Shivathmika (Shiva) Suresh Kumar, "Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Facility for the Ucluelet and Toquaht Nations"
How can architecture initiate a dialogue about intergenerational trauma in First Nations communities?
The following thesis is brought to you by the Gradual Civilization Act (1857), the Potlatch Law and Section 141 (1885), Indian Act, Reserves, Royal Proclamation (1763); the Residential School System, the Sixties Scoop, and the White Paper (1969).
A child born today can be affected by laws written in 1857. This thesis aims to study how the architecture of child and adolescent psychiatric facilities might evolve to better cater to First Nation communities. This young demographic needs to heal in an environment that engages their historic and cultural roots through knowledge gained from elders in their community, a space where they might begin to reconcile past actions with guidance from their nation's principles and somatic psychotherapy. Unlike the current therapy system, healing in a familiar physiographic environment that embodies these principles will yield space for the child or adolescent to build a stronger and more resilient identity.