The article “Healing the American Indian Soul Wound” by Duran et al. and excerpt from Brave Heart’s “The Historical Trauma Response” address the concepts of “historical trauma” and “soul wound”, which are synonyms and refer to traumatic events in the history of American Indian people. When look at the historical context preceding those events, Duran and others state that European arrivals used ‘treaty-making’ strategy to cover their discrimination and suppression of the Natives under “legal and political relationship” (Duran et al. 343). Duran and Brave Heart differentiated six steps of historical trauma, such as First Contact, Economic Competition, Invasion War Period, Subjugation and Reservation Period, Boarding School Period and Force relocation and termination Period (Duran et al. 343, 344). Within these phases, Indians were killed by military forces, displaced from their home areas, forced to live in reservations while their children were taken to boarding schools and forbidden to practice in any way their native culture, often chained and beaten (Duran et al. 344).
These traumatic events are much more global than the life of one person or even one generation (Duran et al. 342). Furthermore, they have long-lasting consequences, called historical trauma response. It includes self-destructive behavior, anxiety, depression and identity confusion experienced by Holocaust survivors and their descendants (Brave Heart 7, Duran et al. 342, 343). Moreover, researchers identified such concept within the response as “survivor’s child complex”. It refers to guild before their ancestors, ‘obligation to share ancestral pain’ and the perception of the world as hostile and dangerous (Duran et al. 342). A vivid example of this complex is presented at the beginning of Brave Heart’s article. The author quotes a Lakota woman who shares her grief. The woman says she cannot separate herself from the pain of the past and feels herself responsible for it (Brave Heart 7).
One of the other sad occurrences as a response to historical legacy was abuse of alcohol by Natives. In 1984 they were dying because of it at the rate 30 per 100,000, which is many times higher than in the other races. The statistics for suicide in reservations was even more devastating – 70.3 per 100,000 of inhabitants (Duran et al. 346) All these, as well as high percentage of domestic violence, no doubt can be attributed to the unresolved trauma of Holocaust, as those tragic events created the feeling in Indians of “how unworthy they were of life” (Duran et al. 347). Another problem included physical health issues that Indians have been experiencing since the times of reservations, such as high levels of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and other serious chronic diseases (Duran et al. 347).
The two articles give a clear idea of the tragedy Native Americans have experienced then, and what is more, have been experiencing till now. The historical trauma response keeps this community from moving forward and living complete and happy lives. While unfortunately it cannot be changed what had already happened, the society can and should contribute to the recovery of the Native Americans from the terrors of the past. Even though federal government has been trying to address the current social problems with their policies, Duran believes it has been highly not effective (Duran et al. 348). The policymakers do not assess and analyze the data on what really the Natives need. This is well illustrated by the fact that the government leaned towards Western medical model for dealing with trauma consequences instead of considering traditional therapies; in addition, for the Indian Health Service programs non-Indians are hired, who for some reasons think they know what Indians need (Duran et al. 349). According to the study conducted by Brave Heart – Jordan, it would be beneficial to educate Natives about historical trauma and its post-affects. Moreover, they should be able to share it with others of a similar background. All in all, the study proved that historical trauma interventions showed positive results (Duran et al. 351).
I can of course accuse now cruel and greedy the European arrival and Americans of the previous centuries were, but it wouldn’t make any difference. I believe each of those who read the above articles or any similar ones understands that what had happened to American Indians is unjustifiable and nothing like that should ever happen again. I would rather like to mention that I appreciate Duran and Brave Heart for creating the awareness about the ongoing issues that still can be influenced. I was also very glad to learn that the methods the authors are using in their practice with the Native Americans, such as group interventions and soul-wound workshops, show good results. I believe the information about historical trauma response and suggestions how to help to overcome it is useful and important to know. Therefore, it should be distributed in the society, especially in the areas where there is a high percentage of Native American inhabitants. It is up to them whether to follow their traditions or to adapt to a modern culture, but in any case, their choice should be accepted and respected.
Works Cited:
Brave Heart, Maria Yellow Horse. “The Historical Trauma Response Among Natives: A Lakota Illustration”. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs Volume 35.1 (2003). Web.Duran, Eduardo, Duran, Bonnie, Brave Heart, Maria Yellow Horse, & Davis, Susan Yellow
Horse. “Healing the American Indian Soul Wound.” International Handbook of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma. Ed. Y. Danieli. Springer US. 1998. 341-354.
