Title: Understanding Historical Trauma and Native Americans
Headings: Understanding Historical Trauma and Native Americans
Understanding Historical Trauma and Native Americans
What is historical trauma?
How historical trauma gets passed down
Healing from history

Content: In one study conducted in 2004, a group of researchers surveyed adult Native Americans who had children and developed something called the Historical Loss Scale. Here’s what they found: These participants were generations removed from many of the historical traumas that had been inflicted on the Native American people. However, 36% had daily thoughts about the loss of traditional language in their community and 34% experienced daily thoughts about the loss of culture. Additionally, 24% reported feeling angry regarding historical losses, and 49% provided they had disturbing thoughts related to these losses. Almost half (46%) of the participants had daily thoughts about alcohol dependency and its impact on their community. Further, 22% of the respondents indicated they felt discomfort with White people, and 35% were distrustful of the intentions of the dominant White culture due to the historical losses the Native American people had suffered. ( Whitbeck et al., 2004)
As the results from this study suggest, daily thoughts about loss, stress, grief, discrimination, and cultural displacement are part of the lives of many Native Americans. Generations of Native Americans live under the shadow of history, and this causes enormous stress on the body and mind.