Historical Trauma and Native Americans
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Strength, courage, and resilience have always been a part of who we are as Native peoples.
But many, many years ago, the Native way of life was disrupted and destroyed by European settlers. Native Americans were driven from their lands, forbidden to speak their languages or express their cultures. Diseases like smallpox and tuberculosis were introduced. In the Great Plains, herds of bison were hunted to near-extinction. Native men, women, and children were killed. Tribe was intentionally pitted against tribe, and the lack of Native unity made it easier for the settlers to take the lands.
Then Native children were taken from their families and placed in far away boarding schools. In these schools, they faced abuse of every kind. They were taught the white man’s ways, they were taught to speak only English, and they were taught to stifle their Native culture.
Worst of all, they were taught to be ashamed of being Native.
What is historical trauma?
According to Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart, historical trauma is the “cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over one’s lifetime and from generation to generation following loss of lives, land and vital aspects of culture.”
How historical trauma gets passed down
It’s no secret that many Native communities are facing serious difficulties. Poverty, violence, poor health, suicide, unemployment, addiction, and hopelessness are widespread.
In part, these difficulties are symptoms of unresolved historical trauma. The concept of historical trauma attempts to convey “how the effects of collective injuries such as genocide and discrimination can linger for generations.”
Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart is a Hunkpapa, Oglala Lakota and a professor at the University of New Mexico. She is the first person to develop the theory of historical unresolved grief and the first to describe historical trauma in such a rich and comprehensive way.
Brave Heart and other researchers' work on historical trauma suggests that even though these traumas happened long ago in history, they are lived out and experienced again and again in each subsequent generation.
In one study conducted in 2004, a group of researchers surveyed adult Native Americans who had children and developed something called the Historical Loss Scale.
Here’s what they found:
These participants were generations removed from many of the historical traumas that had been inflicted on the Native American people. However, 36% had daily thoughts about the loss of traditional language in their community and 34% experienced daily thoughts about the loss of culture. Additionally, 24% reported feeling angry regarding historical losses, and 49% provided they had disturbing thoughts related to these losses. Almost half (46%) of the participants had daily thoughts about alcohol dependency and its impact on their community. Further, 22% of the respondents indicated they felt discomfort with White people, and 35% were distrustful of the intentions of the dominant White culture due to the historical losses the Native American people had suffered. (Whitbeck et al., 2004)
As the results from this study suggest, daily thoughts about loss, stress, grief, discrimination, and cultural displacement are part of the lives of many Native Americans. Generations of Native Americans live under the shadow of history, and this causes enormous stress on the body and mind.
Healing from history
Why do we still talk about this old history? Does it do us any good to dwell on the past?
Are Native Americans just supposed to “move on”?
It is important to talk about historical trauma not so that we can be angry or so that we can become a people of victims—although both of these responses are legitimate in the face of the horrors Native people have experienced.
We talk about this history because we need to understand how this history of genocide and trauma is impacting Native communities today. Understanding this history allows us to see our grandparents and parents in the wounds that we carry.
When we grow in awareness of our behavior patterns, our family relationships, our mental attitudes and where they have come from, we have the chance to change and to help others change.
Dr. Brave Heart talks about the process of moving forward from historical grief: “First is confronting the historical trauma. Second is understanding the trauma. Third is releasing the pain of historical trauma. Fourth is transcending the trauma.”
Today, when we choose to confront our hurt, to become aware of our patterns, to release the pain of our hurts, and to choose a better future for our children, we can rise up and transcend the cycles of trauma.
Native Hope is proud to stand alongside many brave Native individuals and communities who are confronting history, sharing their stories, and experiencing hope and healing. Subscribe to our blog to stay updated on stories of hope from Native communities.
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Topics: Health and Wellness, Culture and Identity
HOW TRAUMA GETS PASSED
DOWN THROUGH GENERATIONS
“I knew growing up that at some point I was supposed to be the things I learned in the stories: compassionate, honorable, and brave, and so forth. I knew this because the storytellers lived the lessons they imparted in their stories, and practiced what they preached: they were compassionate, they were honorable, and they were brave and wise.” - Joseph Marshall
This page explores how trauma passes down from generation to generation, why it is so difficult to break free from destructive family patterns, and how people can embrace their stories in order to find healing.
Here’s Why It’s Important to Talk about Trauma
For many people, there is a challenging gap between the person they are and the person they want to be or feel called to be.
This tension is most obvious in people and communities with self-destructive habits. On one hand, there is a genuine desire for change, responsibility, and improvement. On the other hand, there are patterns of relating, thinking, and behaving that seem nearly impossible to break. There are also major social and cultural barriers to overcome.
It’s no secret that Native American communities on many reservations face big challenges:
- Addiction,
- Abuse,
- Poor health outcomes,
- Lack of access to quality education,
- Widespread unemployment,
- Poor mental health,
- And much more.
When parts of society who have not experienced trauma, poverty, nor generational oppression look at the challenges facing minority or impoverished groups, many people choose to blame the marginalized group.
It’s as if they want to say, “Well, yes maybe bad things happened in the past to your people, but look at the life choices you make right now. Those choices are your fault and your problem.”
This way of looking at the world shows an insensitivity and lack of understanding about how trauma is passed down through generations, influencing people and communities long after it has taken place.
Recent scientific advances in the study of epigenetics and psychology show more and more clearly how traumatic experiences shape the lives of not only the people who experience them but also their children and children’s children.
Understanding How Trauma Is Ignored and Buried
A large part of the reason that trauma is left out of conversations about how to change lives for the better is because many victims of generational or historical trauma don’t understand their struggles in these terms.
Instead they find themselves deep into cycles of destructive behavior or destructive thinking and then blame themselves for getting there in the first place, increasing their own sense of shame and hopelessness.
There are doubts and conversations that play out often in the heads of those who suffer from psychological and emotional wounds.
“Maybe I’m exaggerating. Why do I have to be so dramatic about what happened? I should be able to move past this.”
“Why am I so bothered by this? I should be tougher and more resilient.”
“I’m hopeless. I’ll never be able to quit doing X, I’ll always be a failure.”
“It’s not like my childhood was THAT bad, it could have been much worse.”
“What happened was my fault in a lot of ways. I should have been stronger, more careful, less needy, etc. I must have deserved it.”
Thoughts like these pass through the minds of those who have been hurt by abuse, addiction, trauma, emotional and physical neglect.
These thoughts are lies. They are lies we tell ourselves about our own story. One of the most tragic things we do to ourselves is second guess our own hurts and wounds.
Do Native Americans Carry the Heavy Weight of Historical Trauma?
Historical Trauma—Defined
Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart defines historical trauma as “the cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over one’s lifetime and from generation to generation following loss of lives, land and vital aspects of culture.”
Based on this definition, many researchers, sociologists, and psychologists have discussed historical trauma as a central experience for marginalized groups like Native Americans, the Jewish people, and others.
Research on Historical Loss and Native Americans Today
Brave Heart and other researchers' work suggests that historical trauma is lived out and experienced again and again in each subsequent generation, even if the generation is far removed from the original trauma.
In one study conducted in 2004, a group of researchers surveyed adult Native Americans who had children and developed something called the Historical Loss Scale.
Here’s what they found:
• 36% of those surveyed had daily thoughts about the loss of traditional language in their community
• 34% experienced daily thoughts about the loss of culture
• 49% provided they had disturbing thoughts related to these losses
• 35% were distrustful of the intentions of the dominant White culture due to the historical losses the Native American people had suffered (Whitbeck et al., 2004)
As the results from this study suggest, daily thoughts about loss, stress, grief, discrimination, and cultural displacement pervade the lives of many Native Americans. Generations of Native Americans live under the shadow of history, and this causes enormous stress on the body and mind.
What Role Does Historical Trauma Play in the Lives of Native Americans?
For many Native Americans and for any other impacted groups, it can be difficult to understand what role, if any, historical trauma has played in their lives. Can an individual claim historical trauma and use this as the reason or explanation for their own sorrows, wounds, or destructive patterns of behavior?
There is no simple answer to this question. Every person is responsible for their actions and choices and has the capacity to write their own personal story even if the story of their people is a challenging one.
However, we at Native Hope think historical trauma is worth talking and thinking about because it helps articulate the unique challenges that historically marginalized and discriminated groups are working against. There are aspects of every human life that an individual does not choose for themselves. No one can choose what family they are born into, what struggles their relatives face, the socio-economic status of their community, and many other things. Meanwhile, both research-based evidence and anecdotal evidence tells us that these unchosen factors have significant impact on people’s lives.
For people who repeatedly experience loss, sorrow, difficult family settings, addiction, or destructive behavior, it can be liberating to realize that their struggles are not purely the result of their own choices or flaws, but may be connected to historical and cultural patterns of discrimination and trauma.
Hopefully, this realization empowers people to understand where they have come from in order to heal and then choose a new path of personal freedom, peace, and hope.
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Epigenetics: How Biology Contributes to Cycles of Trauma
So why is it that the experiences of parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents can loom so large in the life of the next generation? How can people live with pain that they didn’t personally experience?
An emerging field of science called epigenetics is exploring the complicated question of how trauma is passed down from generation to generation.
The study of epigenetics—the expression of genes—has shown a growing amount of “evidence at the cellular level that powerfully stressful environmental conditions can leave an imprint or “mark” on the epigenome (cellular genetic material) that can be carried into future generations with devastating consequences.”
In other words, the stressors experienced by a mother during pregnancy impact the child who is entirely dependent on her in the womb. The way she eats, the way she sleeps, the presence or absence of stress hormones in her system, all these things affect her child. An infant with a stressed mother has more difficulty regulating and managing their own stress reactions later in life. Babies can be born with a predisposition to diabetes, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and addictive behaviors simply because of the environmental factors of the mother’s womb.
As Judy Bluehorse Skelton, Adjunct Professor at Portland State University’s Graduate School of Education, explains:
“This history lives on in us. There’s that memory, that physical memory that some have talked about. It lives on at a cellular level – a cellular memory.”
The science of epigenetics is simply describing what can happen to a child in the womb. It doesn’t begin to cover the trauma that can be experienced into childhood and adulthood as children are raised in homes with existing cycles of negative behavior.
Although the science of epigenetics is still in its infancy, the research and studies emerging in this field have far-reaching implications for how we think and talk about the impact of generational trauma.
Coming to Terms with Your Past and Your People’s History
The point of talking about historical trauma and how it is passed down is not to encourage Native people to feel hopelessness and despair nor to feel like permanent victims. Quite the opposite.
At Native Hope, we want to encourage people to come to terms with their own stories, their own past. We want you to be able to offer yourself forgiveness and compassion, to understand that much of the difficulty you may face is not your fault.
And now that you know this, you can begin to truly heal and to step into greater freedom, greater hope, greater responsibility to live differently and better than before.
Dr. Maria Brave Heart has expressed it:
“In our view, community healing along with individual and family healing are necessary to thoroughly address historical unresolved grief and its present manifestations. The process is not quick nor is it easy. However, without such a commitment to healing the past, we will not be able to address the resultant trauma and prevent the continuation of such atrocities in the present.”
If you have experienced personal, generational, or historical trauma, you have the opportunity to embrace the reality of your past while re-writing the story of your future.
https://pages.nativehope.com/native-americans-today
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