Historic Trauma and Aboriginal Healing

Chapter 3
A New Model: Historic Trauma Transmission (HTT)
This study proposes a new model of historic trauma transmission to create a better understanding of the
aetiology of social and cultural diffusion that devastated Aboriginal communities for so many years. In
this model, historic trauma is understood as a cluster of traumatic events and as a causal factor operating
in many different areas of impact; not a disease itself. Hidden collective memories of this trauma, or a
collective non-remembering, is passed from generation to generation, just as the maladaptive social and
behavioural patterns are the symptoms of many different social disorders caused by the historic trauma.
According to the proposed model, there is no single historical trauma response (HTR) (proposed by
Yellow Horse Brave Heart); rather, there are different social disorders with respective clusters of symptoms.
Social disorders are understood as repetitive maladaptive social patterns that occur in a group of people
and are associated with a significantly increased risk of suffering, (for example, post-traumatic stress
disorder, disassociative disorders, etc.).
A symptom is understood as a manifestation of maladaptive social patterns, (for example, suicide, domestic
violence, sexual abuse, interpersonal maladjustment). Symptoms are not caused by the trauma itself;
the historic trauma disrupts adaptive social and cultural patterns and transforms them into maladaptive
ones that manifest themselves in symptoms. In short, historic trauma causes deep breakdowns in social
functioning that may last for many years, decades or even generations. The clusters of symptoms associated
with specific disorders that manifest themselves as a result of historic trauma may be passed to next
generations in a form of socially learned behavioural patterns. In a sense, symptoms that parents
exhibit (family violence, sexual abuse) act as a trauma and disrupt adaptive social adjustments in their
children. In turn, these children internalize these symptoms and, not to trivialize, catch a “trauma
virus” and fall ill to one of the social disorders. In the next generation, the process perpetuates itself. In
this sense, White Hat (The Circle, 2001) was correct in stating the trauma continues: the trauma,
understood as a relentless causal agent. Yellow Horse Brave Heart (1999) describes it as:
With the break-up of the extended family, many indigenous women found they had no
role models to teach them parenting skills. As many Native people were raised in boarding
schools, the traditional roles and ways of parenting by both Native men and women
were lost. The attitudes and norms, which then sprang up in parenting styles, such as
harsh physical punishment, emotional abandonment, lack of parental involvement, and
insensitivity to children’s needs added to imbalance in the family. As generations
continued with these ways of parenting, the trauma was passed down until many believe
it has become a cycle of despair and desperation (1999:70).
The model describes possible social and psychological manifestations of historic trauma, bringing together
findings from recent psychological and sociological research. Next, it describes the modes and channels
of transmission through which the trauma experienced by previous generations of Aboriginal people
enters their “here-and-now.” Finally, it discusses the possible implications the model may have on
devising more culturally-appropriate healing strategies for Aboriginal people in Canada.
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