Historic Trauma and Aboriginal Healing
by Cynthia C. Wesley-Esquimaux, Ph.D. and Magdalena Smolewski, Ph.D.
by Cynthia C. Wesley-Esquimaux, Ph.D. and Magdalena Smolewski, Ph.D.
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Chapter 2<br />
All these persistent changes in the social structure of <strong>Aboriginal</strong> societies had profound psychological<br />
effects on the social psyche of the people, which included social fatalism (the world was approached<br />
with distrust) <strong>and</strong> impoverishment of communication (there was no connection between <strong>Aboriginal</strong><br />
people <strong>and</strong> the world outside). Being depersonalized as a social <strong>and</strong> cultural entity, having lost their<br />
social autonomy, their sense of social integrity <strong>and</strong> inter-dependence, without any semblance of social<br />
control, <strong>Aboriginal</strong> people became objects of non-<strong>Aboriginal</strong> constructions of the otherness. Being<br />
isolated from meaningful contacts with the world, cut off from their own traditional social meanings,<br />
resulted in social depersonalization that, according to Cattell <strong>and</strong> colleagues, is characterized by “feelings<br />
of unreality in reference to the self, the external world, or the passage of time; feelings of unreality or<br />
detachment, <strong>and</strong> loss of affective response” (1963:88-100).<br />
Psychologists agree that severe stress, caused by a traumatic event (military combat or other catastrophe)<br />
can be a predisposing factor to a personality disorder. Dissociated states can occur in people who have<br />
been subjected to periods of prolonged <strong>and</strong> intense coercive persuasion (e.g., brainwashing, thought<br />
reform, or indoctrination while the captive of terrorists or cultists). In children, dissociated states may<br />
occur following physical abuse or trauma. The course of the disorder is generally chronic with a psychoactive<br />
substance use disorder as a complication. If it occurs primarily in identity, the person’s customary<br />
identity is temporarily forgotten, <strong>and</strong> a new identity may be assumed or imposed (American Psychiatric<br />
Association, 1994). When translating psychological findings to social contexts, one can clearly delineate<br />
the process of social identity dissociation in which the <strong>Aboriginal</strong> social self was forced into invisibility<br />
for generations to come.<br />
Late Period - Cultural Oppression - Psychological Area of Impact<br />
When loss is converted into absence, one faces the impasse of endless melancholy,<br />
impossible mourning <strong>and</strong> interminable aporia [sic] in which any process of working<br />
through the past <strong>and</strong> its historical losses is foreclosed or prematurely aborted (LaCapra,<br />
1999:2).<br />
It is very difficult to envision the incredible loss that <strong>Aboriginal</strong> people experienced after years of physical<br />
<strong>and</strong> cultural destruction. What is a society to do when it loses its collective behavioural rules, its social<br />
structure, <strong>and</strong> its collective cultural memory that shape how the meanings of past, present <strong>and</strong> future<br />
are being internalized <strong>and</strong> externalized for the generations to come? What about people (children,<br />
adults <strong>and</strong> elders) who are embedded in their memory-less, void <strong>and</strong> hollow social post-trauma milieu,<br />
in the absent past, in the ambiguous present <strong>and</strong> in their depersonalized future? How can people begin<br />
life again in such circumstances, with their memories dormant, silent <strong>and</strong> almost fossilized in time,<br />
with their inner collective gaze fixed on the tragedy that once happened <strong>and</strong> with all other horizons of<br />
hope blurred beyond recognition? As Wig (2001) proposes, psychological symptoms are very common<br />
among the survivors of disasters. The symptoms are often serious <strong>and</strong> last a long time, disrupting life’s<br />
routine <strong>and</strong> causing considerable suffering. The immediate reactions to disaster are most disturbing.<br />
One … [may have] suffered physical injuries … [may have been] exposed to extreme<br />
danger, [may have] witnessed death of dear <strong>and</strong> near ones or [may have] seen mass<br />
deaths <strong>and</strong> destruction. During a disaster, one experiences the feeling of helplessness.<br />
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