Adam Korch
Ms. Rance
English Language Arts 9
17 November 2023
Friday Free-Write 8- Assimilation vs Inclusivity.
I chose this image to discuss the theme of “inclusivity” as it relates to this image. I feel strongly about this image because it shows a very sad truth about Indigenous children impacted by the residential school system and colonialism. We all know that this history has had a very negative impact on Indigenous people, and it caused a lot of loss, pain, trauma and suffering for Indigenous Communities and those families. This image depicts a visual of that suffering and history in a big way for me. The image shows me that one side of the image kids are feeling happy, colorful and living in their culture wearing their traditional colorful outfits, while the other side of the image shows children removed from their culture and forced into a painful and isolated Christian environment where they didn’t belong. You can see that those children are colored grey, which to me means sadness and struggle. They are forcefully removed from their families, cultural traditions and belongings, which impacts their emotional well-being. Inclusivity is about belonging. For example, belonging to a family, belongings to a culture or a larger community is important for a child to feel included and to understand their existence and identity better. Things like language, traditional practices or family love are very important for growing up, yet these kids in residential schools never received that. Therefore, their inclusion and belonging were taken from them. They likely grew up feeling lost like they don’t belong in either culture, especially if they forgot to speak their native language.