Running head: NATIVES EXPERIENCE

Natives Experience

Student Name:

University:

Course:

Lecturer:

Date:
NATIVES EXPERIENCE 2

Natives Experience

Impact

Historical trauma is multiple generations trauma encountered by a single cultural, race or ethnic

group. It is linked to major incidents, including slavery, the Holocaust, forced mass relocation,

and the brutal conquest of Native Americans, that suppressed a specific group of people because

of their status as oppressed. Although many may not experience the symptoms of past trauma in

such a population, some may experience impaired general physical and mental wellbeing,

particularly poor self-esteem, distress, self-destructive activities, pronounced tendency for

abusive or offensive behavior, opioid abuse and addiction, and elevated suicide and heart disease

rates (Basset et al., 2012).

If my ethnic community suffered through the same challenges the natives encountered, then, I

would still be deeply influenced emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Power, bravery, and

endurance would always be part of how I would be as a member of the indigenous community.

Given that European immigrants were disturbing and undermining the Native way of life many

years ago, the Native Americans were driven from their territories, prohibited from speaking

their languages or sharing their cultures.  The European introduced diseases such as smallpox

and tuberculosis. Herds of bison have been hunted to the brink of extinction in the Great Plains.

Furthermore, they murdered native men, women, and children. Historical trauma is multiple

generations trauma encountered by a single cultural, race or ethnic group. It is linked to major

incidents, including slavery, the Holocaust, forced mass relocation, and the brutal conquest of

Native Americans, that suppressed a specific group of people because of their status as

oppressed. Although many may not experience the symptoms of past trauma in such a
NATIVES EXPERIENCE 3

population, some may experience impaired general physical and mental wellbeing, particularly

poor self-esteem, distress, self-destructive activities, pronounced tendency for abusive or

offensive behavior, opioid abuse and addiction, and elevated suicide and heart disease rates.

I'm reasonably convinced that the historical trauma which is the accumulated mental and

psychological harm over one's lifespan and from down the generations after loss of lives, land

and important facets of society is one of the greatest consequences I will have until now

(Grayshield et al., 2015). It is no mystery that I will face major problems, including poverty,

crime, ill health, suicide, lack of employment, addiction, and despair, similarly to the many

native peoples.

These problems, in part, would be indicators of residual historical trauma. The definition of

historical trauma aims to convey "how for generations the consequences of cumulative trauma

such as genocide and discrimination can persist." It would be part of my daily life, a

representation of many Native Americans, to think about death, tension, sadness, injustice, and

cultural displacement. I will remain in the shadow of memory as a generation of Native

Americans, and this would inflict tremendous stress on the body and mind.

Healing

Since I could not dwell on the past forever, I would initiate the healing process meant to keep me

moving on (Weaver and Congress, 2010). For the healing process, it would be essential for me

not to speak about past suffering so that I can be upset or so that I can become a victim's person-

although all of these solutions are plausible in the light of the brutality faced by indigenous

people. I would like to learn about this history, though, and want to learn how this history of

violence and suffering today impacts aboriginal peoples, including me. It would help me to see
NATIVES EXPERIENCE 4

my grandparents and parents in the wounds that I bear, to recognize this past. If I became

conscious of my habits of actions, my family dynamics, my emotional attitudes, and where they

came from, then I would have the ability to improve and support other recover.

I would pursue the process of getting away from the historical sadness that consists of facing the

historical trauma first. Second, grasping the pain. Third, relieving the agony of the suffering of

history, and fourth, embracing the trauma. I will like to face my hurt at this moment, to become

mindful of my habits, to relieve the pain of my wounds, and to choose a healthier future for my

children. With that, I'm completely confident that I could get up and overcome the trauma cycles.
NATIVES EXPERIENCE 5

Reference

Bassett, D., Tsosie, U., & Nannauck, S. (2012). “Our culture is medicine”: perspectives of native

healers on posttrauma recovery among American Indian and Alaska Native patients. The

Permanente Journal, 16(1), 19.

Grayshield, L., Rutherford, J. J., Salazar, S. B., Mihecoby, A. L., & Luna, L. L. (2015).

Understanding and healing historical trauma: The perspectives of Native American

elders. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 37(4), 295-307.

Weaver, H., & Congress, E. (2010). The ongoing impact of colonization: Man-made trauma and

Native Americans.