Reconciliation Analysis

Reconciliation is a difficult process that indigenous people go through when adapting to a new social climate, but it is essential for improving mutual understanding between different social groups. This paper will discuss three issues of reconciliation posed by Cheryl Inkster’s research: the influence of relocation on youths, the ramifications of the Indian Regulation of Indian Education paper on community relations, and the impact of social status on reconciliation effectiveness.
A synopsis of Cheryl Inkster’s Storywork Research on Indigenous Female Foster Youth’s Relocation Experiences
Cheryl Inkster investigates the effect of displacement on a group of Northwest Territories youths who were moved to the Lower Mainland (Hill, 2017).
She does this by conducting research through story work in which the author relies on the experience of affected female youths and the people in charge of the relocation. By taking a sample of four participants and two informant individuals she collects information concerning their leaving foster homes in Northwest Territories, arriving in the Lower Mainland and adapting to their new home. From the stories written by the participants, Cheryl analyses the data and finds out that, during the relocation, the participants were transferred against their will and were not given a chance to make a decision whether to stay or not (Hill, 2017). Most of them were worried about leaving their friends and families behind, changing their school and were afraid of getting to learn a new culture and language. Therefore, lots of them were reluctant to relocate. In her findings, Cheryl asserts that the participants had a very tough time arriving in the Lower Mainland, where they had no family and friends, could not speak the language and had to join new schools which were bigger in size than their villages (Hill, 2017). However, despite all these challenges, the youths were assisted in adapting to their new home, they made new friends and learned the language in the new place. They all now appreciate their new home and enjoy their new lives. Cheryl Inkster research relates to reconciliation by showing how the female youths came to terms with their new environment and later appreciated the intentions of the relocation program (Hill, 2017).

Indian Control of Indian Education

Indian Control of Indian Education is a paper written by the Indians in Canada in response to the Federal Government of Canada passing the White Paper, which called for the assimilation of the First Nations of Canada (McGarty, 2014). The response paper required that the Canadian government should adopt a policy that would enable the participation and full partnership in the issues about the education of the Indian children. The policy paper was implemented in the province of Saskatchewan that allowed the parents to contribute to their children education and also granted the locals control of education in the region (McGarty, 2014). Indian Control of Indian Education brings a new insight into the definition of reconciliation by allowing the Indians coexist with the Canadians in the same province and get the opportunity to make decisions influencing their lives (McGarty, 2014). This paper provided for freedoms and rights, which allowed the communities to exist peacefully and enabled the restoration of the rapport between the government and the various first nations.

Influence of the Social Position of an Individual on His Role in Reconciliation

Reconciliation is a process that requires some leadership skills to initiate and sustain. As a leader in the society, one must use his position to influence the behavior of the members of the community or the disturbed parties (McGarty, 2014). With the control of power, a leader should not just impose the process on people but instead use the power to persuade them on the need for reconciliation. Once everyone is convinced, the leader must be the first one to submit and sacrifice his right to punish and then the rest will follow his action. The social position will also provide an individual with the opportunity to accommodate everyone in the society both spiritually and psychologically (McGarty, 2014). This ability to help people will make them appreciate their current position and forget the historical dissatisfaction they might have experienced, thereby stimulating reconciliation process.

Conclusion

Reconciliation is an integral part of adjusting to the new environment and getting on with new neighbors and lies at the core of making the society integrated. Complexities of this process and possible ways for mitigating them were discussed by Cheryl Inkster in her study on relocation experiences of indigenous female youth in foster care. She found that despite all the difficulties the youths adapted to their new homes and appreciated the relocation, mainly due to the assistance provided for them. Indian Control of Indian Education was an example of policy to be followed by the government in order to enable the indigenous people integrate into society. Effective reconciliation also requires strong leadership skills, so one can lead and help people to accommodate. Therefore, there must be at least three levels of fostering reconciliation: social, governmental and psychological.

References

Hill, K. (2017). Prevalence, experiences, and characteristics of children and youth who enter foster care through voluntary placement agreements. Children and Youth Services Review, 74, 62-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.01.025

McGarty, C. (2014). Twenty Years after Genocide: The Role of Psychology in the Reconciliation and Reconstruction Process in Rwanda. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 2(1), 377-386. http://dx.doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v2i1.449