As an Ilokano language teacher at the university and secondary level, Julius Soria has made it a practice to survey his Ilokano students on their reasons for taking his course to get an indication of the students' language history background and ideas for ongoing curricular innovation in heritage language teaching. His students' responses inspired…

This paper is based on the experiences of the author as a student, educator, and Filipina/o. The author explores the multiple traumas in the community that he grew up in that impacted his experiences as well as those of his family and the connection of those traumas to colonialism. The author also examines the possibilities for healing from those…