Meagan Gerrard

Title:  First Nations Stolen Generations Intergenerational Trauma and Healing

Summary: This is a joint project between Meagan Gerrard and Alex McWhirter. Coota Girls Aboriginal Corporation (CGAC) has found that there is a lack of detailed data specific to intergenerational trauma for Stolen Generations descendants. To address this gap and support our work in healing for Stolen Generations descendants, the project aims to investigate the impacts of Intergenerational trauma and the healing journeys.

This work will offer an in-depth analysis specific to the experience of our descendants. CGAC is run by a Board of Coota Girls Survivors and descendants. It currently has a membership of over 300 Coota Girls Survivors and descendants, with diverse and interconnected stories of the impacts of intergenerational trauma and the path to healing.

As such, the Corporation has a unique opportunity to look at descendants of former residents of the former Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls (1912-1969), and make a significant contribution to the existing knowledge of the impacts of intergenerational trauma and healing practices.

The project aims to provide empirical evidence that the complex trauma of forcible removal does in fact continue to impact generation after generation if healing does not occur. It aims to measure the effectiveness of current healing practices, initiatives, and models to determine what creates meaningful change and healing for Stolen Generations descendants.