Transcript Historical Trauma and Multi-cultural Treatment

Developed by
Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart, PhD,
Columbia University, NYC
President/Director, The Takini Network
Ray Daw, MA
Regional Director
Edventures Group
edventures.org
Ottenbacher: Brave Heart 3
Major Hypothesis:
I.
II.
III.
Education increases awareness of
trauma
Sharing affects provides relief
Grief resolution through collective
mourning/healing creates
*positive group identity
*commitment to community
Purpose:
Identifying with victimization
collective memory/healthy ego
Historical Trauma
Definition: The collective emotional and psychological injury both over
the life span and across generations, resulting from a cataclysmic
history of genocide (Dr. Maria Yellowhorse-Braveheart)
Causes:
Effects:
• Legacy of genocide • Unsettled trauma
• Increase of child
abuse and domestic
violence
“Intergenerational Trauma and Historical Grief in American Indians: A Review of Conceptualizations
from Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart”, powerpoint, Melanie Ottenbacher


Historical trauma is cumulative emotional and
psychological wounding over the lifespan and
across generations, emanating from massive
group trauma
Historical unresolved grief is the grief that
accompanies the trauma.
(Brave Heart, 1995,1998, 1999, 2000)
© Takini Network
Confronting historical trauma
 Understanding the trauma
 Releasing our pain
 Transcending the trauma

© Takini Network
Ottenbacher.ppt
1st contact



Life shock
Genocide
No time for grief
Economic Competition

Sustenance loss
(physical/spiritual)
Invasion War Period


Extermination
Refugee symptoms
Subjugation and Reservation
Period


Confined / translocated
Lack of security
Boarding School Period

Destroyed family system
Forced Relocation and
Termination Period


Transfer to urban areas
Prohibition of religious freedom
Colonization
1. Introduce


Disease
Alcohol
2. Main traumatic events


Assassination of
Tatanka Iyotake
(Sitting Bull)
Wounded Knee
Massacre
Boarding school
1. 1st school: Pennsylvania
 Beaten
 Raped
 Native language prohibited
2. Lasting effect
 Ill-prepared for parenting
Relocation & Assimilation




Racism/ viewed as 2nd class
Black Hills Confiscation
Spiritual prohibition
Change of Government
Imprisonment of tribes after
conquest
Repression of indigenous practices,
beliefs, language, and identity
Paternalism by
governmental institutions,
religious organizations,
and reorganization of
established governance.
Poor affect tolerance
Psychic numbing
Hypervigilance
Substance abuse
Fixation to trauma
Depression
Death identity
Asking

•

Native Americans as a group are at increased risk of
injury, but Native American males are at even greater
risk for many types of injuries. Compared to their female
counterparts, Native American males ages 20 years and
older are (CDC 2003) twice as likely to die from a motor
vehicle crash.
nearly four times more likely to die from pedestrianrelated injury.
nearly twice as likely to die from fire and burn injuries.

five times more likely to drown.

four times more likely to commit suicide.

three times more likely to be murdered.


A person has a higher risk of suicide if their parent,
close relative or close friend has taken their own life.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/nativeamerican
s.htm
high
III
High, Low
High Addiction
Low Mental Illness
IV
High, High
High Addiction
High Mental Illness
Co-occurring
Disorder
low
 Mental
Illness
high
II
Low, high
Low Addiction
High Mental Illness
I
Low, Low
Low Addiction
Low Mental Illness
low
Raymond Daw Sept 2007
14
Acculturation
Low Indigenous acculturation &
high Eurocentric acculturation
low
high
Eurocentric
Indigenous
high
low
High Indigenous acculturation &
Low Eurocentric acculturation
16









Disease Model-based
AA Philosophy driven
12 Step design
Confrontational styles
Morals driven
Individual focused
Recovery oriented
Relapses consider bad
Indigenous approaches not considered
Substance abuse or
misuse is not
condoned within the
indigenous belief
system.
The norm is for respect
yourself by not using
substances that are not
indigenous or
acceptable to the tribe
(Doo dilzin da: abuse of
the natural world).







High rates of abstinence
Land base (reservations)
Extended families
Indigenous practices
Strong ethnic identity
Growing middle class
History of racism (segregation)
What Matters
Talking Circle
• Increasing American
Indian identity
• Decreasing structural
poverty
Doing so will decrease
the probability of
alcohol symptoms and
drug use.
AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES UTILIZATION, PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGY, RISK AND PROTECTIVE FACTORS PROJECT (AISUPERPFP) , University of Colorado at Denver and Health Services Center

[Induced Self Negation------------Self Affirmation ]

Mystification----------------------------------Education

Dependency-----------------------------Self Reliance

Subordination-------------------Equal Status/Rights

Powerlessness-------------------Self Determination


Takini is a Native American non-profit
organization, designed to address healing
from historical trauma and historical
unresolved grief among the Indigenous
people.
Takini provides therapeutic work,
prevention, research, publication and
community education.
Maria Yellowhorse-Braveheart; [email protected])

Dr. Maria Yellowhorse-Braveheart
Phone: (212) 851-2243
Email: [email protected]
Raymond Daw, MA
[email protected]
Cell; (505) 879-0167
© Takini Network