Historical Trauma/Structural Violence Leading to Interpersonal Violence of Native Women in America

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Structural Violence: “A form of violence where some social structure or social institution harms people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs.  Institutionalized elitism, ethnocentrism, classism, racism, sexism, adultism, nationalism, heterosexism, and ageism are some examples of structural violence as proposed by [Johan] Galtung.  Structural violence and direct violence are said to be highly interdependent, including family violence, racial violence, hate crimes, terrorism, genocide, and war.” (Pena ppt, Anth 211, Week 6)

Intergenerational Historical Trauma:

1.      Cumulative emotional and psychological wounding, over the lifespan and across generations, emanating from massive group trauma experiences.

2.      May include substance abuse as a vehicle for attempting to numb the pain associated with trauma.

3.      Often includes the other types of self-destructive behavior, suicidal thoughts and gestures, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, anger, and difficulty recognizing and expressing emotions.

4.      Historical trauma is an example of intergenerational trauma, which is the general idea that a trauma an individual experiences in an earlier generation can have effects that reach into the lives of future generations.

(Pena ppt, Anth 211, Week 6)

The former two definitions are a prevalent part of Native cultures.  Historical trauma and structural violence are highly interlocked in the way the two feed off of each other and the way the two interact.  Structural violence and historical trauma promotes interpersonal violence which stems from the displacement of Native people.  Aside from the fact that displacement is still happening, and whether or not a person themselves has been physically displaced, the effects of the trauma can be felt for many generations to follow.  In the case of many native cultures, there is no word for “individual” nor is there a word for “I” and to follow that, there also is not a word for “relocate”.  To relocate in native cultures is to die.

Survivors of interpersonal violence also become perpetrators of the same type of violence.  Are they to blame?  Is this something that can be prevented from an individual sense?  Is this something that can just stop happening?  The answer to the previous questions is NO.  Interpersonal violence is a result of structural violence which denies people their basic needs in order to live a well-balanced life.  In this country, we have a preconceived notion as to what is socially acceptable and what is personally acceptable.  We fail to take in to account the type of lifestyle that a person WANTS to live and we often fail to take in to account what a traditional type of lifestyle is for any given group or individual.  In an article written by Edna Steinman on the report of Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart’s research she says, “Historical trauma generates such responses as survivor guilt, depression, low self-esteem, psychic numbing, anger, victim identity, death identity, thoughts of suicide, preoccupation with trauma, and physical symptoms, Brave Heart said.” (http://www.umc.org/site/c.gjJTJbMUIuE/b.928147/k.CB36/Native_Americans_suffer_from_historical_trauma_researcher_says.htm)

All that being said, the focus on Native women specifically, is often overlooked.  The  amount of interpersonal violence Native women face is a high percentage and what has happened if often more dramatic than one could think.  According to www.pbs.org/indiancountry/.../trauma.html 65% of urban Indian women living in New York City had experienced some kind of interpersonal violence in their lives.  Within that statistic, 28% have experienced childhood physical abuse, 48% have experienced rape and 40% have a history of domestic violence.  The math on these statistics adds up to over 100% which means that most women within the 65% category have experienced multiple traumas of this nature. 

All of these factors being taken into account, how can we help Native American women and Native Americans in general?  Like every other community, an increase of communication and an increase of self-worth will always help a person and their community be more confident.  Again from Steinman’s report of Brave Heart’s research she suggests a solution for helping not only Native American women but the Native community in general by saying, “The positive outcomes needed to overcome this intergenerational trauma are a reduction in shame, a better feeling of self-worth, an increase in joy and health, a stronger sense of parental competence, greater use of traditional language, an improved relationship with children and the extended family, and increased communication, she said.” (http://www.umc.org/site/c.gjJTJbMUIuE/b.928147/k.CB36/Native_Americans_suffer_from_historical_trauma_researcher_says.htm)

Even though the fix for Native communities will not come overnight, there are many things society can do in order to help their neighboring people.  While the government can never replace the land they took, they can start by reevaluating the structures they have set in place.  If we can begin to fix the structural violence that is current in our everyday lives, then we can begin to make the intergenerational historical trauma right. 

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Posted by: Bailey Silver 2/23/2012