Healing Native American Trauma: Ineffective?

Healing Native American Trauma: Ineffective?

In class, we watched the documentary “A Peaceful Transfer of Power”. However, for many Native Americans, this transfer of power was anything but. Through this documentary, we learned that in 1785, the Treaty of Greenville was signed by 12 Indian tribes and the United States government. The treaty stated that ⅔ of Indian land in Ohio would now be ceded to the United States, which allowed the United States to begin building military outposts and forts in Western areas. This included areas that the Indians had had been allowed to keep, and they quickly realized that the United States was interested in establishing a hegemony. In order to weaken their enemy, The United States introduced tobacco and alcoholism to Native American reservations, and as a result, many tribes fell into a dark period of time where murder rates skyrocketed and vices reigned rampant. Unfortunately, that trend has continued to the present on many Native American reservations and alcoholism, substance abuse, and rape of Native American women rates are still sky high. In this blog post, I would like to focus on how we should be addressing symptoms of Native American trauma when it’s causes are rooted so far back in American history.

For many years, Native Americans have had high rates of health problems in comparison to other ethnic rates, largely due to alcohol and substance abuse. In order to combat this, the government has been focusing on sponsoring programs that help Native Americans through a European medical model. However, considering that Europeans were the ones who took away Native American land and rights, that has not worked well. According to a public health report on substance use among native ethnic groups, “A positive AI identity has long been considered important for cultural continuity, survival, and psychological wellness” (Walters). Native American is very different from the Christian-based and property-owning ideology of our founding fathers. Native Americans believe that one may borrow the land, and their spiritual religions are largely connected to nature and the free earth. Considering that high substance use is often correlated with depression and anxiety rates, allowing Native Americans to reconnect with their culture would benefit them and help to reduce substance abuse rates. Currently, the individualistic culture of popular American society does nothing to mend the broken societies Native Americans grow up in. It does not address the racism Native Americans face and the hurt from centuries of colonialism. In order for America to see a healthier Native American population, she needs to address the root of the problem and foster unity and cultural ties.

Echoing the same message, a report submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services describes how the “Boarding School Era” (a time where Native American youth were sent to boarding schools and underwent forced cultural assimilation) has had lasting impacts on today’s Native American population. The United States government’s offences towards the Native Americans have never been repaid with reparations or help. What help that has been attempted has largely been ineffective, largely in part to the generalization of programs and Eurocentric therapy. As such, the report describes, “ … Comparing effect sizes across interventions is not advised, and generalizing results to other Native communities should be done with caution. Moreover, the unique historical and cultural experiences of Native communities make comparison to non-Native communities inadvisable” (Lechner).

In comparison, the United States has made a mistake when treating Native Americans- we have generalized the population far too much, neglected cultural roots, and ignored historical trauma. The problem goes back to 1492, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and cannot be treated with temporary measures. By treating Native American society like western ones, we have alienated them and allowed the problem of alcohol and substance abuse worse. Instead of funding western-based medicine programs, the government should be working on mending community ties tailored differently for each tribe, and bring awareness to the issue.

Bibliography

Walters, Karina L., et al. “Substance Use among American Indians and Alaska Natives.” Public

Health Reports, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2002, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1913706/?page=1.

Lechner, Amanda, et al. Mathematica Policy Research, 2016,

aspe.hhs.gov/system/files/pdf/207941/AIANYouthTIC.PDF.

"Move On", 1894. F. Opper. Newberry Library, F83.64, pg. 317.