Mapping: A new perspective on intergenerational trauma

“Later that night, I held an atlas on my lap, ran my fingers across the whole world, and whispered, ‘where does it hurt?’ It answered, everywhere, everywhere, everywhere.” – Warsan Shire

Mapping Activity “Mapping the Ground We Stand On” (Gardi, 2023)

In honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day and National Indigenous History Month, I wanted to write a short reflection on an experience I had back in February 2023 during Centennial College’s International Development Week Conference.

On the second day of the conference, we did a mapping activity called “Mapping the Ground We Stand On” led by Cheryl Marek from the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF). She was able to create an environment for us to discuss, understand and reflect on Indigenous peoples’ history, issues, and Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.

This activity significantly impacted me and played to my different intersectionalities as someone of Kurdish-Canadian background. 

We began by mapping different Indigenous tribes on a giant floor map of Canada. As someone who was born and raised in Canada, it felt odd to see Canada mapped that way, instead of the ten provinces and three territories that we are used to seeing.

Emotions welled up within me as I reflected on Kurdistan, which is still colonized by four countries: Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. I thought about how most of the Kurdish city, town, and village names have been Arabized, Turkified, or Persianized by successive oppressive governments over the past century. I thought of how much grief and strife my family and ancestors experienced at the hands of colonization.

And this brought me to the all-encompassing question of “why?”

Why did this happen to Indigenous peoples in Canada? Why is it happening to Kurds in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey?

Soon, we were all invited to walk on the map of Canada. Now, a different intersectionality comes to play, as a Canadian it felt strange to walk on the map with the names of the Indigenous tribes, it felt like I was trespassing. This didn’t feel like my country anymore. But, looking at the map in this way felt more holistic. Canada felt friendly, welcoming, and focused on the environment and community building. It felt less like the individualistic, capitalist, and structured Canada I grew up in.

After the activities were finished, we took the time to personally say how we were feeling at the moment. The atmosphere was heavy and laced with emotion.

I tried holding back my tears, however, once one of my classmates spoke about her intergenerational trauma as someone ethnically Tibetan but born and raised in Nepal, and the effects that had on her and her family, I broke down with her. It became a key bonding moment between us as we saw how similar our different intergenerational traumas were because of colonization and oppression.

Through this activity, I gained something insightful: how to reconcile the fact that colonization is ongoing, and how we are still part of the process of colonization even as immigrants or children of immigrants. My parents came here to seek refuge from genocide and colonization, and yet, we are part of the ongoing colonization in another country. It’s a strange dichotomy and something to be mindful of moving forward as I continue to learn more about Indigenous peoples in Canada.