Historic Trauma and Aboriginal Healing

Chapter 2
awareness and not possessing internalized representations of the dominant culture that could be
manipulated to their benefit, and without a strong representation of their own self-identity, people
become “absent” from their own culture.
Focusing on the Lakota Nation, Weaver and Yellow Horse Brave Heart explain that:
[T]he sense of self, traditionally, is intimately bonded with the group, or the Oyate.
Being Lakota means carrying the welfare of the Oyate in one’s heart, making all decisions
with the well-being of the Oyate in mind, and at times sacrificing oneself for the good
of the Nation. Connection with all of creation, both the present universe and the spirits
of those who have gone before, is essential to positive self-esteem. The sense of self and
one’s identity does not exist apart from the spiritual world, the Oyate, and all of creation.
To truly be Lakota, one must embrace the values of the Oyate and participate in the
sacred ways and responsibilities (1999:3).
Weaver and Yellow Horse Brave Heart (1999) also state that people identify with ancestors massacred at
Wounded Knee and develop a “victim identity” and identification with the dead. This identification
with dead ancestors may have led many Lakota to feel as if they were dead and may have contributed to
higher rates of suicide. With their original Lakota identity being altered, they incorporated features
from the historical experience of persecution and oppression, including a devalued self-image and victim
status projected onto them by the oppressors.
The Takini Network Inc., a Lakota collective of clinical social workers, addiction counsellors, educators,
community leaders and traditional healers, adopted a definition of historical trauma as cumulative
emotional and psychological wounding spanning generations, which emanates from massive group
trauma (Yellow Horse Brave Heart, 1999), in order to devise proper healing methods for Aboriginal
people. Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart (Lakota), associate professor of social work at the University
of Denver, developed the concepts of historical trauma and historical trauma response (HTR).
According to the HTR theory, a set of behavioural and psychological responses is formed in reaction to
the trauma that a group of people has endured. It is comparable to the survivor syndrome manifested
by Jewish Holocaust survivors and their descendants. The combination of symptoms may show up
differently in communities and individuals, but the roots are still the same, originating from cultural
genocide (Yellow Horse Brave Heart, 1999). According to the theory, HTR symptoms include elevated
suicide rates, depression, self-destructive behaviour, substance abuse, identification with the pain ancestors
endured, fixation to trauma, somatic symptoms that do not have a medical reason, anxiety, guilt and
chronic grief. Yellow Horse Brave Heart states that the symptoms associated with social disorders
related to historical trauma manifest themselves differently with respect to the genders:
As the genocide began, men lost their traditional roles and experienced a sense of failure
as protectors and providers. HTR theorizes that this sense of loss has been transmitted
down through the generations, affecting many generations of Indian men with a deep
sense of pain, anger and powerlessness. These destructive feelings manifest themselves
as violence toward their loved ones, substance abuse, suicide, and an inability to
communicate feelings and experiences. Many Native men adopted the oppressor’s ways
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