Historic Trauma and Aboriginal Healing

Executive Summary
Finally, a new model of historic trauma transmission (HTT) is proposed to create a better understanding
of the aetiology of social and cultural diffusion that disrupted Aboriginal communities for so many
years. In this model, historic trauma is understood as a cluster of traumatic events and as a disease itself.
Hidden collective memories of this trauma, or a collective non-remembering, is passed from generation
to generation, as are the maladaptive social and behavioural patterns that are symptoms of many social
disorders caused by historic trauma. There is no “single” historic trauma response; rather, there are
different social disorders with respective clusters of symptoms. HTT disrupts adaptive social and cultural
patterns and transforms them into maladaptive ones, which manifest themselves into symptoms of
social disorder. In short, historic trauma causes deep breakdowns in social functioning that may last for
many years, decades and even generations.
The connectedness of Aboriginal people to their lands, their natural and spiritual environments, their
systems of social and cultural action and economic practice are addressed throughout this study. One
of the main considerations of this study relates to the inter-connectedness and intra-connectedness of
Aboriginal people and how that connectedness contributes not only to their ability to maintain cultural
and traditional values in the face of pressures from colonial and assimilationist tactics, but also makes
Aboriginal people more susceptible to the deeper feeling of grief and trauma in their day to day lives.
The final words have been given to the Elders. Also included is a short section on their memories and
understandings of how the past intersects with the present and the importance of keeping traditions
alive in Aboriginal homes and hearts.
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