For an open-minded individual there are a myriad of possible ways to not only educate ourselves but all society through first understanding the impact that the Residential Schools housed with regards to intergenerational trauma, cultural genocide, and forced assimilation. The Residential School system being a catalyst for First Nations trauma experienced as a method of severing familial ties, spiritual beliefs, and language. Our modern-day world affords us an endless amount of information. The Seven Sacred Teachings of: Love, Respect, Courage, Honesty, Wisdom, Humility, and Truth. Each teaching brings forth with it an integral component that allows the one learning about First Nations culture such a rich scope to appreciate.
Buffy Sainte-Marie has caused quite the rightful ruckus throughout the course of her life on behalf of protecting the First Nations. This woman still continues to fight for the rights of murdered and missing Indigenous Women. I know, I’ve brought up this subject on numerous occasions; because it is essential that the First Nations have everything that is owed to them. Buffy always spoke out about the atrocities that her people had to endure. The legacy of genocide made possible with the creation of Residential Schools can still be felt through the echoes of First Nations ancestors.
Victimization: Indigenous Peoples
The plasma seeped into the earth
has resulted in crimson grass tips
ancestors’ bones coat
the earth’s layers
with each shattered treaty
and the appointment
of residential schools
There are those who deny
the genocide of the First Nations
who state this deplorable time
in Turtle Island’s history
is false
One question keeps its persistence
why?
WHY was this body of Earth’s
organic beings treated in an inhumane
manner – culture in itself
is remarkable?!
To be constantly stiffed
where is the equity?
where is the improved
quality of life?
where is the acknowledgement
of stolen Indigenous women?