Unpacking Trauma and trauma-theory through an Indigenous lens
Since August 2019 and my return to my traditional territory and village that has raised my mother, grandmother and extended maternal family, I have been entrenched in the rise and fall of healing trauma. My first year of doctoral coursework has presented a unique opportunity to design my curriculum – one that is grounded in community, culture, and language. One directed reading I designed, titled: Transforming trauma and building resiliency through yoga, meditation, and Indigenous ways of healing has provided several insights into healing trauma and taking are of oneself. The course readings focus on trauma science and theories, yogic philosophy, and Indigenous healing practices. I have been grappling with the literature and the synthesis of the material amidst my own reality and memories. Additionally, my work with the First Nations Health Authority has brought forward additional experiences and vicarious trauma to simultaneously hold and unpack. Throughout this transitional time in my life and academic process, I have been conflicted and confronted with the complexities of understanding ‘Indigenous trauma’ – which has reverberated my being. This has resulted in often feeling disregulated, depressed, defeated, exhausted, heavy and often uninspired. These emotions permeated into my dream world and I experienced nightmares and disrupted sleep patterns.
Recently I learned from a Nuu-chah-nulth Elder and medicine man, Dave Frank, who marveled at how our brains are intelligent by design, by stating “Our brains are so smart. Our brains can block out trauma and repress the memories - but our body, our organs and our skin hold the memory of that trauma. That trauma memory lives in the cells until we release it” (oral communication, October, 2020). Trauma reorganizes the brain and how it manages perceptions and cognition by altering how we think, what we think about, and even the ability to think (Bessel van der Kolk, 2015). Trauma is not a life sentence and can be healed, stated by trauma researcher, Dr. Peter Levine (1997). Once metabolized and resolved, trauma that has been healed has the potential to support growth and positive change, which can be transmitted across generations (Menakem, 2015). In his book, Healing Trauma, Levine draws on Buddhist and Taoist philosophies that describe trauma as one of four great portals of transformation – in addition to sex, meditation, and death (2005).
Theorizing pain
Indigenous peoples have a vast, complex and powerful legacy of trauma that has impacted us through generations and continues to manifest its effects. Trauma for Indigenous peoples is alive, complex, and entangled in a web of dysfunction and normalized behaviours. In Indigenous science, “blood memory” is carried from generation to generation as an inheritance, which is passed down through psychological, spiritual, biological, and cultural processes – this memory can contain cultural knowledge as well as trauma (Methot, 2019). The ‘soul wound’ described by psychotherapist, Eduardo Duran (2006), conveys the severity of internalized oppression experienced on a physical, psychological, and spiritual level that is inflicted onto the psyche or soul of the land and its people (p. 21). One theoretical framework is referred to as Historical Trauma (HT), which speaks to the collective psychological wounding across the lifespan and subsequent generations, stemming from cumulative, historic loss and unresolved grief (Yellow Horse Brave Heart et al, 1998, 2003, 2011; Whitbeck et al, 2004).
Intergenerational trauma is described as the cycle of patterns and behaviours passed down between generations due to unresolved trauma of experiencing, witnessing, or inheriting the memory of horrific events (Methot, 2019). Intergenerational trauma was first identified in the descendants of Holocaust survivors, Japanese prisoners of war, and American veterans of the Korea, Vietnam, and Gulf wars; these children did not experience the traumatic episodes encountered by their parents, nonetheless they demonstrated an array of symptoms akin to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), including increased anger, hostility, and dysfunctional social and emotional behaviours (Methot, 2019). Intergenerational trauma theory is more widely accepted by Indigenous scholars, clinicians, and communities because the diagnostic criteria and definition of PTSD is generally considered too specific to the individual by disregarding the role of culture, systemic factors and collective experiences of trauma (Aguiar & Halseth, 2015).
Race-based trauma or ‘race-based traumatic stress’ is described by Bryant-Davis (2007) as similar to other types of trauma responses, however, it is unique to the set of experiences associated with interpersonal and institutional traumas created from the devaluing or dehumanizing of one’s race (p. 137). Furthermore, trauma theories pertaining to race take into account the ongoing systemic and institutional racism, discrimination, and oppressive practices embedded into our society and executed through government policies, health services delivery, educational systems, the justice system, and every day life (Aguiar & Halseth, 2015). Fast and Vezina identify the common thread between intergenerational trauma, historical trauma, and race-based trauma theories is the historical factors coupled with present-day stressors that hinder resilient outcomes of Indigenous peoples (2019). Additionally, the commonalities of the aforementioned trauma theories share a level of unresolved trauma that is transmitted and often cumulative or compounded in subsequent generations.
The patriarchal, coercive relationship between the Government of Canada and Indigenous peoples is an important factor that distinguishes our examination of trauma for Indigenous individuals, families, communities and Nations. Since the criteria of PTSD is often described as too individualized to capture the dynamic processes of Indigenous peoples’ trauma (Evans-Campbell, 2008), Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) theory provides an expanded understanding of PTSD that may be contextualized to capture the reality of the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the colonial state. CPTSD defined by Herman (1992) is “the prolonged, repeated trauma…whereas the victim is in a state of captivity, unable to flee, and under the control of the perpetrator” (P. 391). With all of these theoretical frameworks and important factors, this still leaves me with several questions about the cumulative impacts of trauma from HT to Adverse Childhood Events and confounding factors of insidious trauma in the fabric of our society. I grow weary of the continued pathology-driven lens to explain the pain and current reality of our people. We cannot continue to define our narrative as trapped in the vicious cycle of trauma and deficiencies. Indigenous peoples, like all human beings, are multidimensional and resilient.
There are countless other connections to be made between the root pain of colonization and historical trauma to the present day responses and symptoms experienced by Indigenous peoples. I will not go into more depth here, other than to explain the mystery that is trauma and its heaviness and ability to pull you and I into its depths. It has been challenging for me, often getting lost in this rabbit hole and continuing to chase the stories that recounts our people as being victims or survivors. At my worst, I have felt that I have lost my spiritual compass and simultaneously diminished myself and my own worth throughout this transition and first year of doctoral studies, which I now recognize as toxic shame, as Methot describes as a “pervasive feeling of being fundamentally flawed and inadequate as a human being” (p. 141). Discouraged but not entirely defeated, I continue to come to my practice and explore other forms of releasing and processing heavy emotions through our ocean baths, prayer, and other ceremonies.
References
Aguiar, W., & Halseth, R. Aboriginal peoples and historic trauma: The process of intergenerational transmission: National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health, 2015: 1–32.
Brave Heart, M. Y. H. (1998). The return to the sacred path: Healing the historical trauma and historical unresolved grief response among the Lakota through a psychoeducational group intervention. Smith College Studies in Social Work,68(3), 287-305.
Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (2003). The historical trauma response among natives and its relationship with substance abuse: A Lakota illustration. Journal of psychoactive drugs, 35(1), 7-13.
Brave Heart, M. Y. H., Chase, J., Elkins, J., & Altschul, D. B. (2011). Historical trauma among indigenous peoples of the Americas: Concepts, research, and clinical considerations.Journal of psychoactive drugs, 43(4), 282-290.
Bryant-Davis, T. (2007). Healing requires recognition: The case for race-based traumatic stress. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(1), 135-143.
Evans-Campbell, Teresa. "Historical trauma in American Indian/Native Alaska communities: A multilevel framework for exploring impacts on individuals, families, and communities."Journal of interpersonal violence 23.3 (2008): 316-338.
Duran, E. (2006). Healing the soul wound: Counseling with American Indians and other Native people. Teachers College Press.
Fast, E., & Collin-Vézina, D. (2019). Historical trauma, race-based trauma, and resilience of indigenous peoples: A literature review. First Peoples Child & Family Review, 14(1), 166-181.
Heart, M. Y. H. B. (2003). The historical trauma response among natives and its relationship with substance abuse: A Lakota illustration. Journal of psychoactive drugs, 35(1), 7-13.
Herman, J. L. (1992). Complex PTSD: A syndrome in survivors of prolonged and repeated trauma. Journal of traumatic stress, 5(3), 377-391.
Levine, P. A., & Frederick, A. (1997). Waking the tiger: Healing trauma: The innate capacity to transform overwhelming experiences. North Atlantic Books.
Levine, P. A. (2008). Healing trauma. ReadHowYouWant. com.
Menakem, R. (2017). My Grandmother's hands: Racialized trauma and the pathway to mending our hearts and bodies. Central Recovery Press.
Methot, S. (2019). Legacy: Trauma, story, and Indigenous healing. ECW Press.
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2015). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Books.
Whitbeck, L. B., Adams, G. W., Hoyt, D. R., & Chen, X. (2004). Conceptualizing and measuring historical trauma among American Indian people. American journal of community psychology, 33(3-4), 119-130.