Aboriginality & Indianuity: Decolonization in the Urban Native Community of Vancouver. MA thesis. (original) (raw)

This thesis looks at ideological and cultural decolonization in the context of the Urban Native Community of Vancouver. The oppression that First Nations populations endured during colonialism has left a strong impact. Communities struggle with ample traumas, ranging from ill health to addiction and substance abuse, high school dropouts and high incidences of crime and violence. In this ethnographic case study I spent seven months in this highly diverse urban native community. I wanted to learn about the historical and contemporary causes of peoples' colonial traumas, and, perhaps more importantly, about the ways in which they heal them. Decolonization is not simply a political notion: decolonization means that we have to examine both the base and the superstructure of our society, and the way we have internalized these. As the participants in this study showed me, it is a long and tedious process, in which we can leave no stone unturned, and from which there is no return. This is my MA Thesis, presented in 2003 at the Free University of Amsterdam, for the completion of my degree in Cultural Anthropology. The things that I learned during this journey continue to inspire me and guide me in the academic work I do today in my Caribbean community of Curacao, the Dutch Caribbean. May my journey inspire someone else also. Key words: First nations, Vancouver, British Columbia, decolonization, colonialism, racism, residential schools, healing.