Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam > Blaise Pascal Instituut > Girard Studiekring > COV&R 2007 > Abstracts Papers 

Anita Grace

Breaking the Cycle: Recovering from the Legacy of Aboriginal Residential Schools

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ABSTRACT

The residential school system has left a deep, pervasive scar on Aboriginal peoples in Canada . Established when European settlers came to North America, they were run by churches and the federal government and were designed to separate Aboriginal children from their culture and “educate” them in European ways. In these schools, children were forbidden to speak their language and were cut off from their families and traditions. Many were emotionally, physically and sexually abused.  

Their often traumatic experiences have been widely blamed for high rates of suicide and drug, alcohol, sexual and family abuse within Aboriginal communities. Government statistics show that Aboriginals are over-represented in the correctional system and that they are at least three times more likely to be victims of crime than their non-Aboriginal counterparts. Thus it appears that many have been unable to break the cycle of violence begun in the residential school system.  

René Girard’s theory of mimesis is particularly appropriate to understanding the violent legacy of residential schools in Canada . Violence experienced by an estimated 100,000 children who attended these schools (until as late as 1990) is being mimetically imitated within Indian and Métis communities.  

Mimetic theory and Girard’s emphasis on ritual is also applicable in understanding how the Aboriginal community is healing from their painful past. Traditional healing practices, rooted in philosophies of wholeness and community, have been revived and are generating new mimetic structures of wellness.  

LINKS

Aboriginal Healing Foundation http://www.ahf.ca/ 

Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy of Residential Schools http://www.wherearethechildren.ca/ 

Canadian Government Backgrounder on Residential Schools

      http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/gs/schl_e.html

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Anita Grace is a masters candidate in the Conflict Studies Program at St Paul University in Ottawa , Canada . Formerly a journalist and writer, Grace is currently studying and preparing her thesis on transcending victimization.

 

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