from
the government, the church, and the people of Canada can their communities continue to
heal, and break the horrible experiences that are ingrained in their past.
The indigenous culture is a strong and resilient one that has stood proud in the face of
all that has happened to them. We talked about the efforts that were taken to find children
who would run, and the punishments that would be inflicted on the parents if they did
comply and hand their children over. The ruthlessness that was shown in effort to eradicate
the indigenous culture was brutally shown in these schools where kids were beaten for
trying to show any form of their culture, even speaking the language was a punishable
offense.
We talked about the pain that the bystanders felt in Vera Manuels plays and how that
weight affected them throughout the years. It is improperable that anything would happen
if they spoke up, besides themselves to be punished along with them. Vera's plays present
an insight into the horrors that her family and friends experienced at these schools in such a
way that has helped induce healing in many of those who have seen or read them. She
makes each person who engages with her work become a witness to the things that have
happened.I found Vera's work particularly interesting in the way she approaches her
"fictional novel" that is truly based on very real events. It is composed in such a way that it
allows for a connection to be made and a healing process to take place. She allows some of
those who went through these trauma a chance to take back power over what had
happened to them. Through readings and our class discussion I have found that storytelling
lies deep in the heart of the indigenous people and Vera uses that connection to story telling

2. by offering a way to speak the truth of the indigenous lives that were abused at the
residential schools.
Vera Manuel and many other indigenous writers open a door for the healing to those
who attended residential schools and to their families as the experience can often be very
hard to bring up on their own. I found that to be a very powerful point in Vera Manuels goal
to bring to life the stories she heard and help the next generation understand what was so
wrongly done and help them have a healthy way to heal. These types of literature work
offer families a healthy way to heal and will be needed to continue to do so as they keep
finding more graves and more people start to speak out.
The pain in their communities is still there and there are many reminders left. We
talked in our discussions, and through that gray building about how these places can be
harmful to those who have to see it. In Chelsea Vowels book " A Guide to First Nations,
Métis, and Inuit Issues in Canada '' she speaks of the importance of respecting how
Indigenous people would like to be introduced and represented. The use of terms such as
savage or Indian are terms that are from a view disrespect and come from the times were
they were not looked at as equals. Another important note she made was about the term
"settlers' ', to me I find it uncomfortable to be called a settler but that comes from a place of
guilt, where the far worse name calling of indigenous people are linked with tramentous
pain. (Vowel, Chelsea(2016)
It is extremely important for works of indigenous literature and productions Like
Vera Manuel, Bob Joseph, and Lisa Jackson . One thing that stood out to me most in our class
discussions was that testimonies of residential school survivors would be destroyed if not
asked to be kept.(McCall, Sophie,2020) This is unfair to me and should be the other way
around. There are many people in remote locations or unable to do the things necessary to
not have their testimonies destroyed, it shouldn't be their responsibility, as these should be
historical accounts of what happened and the destruction of them is another way to silence
them.
I have often thought that our government is pushing for reconciliation time to be now
and happening but to me it doesn't always seem that way. It is hard to start talking about
reconciliation when the government is still trying to silence the victims by destroying their
testimonies;it is hard to start talking about reconciliation when they are still finding graves
at the sites where the schools used to be most recently Starblanket. I think our country truly
needs to stop acting in a way that the wounds have healed when there are ones that have
not even been open yet. In our discussions we discussed how babies and children were
buried behind these schools and we are only finding these graves now. How can one start to
redress for their wrong doings when there are things that are still being hidden, being
silenced, unfound. Yet, I believe that you said it best "It is easier to talk about reconciliation
than the truth" (Dr. Michelle Coupal,Jan 19, 2022)