Breaking the silence

"Why did not empowerment succeed for the Norwegian Sami war children lost schooling during the World War II"

During the World War II, in Finnmark the residential schools for the nomadic children were requisitioned for the German forces. A lot of teachers were imprisoned. Nearly every school was burnt down at the withdrawal of forces. Simultaneous the national policy only accepted using the Norwegian language, the Sami children lost their schooling and did not learn to read and write, having enormous individual consequences. After the Alta struggle around 1980, the indigenous Sami empowerment movement changed the national policy. The victimized Sami war children started organizing themselves for compensation and education, using different methods of impact and actions, with weak results. After 17 years of fight,  on their 3rd attempt of application for allocation from the Norwegian State compensation scheme, they succeeded, but with discouraging results of small amounts of money, strict restrictions of accept of applicants, i.e. only for persons with less than 26 weeks education and a collective compensatory fund , unsuccessfully implemented by the Sami Parliament and closed in 2013.

Methods  A document analysis of Sami School History ( ) was conducted, based on narratives from some of the lost schooling victims and an activist secretarial assistant.

Results  The issues of concern were identified by the indigenous persons suffering from their lost schooling. Their project combined various community work strategies as participation mobilization and building local organizations for their claims.

Discussions Might more joint efforts of the local organizations improved the results? Was their following-up strategies efficient, addressing through oral dialogue with the central politicians? .How come the compensation became so poor? Was the documentation needed not sufficient? (Paradoxically allocation from the Norwegian State compensation scheme needed proper reading and writing abilities). What was the impact of having to present individual claims, being victims of national language policies? How come that the Sami Parliament did not explore their possibilities to restore those individual austerities, and instead might be  regarded as betraying the needs of their own indigenous group?

Conclusions    “This case is a sore story”  (Silje Muotka, Sami Parliament Government Representative 2014)

"Consequences of historical trauma on mental health in the sami population – clinical experinces and reflections"

Historical trauma theory has since 1990´s been used as concept to elucidate historical traumas such as colonization and assimilation processes among indigenous peoples. The indigenous Sámi population is residing Sápmi, which is part of the four national states: Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway. Like other indigenous people, the Sámi population has a history of suppression, economical exploitation, humiliation, and forced assimilation. In Norway the Sámi people was first colonized and then exposed to a harsh Norwegianisation policy in the time period 1840-1960. However, there is limited scientific knowledge about the negative consequences of Norwegianisation policy on health and living conditions in the Sami population. There has been limited official recognition of the consequences of the assimilations process and also limited attention within the Sámi population. Proposed explanations for the silence about the historical trauma and possible consequences among Sámi may be due to nationalism, shame and internalized oppression. The Sámi Norwegian Advisory Board on Mental Health and Substance Abuse (SANKS, Finnmark Hospitality Trust) was established to develop and provide equal health services to the Sámi population across geographical, linguistic and cultural boundaries. SANKS` main tasks are clinical services, teaching and counselling, research and development, and education and training for specialists and students. SANKS have clinical experiences indicating that”fornorskningssår” (negative consequences of Norwegianisation) have implications for identity, self-esteem and mental health. Many Sami feel insecure around ethnic identity, and lack of belonging. Shame, grief, feeling of powerless and discrimination can cause mental health problems, which in turn can have consequences for quality of life and ability to provide care for offspring, and thus affect subsequent generations

Breaking the Silence: Restoration of Healing and the Impact of Colonial Policies Affecting Indigenous Peoples of Canada

In this presentation we will speak generally about the Canadian Government’s historically and presently persistent policy of colonization against Indigenous people. Specifically we will speak about the Indian Residential School System and the Sixties Scoop. Both were official Government policies designed to exact cultural genocide by systematically removing our children from their Indigenous families, communities and lands. We will elaborate on the immediate traumatic effects of these policies and the reverberating harm it caused generations of Indigenous peoples of Canada.

We will then discuss how breaking the silence around these policies, through story-telling, is a healing process. We will examine how this healing process, in conjunction with a return to traditional models of cultural, spiritual and land-based healing, remains the most effective way to negate the harm wrought by the breakdown of Indigenous family units. This is the process of truth-telling which provides an accurate understanding of our dark colonial history and illuminates a true understanding of our Indigenous identities. Ultimately the reclamation of this identity provides the empowerment necessary to break current and future generations of Indigenous people free from colonial oppression. Once liberated, Indigenous people can flourish again from the foundation of their own spirituality, languages, traditions, and ways

Ta Taua Tukutuku

We propose that we are not providing social work – we are kaitiaki [responsible caregivers] - providing a way of being, a way of walking through peoples’ lives being kaitautoko [a support] to what needs to be attended to. As we move in and out of their lives it is our responsibility to ensure any disturbance to the fabric of their existence is uplifted to a state of mauri ora – aki aki te ti o te tangata [the light that shines within people]. Then we leave quietly.

When we look at repositioning social work education in this way our presentation locates itself in the indigenous space of Marae (Contemporary Ancestral place for gathering). This space is considered the last bastion of authentic Maori ways of being. 

Within this environment, the social and political order is located in truths of indigenous people. There are many centuries of tupuna (ancestors) and their narratives present in this marae space. Collectively these narratives speak to the resilience of those who have been courageous in defending and reconciling bodies of knowledge and ways of being from their time into this time.

Ta Taua Tukutuku as our framework, creates an indigenous centered space for reconciliation of self in relationship with others as we seek to decolonise social work education. A way to take care of the tripartite relationship between the hau kainga (people of the space), the tauira (student) and the kaiako (facilitator of learning).

Indigenous knowledge exchange and sharing: Building health knowledge

Nanaandawewigamig (The Healing Place) First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba (FNHSSM) is one three Partnership Engagement & Knowledge Exchange PEKE projects across Canada that serves national and international Indigenous peoples. The intent of the FNHSSM PEKE project, is to facilitate and create spaces of Knowledge Translation and Exchange to work towards Action (KTEA) with First Nations communities, leaders and citizens, community-based health professionals and service providers, health researchers, Knowledge Keepers and decision and policy makers. FNHSSM PEKE will share how we seek and promote research undertaken in and with First Nation communities to advance further growth of wise practices that address wholistic health regarding suicide, diabetes/obesity, tuberculosis, oral health and social determinants of health; with the goal of ensuring that evidence informs policy and decision-making. The presentation will provide an overview of the KTEA engagement strategies, including creating a PEKE Interactive Community Map for First Nation communities/programs to create profiles and, at their own discretion, connect with health-focused researchers; monthly #PEKEWebinars, to engage and unite all Indigenous peoples from across the globe; and newly created PEKE Partnership Web, intended to strategically mobilize existing and future networks while also utilizing it as a First Nations data and research knowledge translation tool to exhibit the wellness of First Nations