Historic Trauma and Aboriginal Healing

Chapter 2
of operating: power through control, intimidation, manipulation, lack of respect for
equality and nurturance of women, abandonment of family and responsibility, and a
lack of honesty. For Native women, the traditional role of educator, healer, nurturer,
head of the home, and sustainers of the family and Nation was gone. Faced with being
victims of abuse and abandonment, women turned to substance abuse, suicide and
hopelessness. In trying to provide for and protect children alone (as well as coping with
traumatic events in their lifetime such as past sexual, physical and emotional abuse),
Native women found themselves and their children in poverty, and many times, unable
to cope with all the stressors involved with going it alone (Yellow Horse Brave Heart,
1999:4)
As Yellow Horse Brave Heart (1999) proposes, an important element in the HTR theory is that the
trauma is transmitted through generations. As descendants of people who have suffered genocide not
only identify with the past, but also emotionally re-experience it in the present. Research also shows
that descendants can have a tremendous loyalty to their ancestors and relatives who suffered and died,
and often find they perpetuate suffering in their own lives as a result.
In the historical trauma response model, a cluster of symptoms characteristic to HTR is very broad and
may suggest many different psychological and social diseases, including post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD). However, according to Cecil White Hat, director of the Chemical Dependency Program at
the Minneapolis American Native Center and representative to the Minnesota American Native Chemical
Dependency Advisory Council:
PTSD and HTR are different … PTSD happens around an event, an event with a
beginning and end. For Native people, the trauma continues. There hasn’t been an
end. It is seen in the racism Native people face every day, and in the ignorance of the
dominant society. It is especially seen in the school systems, the mental and chemical
health systems, and in the lack of appropriate resources which are culturally meaningful
(The Circle, 2001:5).
The Known and the Unknown Genocide
Historic trauma became a part of Aboriginal people’s common experience, covertly shaping individual
lives and futures, and devastating entire communities and regions. Since contact, First Nation people
have experienced several waves of traumatic experience on social and individual levels that have continued
to place enormous strain on the fabric of Aboriginal societies across the continent. Throughout this
report, the term “genocide” is used many times when referring to the Aboriginal people’s experiences in
America. Since psychologists, psychiatrists and anthropologists all agree that victims of intense trauma,
as well as their offspring, show the same emotional responses as the survivors of genocide, it is necessary
to address this issue, anticipating possible controversy over the use of the term “genocide” in the Aboriginal
context. Recently, more and more socio-cultural researchers and historians venture into this delicate
area of study, pointing out that the Aboriginal civilization witnessed many “unknown” or “silent” genocides
that often left various cultural groups badly damaged and even extinct (such was the case with the
Aboriginal population of Tasmania). More researchers dare to use the term genocide; whereas before,
people talked about oppression, relocations, stolen generations, and so on, and risking a strong critique
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