Recovery time: Healing after the residential school abuse (part two)

Contiuning from part one, there are two healing strategies from individuals' and communities' perspective, which can improve Aboriginal people's welfare.

Aboriginal individuals who have suffered trauma in childhood change their perceptions of their lives, often into negative ways, and it could be a long self-healing journey for survivors. The legacy education was a useful way to help Aboriginal people understand residential schools' history and teach them not only the negative, but also the positive aspects of residential schools. For example, one of the Elders who were forced to attend a residential school said that she thought learning English was actually helpful for her life, because she was able find a better job then some non-English speaking Aboriginal people because English is the dominant langue in Canada. Elders were rich resources for individuals' healing process. Elders can provide a  healing circle for individuals who suffered mental trauma from abuse in residential schools. During the healing process, Elders could share their stories and experiences about residential schools. They also establish cultural safety atmosphere for individuals who need help with grief and loss.

Many Aboriginal people live in reservations, and they form Aboriginal communities. There are some programs that can help people relieve stresses from attending residential school. For example, one of the programs, called " letting go", is a healing camp in one of the Aboriginal communities in British Columbia. Some elders who attended this program reported that they were able to sleep with the lights off since leaving residential schools. Moreover, peer support groups in Aboriginal communities are important resources for Aboriginal peopl who are suffering from residential school's abuse.

Now, it is the recovery time for Aboriginal people who were abused at residential schools. Through individual healing strategies and community healing methods, Aboriginal peopl have improved their health conditions day by day, we should keep these efforts to help them live much more healthy lives.