Aboriginal Healing from Residential School Abuse in Canada
This paper examines the healing process of Aboriginal communities in Canada as they confront the devastating intergenerational effects of the residential school system. It begins by tracing the formation and purpose of residential schools — government-funded, church-run institutions designed to forcibly assimilate Indigenous children into the dominant Canadian culture — and documents the cultural destruction and trauma that resulted. The paper then evaluates traditional healing practices (such as Healing Circles, Sweat Lodges, and Medicine Wheel ceremonies) alongside non-traditional psychological interventions (including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and EMDR). It concludes that while no single approach has proven fully effective, healing strategies developed by and within Aboriginal communities themselves offer the most culturally appropriate path forward.
- Introduction: Thesis: Aboriginal communities need self-determined healing
- Residential School Abuse: Origins, mechanisms, and harms of residential schooling
- The Healing Process: Aboriginal healing movement and teaching-based responses
- Traditional and Non-Traditional Healing Practices: Ceremonial and psychological healing methods described
- Effectiveness of Healing Practices and the Need for a Better Approach: Critique of existing approaches; call for community-led solutions
- Conclusion: Summary of argument and community-driven healing imperative
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- The paper maintains a clear, logical structure — moving from historical context to documented harm to healing responses — making the argument easy to follow even when covering complex cultural material.
- It draws a meaningful distinction between traditional Indigenous healing practices and Western psychological interventions, allowing an honest critique of why neither has fully succeeded on its own.
- The conclusion loops back to the thesis effectively, reinforcing that community-driven, culturally grounded approaches are the logical answer to a problem created by cultural erasure.
Key academic technique demonstrated
This paper demonstrates effective use of a literature review to support a policy-oriented argument. Rather than simply reporting what sources say, the writer synthesizes findings across multiple studies to build toward a normative claim: that healing strategies must be developed by Aboriginal communities themselves. This move from descriptive evidence to prescriptive conclusion is a hallmark of strong undergraduate academic writing in the social sciences.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a five-part structure: (1) an introduction that states the thesis, (2) a historical section establishing the context and harms of residential schooling, (3) an overview of the Aboriginal healing movement and its methods, (4) a critical evaluation of those methods' effectiveness, and (5) a conclusion restating the argument for community-led healing. Each section serves a distinct argumentative function, and transitions between them are clear and purposeful.
Introduction
The residential school era in Canada was characterized by the establishment of a network of boarding schools targeting Indigenous peoples. The school system was centered on removing and isolating Aboriginal children from their own traditions and cultures and assimilating them into the dominant culture (Hanson, 2009). This system eventually had devastating impacts on Aboriginal communities to an extent that it is commonly known today as residential school abuse. Existing literature demonstrates that residential school abuse contributed to the emergence of a generation of Aboriginals devoid of traditional or cultural means of coping with their daily lives. According to Goforth (2007), residential school abuse created devastating impacts on entire Aboriginal communities due to its intergenerational effects. However, existing literature also shows that Aboriginals have struggled to identify suitable healing methods for dealing with these effects. Therefore, healing methods and strategies for residential school abuse should be determined and established by and within Aboriginal communities themselves.
References
Dionne, D. (2008). Recovery in the residential school abuse aftermath: A new healing paradigm. University of Lethbridge.
Goforth, S. (2007). Aboriginal healing methods for residential school abuse and intergenerational effects: A review of the literature. Native Social Work Journal, 6, 11–32.
Hanson, E. (2009). The residential school system. Indigenous Foundations, University of British Columbia.
Pulitzer Center. (2016, July 17). Signs of your identity: Forced assimilation education for indigenous youth. Retrieved November 27, 2017, from https://pulitzercenter.org/project/western-canada-first-nations-residential-schools-identity
Spear, W. K. (2008). Historical trauma and the Aboriginal healing foundation. Visions Journal, 5(1), 26–27.
University of Ottawa. (2017, September 20). Introduction to Indigenous peoples in Canada. Retrieved November 27, 2017, from http://www.med.uottawa.ca/SIM/data/Vul_Indigenous_e.htm
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.