Decolonizing My Grandparents

The views I had related to the Indigenous population, prior to entering this course were based on the information I received from family members and friends. I believed things like: all Indigenous youth entering post-secondary schooling had tuition paid for, each person was supplied with a home, and no person was required to pay taxes of any kind, etc. Having gained knowledge thus far from the Indigenous Perspectives on Health and Healing course I can tell you I was greatly misinformed. As well I’ve taken it upon myself to educate those around me to the misconceptions they hold about these people and their ways of life.

There are many different ways for anyone to acquire good quality information on this topic. One easy to access, and extremely informative source that I found from entering this course is the series 8^th Fire on CBC: “8th FIRE propels you past prejudice, stereotypes and misunderstandings, to encounters with an impressive new generation of Aboriginal Canadians who are reclaiming both their culture and their confidence” (CBC/Radio-Canada, 2015). As well, people may be more inclined to rethink their opinions if they could get the information from something like television because this for them this is a trusted, and reliable source from which to retrieve knowledge.

One group of people I’ve personally tried to inform was my grandparents. Like most of the population in our community they are elderly, the views they have are the ones they’ve had for years, and they are more than likely the ones held/passed down by their parents and grandparents. This results in a great deal of difficulty in trying to break down these ways of thinking, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be attempted. At first I wasn’t even trying to change their views, I was simply sharing the information I gained and they told me “You’re Wrong”, and that is where the discussion began. After sharing my knowledge, I was able to make an improvement in the views they had, and show them why in-fact they were misinformed as well.

We have to be the change we want to see, and that our society needs. One of these major adversities is the health problems facing the Indigenous population. Awareness must be raised, and the opinions of our fellow members of society need to be altered. At that point the advances that need to be made will have the incentive, and driving force to reach its full potential.