The Oka Legacy is a documentary representing how people, their communities, and culture, bring everyone together. It helps the younger kids in the community grow and feel part of a bigger family, with others around them supporting them and their beliefs. Being tied to a culture helps an individual grow with more support and positivity around them. The Oka Legacy is a good representation of how this works, especially through all the violence and fighting.
The small town of Kanehsatake, located in quebec, is populated by many aboriginal people who are part of the Mohawk tribe. Being a young kid, and growing up in such an environment and structure that the Mohawk people believe in, can really help an individual grow. They get to grow up learning from not only their parents and siblings, but also the elders and chief of the people. This is an environment where everyone believes in the same system, beliefs, religion, and share the same music and dances. This really helps someone who’s young, feel tied to a culture and part of a bigger family. Everyone knows everyone in these types of communities and that gives the opportunity for everyone to learn from each other and feel welcomed and wanted. For young children, cultural identity is extremely important for even their mental health and wellbeing. Having a good sense of their peoples history and traditions can go a long way in developing a young child. This is because it gives them a good sense of belonging and good self esteem that supports their overall wellbeing.
Young children need to be able to know and define their own identity, and nothing develops that better than being a part of a tightly knitted community. The reason a small community is so good at raising a child, is because everyone has a part in it, and it is the most important thing to them. The most important thing to a community is the children. Elders, parents and adults will keep the children safe at all costs, because they are the future of their people. So to develop their beliefs and help them realize their own self and identity early impacts not only the child, but the future of their people.
Being involved in a culture like the Mohawk people, can make people feel as one. When the Mohawk people fought back against a golf course being extended into their land, they fought the decision together, and eventually overcame it. This united aboriginals all over the country who have been fighting the government for hundreds of years, for their land and resources that were rightfully theirs. Being tied to a culture or community like this, where everyone fights for eachother and protects each other like they were family can help them feel safe. For someone part of a culture like this, it sets a good example and gives them hope for their own community. It allows them to feel part of something bigger, and fight against the government who's been taking their land for hundreds of years. So for someone to be apart of that it gives them role models and others to look up to. It inspires individuals to rise up and take action, and to help them find themselves and who they are.
A culture doesn’t have to be defined by racial or ethnic background. It can be identified by where a person’s heart sits, or where they feel the most understood or the best sense of belonging, and being apart of a culture like this allows one to do so. We can even relate this to other smaller cultures. Like those who like a certain type of music or those who like a certain sport or sports team. Even though not everyone knows each other, they will still respect and help each other because they have the same beliefs. They will stick up for one another. When people share the same culture and beliefs, it becomes easier to talk to, heal with, and relate to them.
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