Where is our Childhood?

There are many young Indigenous people who have been victims of the Indian Residential Schools. They were raised differently than how a normal child is raised. These young people may not have suffered the violence, but they have experienced the intergenerational trauma, the moments of silence, and depression in their families since childhood. some of them could not understand their parents' harsh behaviour towards them until they learned about the history of the residential schools. They became aware of the abuse that their parents went through and made differences in their parenting and raising their children. Therefore, these Indigenous children have suffered the consequences of the residential schools by not having a fun-filled childhood. They have been indirectly hurt and victims of the colonization process. Bev Jacobs states that human rights and violations occurred against the Indigenous children. This continues to effect on these young children's' lives. Some of them were not raised under proper care and were placed in foster homes where they were unable to achieve reconciliation. For example, Sherman Alexie's novel Flight presents a story of a fifteen years old narrator who has lived with many foster families including Indigenous, but he is unable to succeed in his life. The narrator suggests that he is been sexually abused by men. This proves that these men have attended IRS where they were abused. Hence, these young kids still face violence due to what happened in the past. Many of them are unsure of what to do in the future; they do not know how to lead their lives. So they stand together and ask "where is our childhood?" Where are the nations and the kin relations that have been broken by the IRS system? These children ask these questions to the government and the church officials who are responsible for their loss. Will they be ever able to find a solution(s) to heal the ones who are hurt or affected and became the targets of the IRS system?