Green College Series on Intergenerational Trauma

Richard Vedan  
Professor Emeritus of Social Work (2014)

The presentation will identify excerpts of the history of contact between Indigenous People and Settlers that contribute to the contemporary inequitable position of Indigenous People. Amendments to the Indian Act which explicitly forbade all practice of traditional culture, including storytelling, continue to cause irreparable damage to the core of individuals, families, and communities. The damage caused was not accidental but the manifestation of that which was fully intended. Equally powerful in the damage caused are informal, unspoken rules that dictate individuals, families, and communities. Reflecting upon clinical practice, research and program development, Richard Vedan will review the challenges the unspoken informal rules present for an individual or group’s healing journey. Reference will be made to the work of Indigenous scholars and his own journey as a second-generation residential school survivor, whose great grandparents, grandparents and father attended residential schools. Indian Reserves and Indian Residential Schools are total institutions and manifest the features of other total institutions such as military organizations. Drawing from his clinical experience as a Social Work Officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force/Canadian Forces, comment will be offered on the powerfully unspoken informal rules and cultural norms not conducive to a healing journey for Indigenous Veterans such as Richard Vedan's father, Hector, or for non-Indigenous Veterans and Serving Members of the Navy, Army and Air Force.

Marvin Westwood - Convenor 
Professor Emeritus of Educational and Counselling Psychology and Special Education (2015)