#intergenerational-trauma

#intergenerational-trauma

For generations, going to school for some Native Americans not only meant doing what they were told but using English names and being unable to speak in their native tongue. Some students were even met with beatings, withholding of food and solitary confinement. The 60-minute Oregon Public Broadcasting documentary Uncovering Boarding Schools: Stories of Resistance and Resilience follows Klamath Tribes member Gabriann "Abby" Hall as she discovers her family's experiences in Native American boarding schools.

Once upon a swampy ol' dirt road, two sisters, Caelum and Terra, were growing up under the care of a spindly little witch by the name of Katarina.

As a child, she learned to "manage" her mother's emotions by staying quiet, anticipating her needs, and acting to take care of those needs. Dishes were done, the kitchen floor swept, and dinner cleaned up before her mother had to mention them needing to be done. Now, in her relationship with her boyfriend, Jake, Maya finds herself falling into the same pattern-when he's stressed or distant, she becomes hypervigilant, scrambling to "fix" his mood.

Genocide thrives when the world averts its eyes, and history is repeating before us. When we prevent or put an end to genocide, we honour the victims of past genocides and, in doing so, keep their memory alive. We draw a clear line between reasonable human behaviour and our capacity to inflict unimaginable violence on others. In doing so, we help ensure the suffering of the past is not repeated.

Sasha Bonét's matrilineal memoir, " The Waterbearers," traces the lives of her mother and grandmother: powerful, complicated women whose personalities have been shaped by the rough edges of American society. Mothers, she suggests, can pass on both grace and grief. The flow of the bayous of Houston, where she grew up, remind her of "the way my mother and grandmother pour into me, and I into my daughter; the valuable and the harmful, the minerals and the mud."

In 5th grade, we had a class project to interview one of our grandparents. It seemed simple enough: Spend time with someone who loved you and ask them questions about their life. Looking back, I understand the real purpose of the assignment: to foster connection across generations, to learn what our grandparents' lives were like when they were our age.

Graciela Maria Ferreira or Grachu to her loved ones is late with the rent again, and she needs the money now. Unfortunately, she's spent her last dollars on a plush couch and her landlord is waiting on her doorstep. Grachu isn't always a believer but today she needs God to find her a new job. So begins Hailstones Fell Without Rain Natalia Figueroa Barroso's debut, and the second published novel by a Uruguayan-Australian writer.

Becky Manawatu described her debut, 2022's Aue, as a breath in. Its follow-up, Kataraina, she has called a breath out. It continues that first novel's themes of intergenerational trauma and violence within a largely Maori community based around the town of Kaikoura, on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. Aue won multiple awards in New Zealand and became an international bestseller; while Kataraina fleshes out its backstory, it can also be read as a thrillingly immersive standalone.

People often carry emotional patterns, strengths and vulnerabilities from their ancestors - and there is some evidence that these can be physically passed down.