Native American Grief and Loss: Conceptualizations of Disenfranchised Grief and Historical Trauma at Individual and Community Levels

2021 ◽  
pp. 137-150
Author(s):  
Steven R. Byers ◽  
Theresa T. Erdkamp ◽  
Lisa Byers
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Historical Trauma ◽  
Grief And Loss ◽  
Disenfranchised Grief

Addressing Traumatic Stress Among Native American Youth: A Focus on Historical Trauma and Healing

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Goodkind ◽  
Beverly Gorman ◽  
Julia Hess ◽  
Marianna LaNoue ◽  
Lance Freeland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Historical Trauma ◽  
Native American Youth

scholarly journals BODIES DON'T JUST TELL STORIES, THEY TELL HISTORIES

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina L. Walters ◽  
Selina A. Mohammed ◽  
Teresa Evans-Campbell ◽  
Ramona E. Beltrán ◽  
David H. Chae ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Traumatic Events ◽  
Historical Trauma ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Native Communities ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Etiological Agents ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIncreasingly, understanding how the role of historical events and context affect present-day health inequities has become a dominant narrative among Native American communities. Historical trauma, which consists of traumatic events targeting a community (e.g., forced relocation) that cause catastrophic upheaval, has been posited by Native communities and some researchers to have pernicious effects that persist across generations through a myriad of mechanisms from biological to behavioral. Consistent with contemporary societal determinants of health approaches, the impact of historical trauma calls upon researchers to explicitly examine theoretically and empirically how historical processes and contexts become embodied. Scholarship that theoretically engages how historically traumatic events become embodied and affect the magnitude and distribution of health inequities is clearly needed. However, the scholarship on historical trauma is limited. Some scholars have focused on these events as etiological agents to social and psychological distress; others have focused on events as an outcome (e.g., historical trauma response); others still have focused on these events as mechanisms or pathways by which historical trauma is transmitted; and others have focused on historical trauma-related factors (e.g., collective loss) that interact with proximal stressors. These varied conceptualizations of historical trauma have hindered the ability to cogently theorize it and its impact on Native health. The purpose of this article is to explicate the link between historical trauma and the concept of embodiment. After an interdisciplinary review of the “state of the discipline,” we utilize ecosocial theory and the indigenist stress-coping model to argue that contemporary physical health reflects, in part, the embodiment of historical trauma. Future research directions are discussed.

Need for Culturally Responsive Literacy Instruction in Native American Communities

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (14) ◽  
pp. 56-68
Author(s):  
Matthew Gillispie
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Culturally Responsive ◽  
Historical Trauma ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Educational Disparities ◽  
Current Events ◽  
European Colonialism ◽  
Responsive Instruction

Since the time of the European colonialism and Manifest Destiny, all Native American (NA) communities have experienced intergenerational historical trauma stemming from past and current events. The resulting effects of historical trauma on individuals, families, and communities pass from generation to generation, and are hypothesized to be the cause of contemporary social, health, and educational disparities in NA communities. The author first provides an overview of historical trauma and persistent social, health, and educational disparities in NA communities today. This is followed with an introduction to culturally responsive instruction and services, and how this should be applied to NA children and communities. To conclude the article, readers are provided a description and key components of a university personnel preparation project, designed to recruit, educate, and empower future NA and non-NA speech-language pathologists (SLPs) with coursework and experiences related to culturally responsive early literacy instruction and services, as well as resources and examples for current educators and professionals.

Historical Influences on Health Care and Education in Native American Communities

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (14) ◽  
pp. 81-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshuaa Allison-Burbank
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Native American ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Historical Trauma ◽  
Psychological Trauma ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
Service Delivery Systems ◽  
The Rich

This article focuses on the influence of historical trauma (Brave Heart, Chase, Elkins, & Altschul, 2011) on the health and education of contemporary Native American (NA) communities. It is crucial that educators and health care professionals understand how events in American history have manifested as attempts to forcefully assimilate NAs into mainstream Euro-American culture. These attempts, which included relocation of NA communities onto reservations, enrollment of young NA children in government boarding schools and forcing these children to stop speaking native languages, and delivery of inadequate medical services (Adams, 1997) have resulted in psychological trauma that has negatively impacted multiple generations of NA families (Walker, 1999). These traumas have been found to be related to the high incidence of chronic health conditions and low academic achievement in NA communities (Whitbeck, Adams, Hoyt, & Chen, 2004; also see article by Gillispie, this issue). Understanding historical trauma as it has occurred in NA communities is a first step in our attempt to best serve NAs as speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in health care and educational settings. Knowledge and a deeper awareness of this historical trauma allows professionals to better understand negative attitudes toward formal education and medical service delivery systems that are not responsive to the rich cultural and linguistic diversity of NA people.

The Human–Animal Bond and Grief and Loss: Implications for Social Work Practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 104438942110151
Author(s):  
Ellen E. Whipple
Keyword(s):  
Support Groups ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Initial Assessment ◽  
Grief And Loss ◽  
Disenfranchised Grief ◽  
Human Animal Bond ◽  
Human Animal

The human–animal bond (HAB) is a powerful emotional attachment which often elevates pets to the status of a family member. Because companion animals typically live much shorter lives than humans, grief and loss is a problem that is frequently encountered. Disenfranchised grief over the loss of a companion animal is an area that is often overlooked by mental health professionals. Sife has developed a model for the stages of grief and loss specific to companion animals. Questions about pets should be a part of every initial assessment done on a client. Effective interventions include understanding the significance of the HAB and grief and loss; bibliotherapy; psychoeducation; the importance of rituals; and the use of pet loss support groups.

Struggles With Historical Trauma

2021 ◽  
pp. 234-261
Author(s):  
Kirsten A. Koenig
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
North America ◽  
Cultural Psychology ◽  
Historical Trauma ◽  
Psychological Development ◽  
Extant Literature ◽  
Heuristic Study ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological ◽  
The Impact

The chapter presents results from a qualitative phenomenological heuristic study of the perceptions of historical trauma across Native American nations. Historical trauma has been established as a by-product of cultural and physical suppression. Cultural psychology details the impact of an individual's culture on the psychological development of the individual. Therefore, by examining the change to the culture that resulted in historical trauma, determination could be made regarding how the individual was impacted. This research addressed these contentions by interviewing Native American persons from the Eastern and Northern nations of North America and Canada and determined how historical trauma had influenced their psychological development via symptoms they experienced. The research identified several areas that differed from the extant literature regarding the Eastern and Northern nations.

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