Another effect of cultural genocide is mental health. The topic of mental health and mental illnesses are becoming more public as more people are speaking up about how mental health affects their lives. There are more foundations now that try to raise awareness for mental health, but how many of these foundations are specifically focused towards helping people who are suffering from this cultural genocide? The experiences that many children had as a result of being sent to residential schools caused serious lifelong damage that requires support from the Canadian society. While the effects of mental illness can be controlled and managed, they always linger and I believe that more public awareness is needed to support the indigenous people who are isolated.
In the novel, Saul kept in his emotions to himself for so long because he felt like people could not understand him. It took such a toll on his life and he felt that his culture and identity was ripped away. Saul was never able to heal properly, so this lead to his unexplainable actions and subsequent addiction to alcohol because it was the closest thing to helping him feel normal again. The fall back to alcohol is so common among the indigenous culture because is a way to cope with the anxiety and depression caused by the many years of isolation. When Saul finally told his foster parents about the abuse, they told him they already knew. His foster parents also went to the school and were also both raped and they recognized the signs and symptoms of others, like Saul, who may have been as well.
In the novel, Saul kept in his emotions to himself for so long because he felt like people could not understand him. It took such a toll on his life and he felt that his culture and identity was ripped away. Saul was never able to heal properly, so this lead to his unexplainable actions and subsequent addiction to alcohol because it was the closest thing to helping him feel normal again. The fall back to alcohol is so common among the indigenous culture because is a way to cope with the anxiety and depression caused by the many years of isolation. When Saul finally told his foster parents about the abuse, they told him they already knew. His foster parents also went to the school and were also both raped and they recognized the signs and symptoms of others, like Saul, who may have been as well.