Disenfranchised grief: an examination of Urban Indigenous experiences of grief and bereavement


Audrey Medwayosh, University of Alberta

Kenneth Doka coined the term “disenfranchised grief” in 1989, to describe loss that is not acknowledged as grievable by wider society. In more recent years, Doka and others in his field have broadened this definition, to consider the possible links between trauma and disenfranchised grief. Indigenous People whose lands are now occupied by Canada have had their traditional lifeways disrupted by colonization, a process that remains ongoing. As a result of colonial attempts at cultural and physical genocide via the Indian Act, Indian Residential Schools, and multifarious child welfare interventions, Indigenous People have faced many traumas. These traumas are intergenerational, and actively present in daily life. Indigenous People are overrepresented in statistics on homicide and suicide, and our life expectancy is 15 years less than the non-Indigenous Canadian population. This paper looks at urban Indigenous Peoples’ experience of grief and bereavement in Edmonton, Canada, from my thesis research. I argue that Indigenous grief has become disenfranchised. Our grief comes from many sources and spans many generations. The sources of our grief are not often readily apparent to the wider public. There is a lack of understanding around how and why we grieve. In turn, this can impact understandings of how complex Indigenous grief is, opening potential for it to be overlooked or misunderstood by both professionals and the public. My work engages with Doka’s theory of disenfranchised grief to show how this theory is applicable to my findings, and where there remain gaps in the literature that need addressing. Adequately addressing Indigenous grief is an important step in healing and achieving equity for Indigenous People. 

This paper will be presented at the following session: