‘We’re still losing kids’: Young panelists discuss intergenerational trauma at Iqaluit conference
National Gathering on Unmarked Burials concludes Thursday
Four youth panelists shared stories of intergenerational trauma Thursday at the National Gathering on Unmarked Graves in Iqaluit. From left, Pakak Picco of Iqaluit, Jody Tulurialik of Taloyoak, Megan Metz of Haisla Nation, B.C., and Storm Cardinal, Fort Chipewyan Métis, Alta. share the stage with conference co-lead Naomi Tatty. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)
A panel of young adults spoke of how intergenerational trauma from residential schools continues to impact their lives and communities, on the final day of the National Gathering on Unmarked Burials in Iqaluit.
Four young people, two of them Nunavummiut, told their stories and also shared messages of hope on Thursday afternoon.
The panel was one of the final events at the three-day gathering organized by the office of Kimberly Murray, the federally appointed special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves and burial sites.
While the focus was on northern voices, the gathering was attended by representatives from Inuit, First Nations and Métis communities from across Canada.
Pakak Picco of Iqaluit, one of the youth panelists, emotionally described dealing with the loss of friends to suicide and substance use.
A common factor among all those friends, he said, was intergenerational trauma caused by residential schools and day schools.
“In the last 12 months, I’ve lost three close friends and relatives, people I enjoy hunting on the land with,” Picco said.
“Whenever I get sad about it, I feel like — the federal government or the churches, I feel like they won sometimes because here we are in 2024, 2023” and “we’re still losing kids.”
Despite the loss, Picco said he sees a lot of hope.
He praised the Embrace Life Council for its healing initiatives and described the Aqqusariaq Nunavut Recovery Centre, which is currently under construction in Iqaluit, as something that will benefit people in the future.
He said he sees hope in gatherings like the one this week in Iqaluit with its audience of elders and survivors.
“We have to keep going for the youth,” Picco said, adding “it helps my heart when I see gatherings like this because it’s a shared experience.
“It’s not just our community or me feeling like this; in every community, there’s people suffering the way we are here and it all traces back to one thing.”
Jody Tulurialik of Taloyoak shared her own similar experience dealing with loss.
She referred to the previous day’s survivors’ panel during which Navalik Tologanak of Cambridge Bay highlighted barriers to receiving healing services from elders.
“There are many instances where us Kitikmiut do not have access to resources that Kivallimiut and Qikiqtaalumiut have access to,” Tulurialik said.
“I’d like to see more collaborative projects, spaces and organizations between all the regions in Nunavut.”
Megan Metz, from Haisla Nation, B.C., offered a message of resiliency.
“We cannot forget all that we have held on to in spite of these very intentional efforts to strip us of who we are,” she said.
“One day, all of us will be the ancestors that the upcoming generations will speak of so we should, in turn, honour ourselves, remember who we are and respect ourselves and our stories.”
The conference portion of the gathering ended Thursday evening with closing remarks from Murray, who echoed the comments of the four youth panelists.
“You are making us proud and you are making your ancestors proud,” she said.
Nearing the end of her two-year appointment as special interlocutor, Murray said her big task in the coming months is to compile what’s been discussed at all national gatherings held across Canada and file a report to the federal government establishing a legal framework on missing Indigenous children and unmarked graves.
Those findings will be published during a gathering in Ottawa in June.
“In my view, Canada is committing a crime if it does not help communities find all the disappeared children,” Murray said.
“Thank you for sharing your knowledge and thank you for leading the country as we continue along this path to recover the children.”
As our hearts are felt with saddening situation, we must be careful with conclusions as by the young people stories. Their stories of their pain is an absolute, but to conclude that it’s from generational trauma is not as easy as it seems. It may even do more harm than good to just make that conclusion. There are some may be so, but not all. It’s cheap and irresponsible to just do that. Treatments may be missed in the wrong name, to just go on with this over and over. How do these young people make that diagnosis of the reality? Can they make other claims and conclusions also, just because of what everyone is telling them about residential school? Not to deny the generation trauma, but not everyone who caused abuse to their children are covered under that, and not all suicidal people are from that. Thats sad part too, the conclusion just for that sake, this is people lives here.
It scares me how our youth are latching on to this residential school blaming. Not very many kids from my small home town went to residential school and the ones that did are no longer living in my community succeeding somewhere else. However aside from residential school we have so much intergenerational trauma. Rapid change in culture and language loss is now all amongst us and we need help with abuse, drugs alcohol and child abuse and neglect. Residential school was horrible to many families but up north we need attention in many otherways. Cost of living is not getting better either. Lack of housing creates chaos. Another form of cultural genocide as everyone is flocking south to be housed.
Idk bro, after reading the article it seems like the guy is talking about his 3 late friends experiences not the whole north’s. Sad bickering just for the sake of bickering
The woke culture becomes an interference to improving the lives of people. Claims of racism and persecution becomes easy and it starts a belief to falsehood, and brain washed kids. To have people sit and express their reasons for abuse, specially kids, is troubling. The kids are not only expressing, but they’re also indicating the ethology, and failing to acknowledge any solution. If they can go as far as self diagnosis, that’s beyond most society’s and even medical science, as we see everyday, everywhere. What’s happening to allow that in that situation? Someone has huge misunderstandings. What about the kids that are abuse , otherwise, outside of the generational issues, can they diagnose also, that it’s uncle , or parents or what ever that causes their problems. Are we more advanced in the north to be doing this type of analysis?
Why is it troubling for people for people to talk about their abuse? Is it not possible for youth to come up with a solution?
LOL. Have you ever been sexually molested or even yet RAPED as a young child or teen? This is not a laughing matter. I have attempted suicide 3 times during my childhood and teenage years because of the sexual abuse, physical violence by family and the school. How can a person openly admit to these traumatic experience one has to live through on a daily basis and knowing that the molesters or rapists are part of the family and the family members are still alive.Whom do we talk to, our mothers and fathers? My mother and father were to busy getting drunk and begin fighting each other. Or, Telling us to keep our mouth shut and not to speak to anyone about family problems. Talk to social services or youth protection. I believe not because then they will remove the child or children away from the family structure. Do not laugh out Loud lol. Or, if you are you have probably deeply scared traumatization and you cannot talk to anyone.
Yes I have been, its why I asked why people couldn’t talk about their abuse. What’s happened to me should never have happened to me, you as well. Its only when I began to destigmatise being molested that I started to heal. I thought I deserved it for being bad; I was not.
Look at the context of the reply, “To have people sit and express their reasons for abuse, specially kids, is troubling.”. That applies to you and me.
Kids should not be in immediate danger, I would hope that talking to a professional would not immediately warrant having kids taken away. The canadian government destroyed our culture enough as is. Therapy is an option; it helped me. Might help you, might not. You know your situation, I don’t.
LOL. Thank you for the Reply. I am so sorry that you went through what you went through growing up. It had taken me year’s to forgive those who sexually assaulted me. I am grateful that you replied. Also, grateful that you knew you had to relive your past to help those who are quiet, hurting and in pain. I apologize if I may have come across rude.
This is the problem: kids are brainwashed. Every aspect of failure is blamed on residential school and trauma passed down. It continues to keep kids from achieving. Making them believe that to blame, is to accept that theres hopelessness and no future. It’s not about kids taking about their abuses, it’s about those people that continuously refusing to strive for a better life for the next generation. Brainwashed children, it’s evil to do that to kids.
This is about internalized grievance, placing its at the center of identity, whether one has any real connections to residential schools, or not.
I think that euro-centric, western ways of thinking, which is what you are describing is now being seen as not the only way to think. Thinking critically leads to many avenues, including the fact that systems in place, for example beating the culture out of a population has long term effects on the well being of a population. Racism is one of those systems that eurocentric thinking causes, but ignores when they built alot of their knowledge. Your comment only shows an example of the harm when one thinks that there is only one way to believe in a problem. I assume you also don’t see the colonial tools that still exist to this day that are compounding trauma today on Indigenous populations, and many other populations in Canada?
Please define what you mean by “colonial tools”. A major part of why problems aren’t solved is because people rely on phrases which they do not define, for which other people may have different understanding of what they mean, and thus there’s no solution because no one knows what anyone else is talking about. Phrases like that are also used by some people, like the phrase “woke culture” just was, to mean “stuff I don’t like”. Or more often “stuff other people told me I shouldn’t like”.
Colonial tools are tools in which a dominant colonial society imposes their systems onto others. This can be acts and laws by parliament(treaties and reserves), child welfare systems(aka the OG in Canada the residential school system). How many Inuit kids are forcibly removed from their homes or communities today? The criminal justice system is an example, state run police services. Is it a coincidence that in Canada, these tools that are suppose to be for the better of people, are overly represented by Indigenous populations, when they make up around 5% of the population?
It’s evolution baby… some people set the pace, others complain and fall behind. Take your pick.
Just to mention kids being removed from abusive homes. Alex, do you have a solution for these kids that are removed from abuse? Or are you arguing that these are not abuse cases all at. What your response? And don’t forget to acknowledge that kids are sometimes removed from one abusive situation, and put in another, especially in the north. Your turn.
Child abuse is a real thing, absolutely. The settler colonial child social welfare system has a different way of handling Indigenous cases of child welfare as opposed to non Indigenous. When a white kid is removed from their home, granted it be from abuse or any reason that is VALID, they are not removed from their communities. By communities I mean “having a particular characteristic in common.” When Inuit children are removed from their homes, they are also removed from their communities. They are completely removed from their culture. Even when the cost of burden on this Child’s care is just as much from being removed from the communities as opposed to funding and working on a culture child welfare system approach that work for Inuit. The models are out there with other Indigenous communities, its simply that the colonial tool doesn’t want to do whats in the best interest of the child, they do what is in the best interest of its State. The Child welfare system on Indigenous communities, including the Inuit is today’s version of the Residential School system, another Colonial tool that was used to assimilate and make its “citizens” like them, and not who they truly are. The child welfare system is needed, for the abuse you are stating, but its not doing it in a decolonized, cultural sensitive way that will help Inuit communities thrive and keep its culture. Many scholars would agree, including many Social workers who have been involved with Child Welfare for decades.
When children are entirely removed from a community it is a because there are not enough options for them within that community. For example, no group homes, not enough spaces in a group home, or not enough foster care. Your interpretation of that as “the colonial tool doesn’t want to do what’s in the best interest of the child” is a fallacy obviously grounded in larger historical grievance.
I think you just proved Alex’s point as 1) the items you have named are Western society systems of child welfare, and not that of traditional Inuit. 2) By stating that the missing resources of the child welfare system of western belief, causes Inuit to be removed from their communities.
Anyone who thinks Residential school is the main driver of “intergenerational trauma” needs to read some of the oral histories that were recorded long before the current woke era.
Living on the land was very hard on the Inuit, and the Inuit were always very hard on each other. It was not all sunshine and country food back in the day. Starvation, violence, emotional abuse, fierce weather, accidents, and uncertainty took a huge toll on people, long before contact by Europeans, and afterwards, too.
True, there was no Golden Age before Whitey came. Matter of fact, many Inuit welcomed “colonial” structures such as the RCMP, schools, church, and HBC and gladly moved into settlements where there was more law and order and stability in their lives. Sad that kids are being tutored into false narratives that just detract from their own responsibility for their lives and ability to move on.
Residential schools have shown just how terrible human beings can be to each other. It is a bit sad to hear the younger people using it as an excuse to not try to better themselves and become a contributing member to Inuit society and making it better for all in Nunavut.
Folks have to remember the last residential school closed down in 1990’s just 30 years ago and even then in the 1980s we had teachers like Ed Horne and Priests like Eric Dejaeger that created significate trauma, anger within our communities.
It comes down to providing programs and services that provide people a choice to start their healing journey. This is a personal decision people need to make to take the power back that was stolen from them,
Like a fork in the road, shall we continue down the same rocky path that lead us to this point or shall we take a risk and take a leap of faith and turn left or right into the unknown? Taking a turn into the unknown is will more challenging that continuing on the same path but the end is a much brighter place.
Why do we make so much noise about Ed Horne, Eric Dejaeger and other repugnants but not a squeak about all the home grown child rapists roaming Nunavut’s communities?
Some of them have been abusing kids for decades and seemingly operate with impunity causing untold amounts of trauma and emotional chaos.
The culture of protecting predators must stop. All predators need to be exposed.
No excuses. End of story. We must protect our children.
Being of Inuit descent, I have seen incest within the family structure. Incest was Normalized in the Inuit Culture up to the 1970’s when fathers, sons, brothers, uncles and grandfathers sexually assaulted young boys and girls and teen boys and girls. Why do you think the Suicide Rate is so high in the Inuit culture. Incest and Rapes are the biggest reasons why I attempted suicide and have many friends who took their own lives because of keeping dark hidden secrets (taboos).
In answer to Predator’s question why home-grown sexual abuse receives so little attention, it’s because there are enough abusers among the elite to keep a lid on any discussion let alone prosecution. Also, as implied by Flabbergasted, a characteristic of the culture is that silence is required. Abuse is seldom reported and it’s almost impossible to get a conviction from an Inuit jury. Read the book about abuse in Indian communities Flowers on my Grave by Ruth Teichroeb.
“One day, all of us will be the ancestors that the upcoming generations will speak of so we should, in turn, honour ourselves, remember who we are and respect ourselves and our stories.”
This says it all.
Thank you, NN, for publishing the story and allowing open and honest discussion in the Comment Section. Thank you also to the commenters.
Generally, among those who push the dogma of victimization and blame, there is a deep level of spiritual malaise. Some are unaware of the narcissism and excessive pride that underlies their motives of vengeance and antagonism, but most are well aware.
They are fed by their unhealthy motives, their intrinsic greed and quest for influence and power. From any reasonable perspective their behavioe is criminal and they should be regarded and treated as such. Their antisocialist temperament undercuts healthy society and fosters violence and despair
Gotta get up and try
This is “Stop blaming White People Month and take responsibility for your own actions”
“No? Racist!!!! Not my fault. …”
“It’s their fault!!;;”
I’m a residential school Warrior since I was six years old.
Preach me a a sermon about residential school. C'”Mon!!!
I made it this far.
If Residential schools really are the main driver of intergenerational trauma amongst our kids, then the means of reconciliation is also very clear.
During the late 80s and 90’s, the government made a huge and seemingly unappreciated effort that cost tens of millions to establish high school programs in most of our communities. This is what ended the Residential school era. It didn’t happen by itself. it didn’t happen by someone saying sorry, it happened because we committed to a different education system.
Without this effort, lead by regional Boards of Education such as we had here in the Kitikmeot, we would still today be sending our teenagers to residential school to get a high school education.
If you think intergenerational trauma is bad now, imagine the trauma of another 40 plus years of residential school experience accumulated today amongst those 50 years old and younger.
So the question is, what have we done within the past 40 years or so of locally delivered high schooling in Nunavut to improve our youth, to move beyond the horribleness of the past? There are many signs that we are not doing this effectively.
We have low outcomes for many of our youth, especially our boys. We have less Inuit teachers than we want. We have way lower attendance than we used to. We have DEA elections that are popularity contests, not based on local people consciously pushing towards specific directions in education.
Parents and communities – focus on caring and providing for our kids in our local high schools. Support the teachers and the school. Do whatever you can to make your local high school program the safest and richest experience possible. These things are in our hands, in our ability to shape, No one else.
This is the missing piece in this discussion. If we are not actively seeking and working on solutions, all we will forever be is the perpetual victim.
Define community for me? Are you talking about moving a kid outside of a town? That is not what is being referenced by community. We are talking about removing a kid from the Inuit community, hence being thrown into a non Inuit/Indigenous community. Also is there such a thing as partial removed from community vs entirely? what’s the research on the difference state? Lastly, you are mentioning Western Child welfare systems, which are not traditional to Inuit values. Look to the IQ principles for reference.
It would be great to have this much attention for the suicide epidemic that Nunavut has been going through for some time now,
Nunavut leads the world in suicide and most times these stats are left out in Canada.
This is a huge problem in Nunavut and no one seems to want to work on it.
Everyone in Nunavut has been effected by suicide, why aren’t we doing anything about it, especially these groups?