A father and son, Dickie Yuzicapi Sr. and Dickie Jr., are working together to break down intergenerational trauma stemming from residential schools.
In a new podcast that launched on Sept. 30, Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the two have a conversation, as the teenaged Junior asks his dad about his lived experiences.
Yuzicapi Sr. is a residential school survivor, and for him, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is about acknowledging survivors and hearing their stories.
That is why he decided to start the podcast, Hoksheda, which in Dakota means shield.
“I’m doing this to show my son everything that we went through and teach the history of our family to him. And to also open it up to everybody so that they can take the time to listen to it and learn from it,” Yuzicap Sr. said.
For Yuzicapi Jr., the day is for healing.
“It’s like finally breathing after being underwater for a minute. It feels nice, like we’ve done it, we’ve made it up, we can now breathe,” he said.
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For Yuzicapi Sr. there will be no holding back when talking to his son about his time in residential schools, and the lingering effects it has had.
“You know, I’ve seen friends take their own lives on more than one occasion, so it had to be bad enough for them to do that. At night there were things walking around. There were ghosts. I’m being honest, it happened. Daytime was a school, nighttime was a nightmare,” he said.
With the podcast, both father and son want to help break the cycle of intergenerational trauma among Indigenous people in Canada.
“Doesn’t matter if it’s a soldier dealing with PTSD or people dealing with residential school, it’s a cycle, it keeps repeating on and on and on. And that’s why me, my father and many other people are trying to break the cycle,” Yuzicapi Jr. said.
The Hoksheda podcast can be found on Spotify, Apple podcasts, Stitcher and wherever you find your podcasts.
The Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419) is available 24 hours a day for anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of their residential school experience.
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