Being believed: Life history and the healing journey of Indian Residential School survivors

This study explored the lives of two Elders who are Indian Residential School Survivors and asked whether they felt that being believed was a component of their healing processes of overcoming violence at Indian Residential School. I used the notion of “being believed” as an experience linked to epistemic injustice (an injustice related to knowledge and power differences). A considerable part of the Survivors’ healing processes centred on their experience with an out-of-court reparations process known as the Independent Assessment Process (IAP), a compensatory component of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA). The study used life history research. A necessary element of life history research is learning about the life of the storyteller, and this study encouraged the Elders/Survivors to tell their stories about their lives from their perspective, culture, and within broader societal circumstances. The Elders/Survivors discussed knowledge systems, systems of power, healing processes, knowledge dissemination, and the Indian residential school compensation programs, especially the IAP. One unexpected finding was the Elders/Survivors felt the support of non-Indigenous peoples in the dissemination of Indigenous knowledge was important. The results suggest how epistemic (in)justice can be better understood by adult educators whose work includes social justice and democratizing knowledge, including practices which can be used to develop policy linked to healing process programs or compensation programs. Keywords: Elders, Survivors, Indian Residential Schools, Independent Assessment Process, epistemic injustice, healing process, life history, storytelling

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Adult Education and Communtity Engagement (MAECE)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Grantor dc:publisher

Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Cote-Soop, Heather

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Hanson, Cindy
• Bockarie, Abu

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• O’Reilly, E. Kathleen
• Cooper, Elizabeth

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://doi.org/10.82465/4451

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uregina.scholaris.ca:10294/16514