COLONIZATION

Trauma

Pattern of imbalance in the stress response system based on harm that happened to you, your family, or your people.

Trauma, like colonization, is not just something that happened in the past.

Trauma, like colonization, is an ongoing experience that continues to inflict harm.

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    LEXICON
    Harm
    When the negative impacts on your wellbeing are greater than your capacity to recover.
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First and foremost trauma impacts your nervous system.

Then trauma ripples outward to impact feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.

Leading to survival responses that are embodied attempts to protect one’s self from harm.

Having your mouth washed out with lye soap for speaking your language is a traumatic event that continues to reverberate through existence.

Many boarding school survivors stop speaking their language, engage in self-harm, or turn away from their culture.

Many boarding school survivors pass their trauma onto the next generation.

Many Indigenous learners struggle with language learning in ways not experienced by non-Indigenous learners.
Many experience higher levels of fear, anxiety, or tension around language learning.
Many are afraid to speak, to make mistakes, or to interact with elder speakers.

These are not personal failings; they are trauma passed down the generations.

REFLECTION

Can you identify an embodied response to intergenerational trauma within your ILR practice?

Explore the Lexicon

Healing

Internal Awareness

ILR Practice

Colonization

Impact