Community Based Communication In Native American Community

Ceremony by Leslie Mormon Silko is a work of Native American literature. The novel itself is a ceremony of healing for Tayo, a World War II veteran, who returns to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation. Tayo turns to the tribe’s powerful ceremonies and stories for the healing process. Silko believes, to Native Americans, a story is part of a web that entangles all the ceremonies, beliefs, and traditions of their culture. By containing these ceremonies and rituals, stories have the power to heal.

Wayne Yang in “Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor,” this project also takes into consideration the Native feminist work done by Lindsay Nixon which emphasizes a necessitate to not hierarchically dichotomizes land work and relational work and to understand praxis which focuses on harm reduction to not necessarily constitute decolonization, but to still possess value as it offers a way of surviving. In responding to Billy Ray Belcourt’s call for Indigenous studies to attune itself to the small worlds of the ordinary, this paper articulates the possible ways in which trauma-focuses therapy might provide decentralized ways for Black and Indigenous communities to not only grapple with their own trauma, but assist those in their communities with trauma as well. While this work may not be properly decolonizing insofar as it, as a practice, does not look towards land repatriation, it certainly enables decolonizing work insofar as the traumas endured by activists in both Indigenous and Black struggles like Standing Rock or #BlackLivesMatter need to be addressed in full or else we risk debilitating those who are constantly on the front lines of violence. Not only this however, but our own communities carry with them histories of trauma regardless of direct confrontation with violence. In fact, as David Marriott has articulated, it is of the utmost importance that we understand that it is the afterwardness of

A specific person (or people) in each tribe are acknowledge as healers. They are usually taught from generation to generation. “Healing does not follow written guidelines. Healers work differently with each person they help. They use their herbs, ceremony and power in the best way for each individual.” (NLM) Ceremonies are a crucial part of the Native healing process, “because physical and spiritual health are intimately connected, body and spirit must heal together. Traditional healing ceremonies promote wellness by reflecting Native conceptions of Spirit, Creator, and the Universe. They can include prayer, chants, drumming, songs, stories, and the use of a variety of sacred objects.” (National Institute of Health) These ceremonies are considered very sacred. Non-Natives are allowed to come by invite only. As one can tell they are very cherished, spiritual, pious ceremonies and not just anyone can be a part of them.

Historical trauma is a concept that refers to the wounding of generations due to traumatic experiences such as boarding schools, forced displacement, and genocide. Responses to this distress manifest in a number of social issues. For example, alcoholism and substance abuse could be recognized as attempts to numb unresolved grief. Other manifestations of emotional responses to this trauma include abuse, depression, domestic violence, and suicide. A framework for understanding the effects of historical trauma on communities is provided by Evans-Campbell (2008) in her article, “Historical Trauma in American Indian and Native American Communities”. These three levels include individual-level impacts, family-level impacts, and community-level impacts.

In city sites, family and public observances are preserved through links to tribal populations and city governments and backup organizations; therefore, diversities in tribal observances may be preserved with frequent Pan-Indianism performances (Evans-Campbell et al, 2002). In addition, important interpersonal links with parents, other relations, or care-provider are imperative in the growth of discrete resiliency (Evans-Campbell et al, 2002). Parent attachment and care have been acknowledged as barriers counter to drug abuse in the teenage years and as an adult (Evans-Campbell et al, 2002). The influence of parental sustenance to psychological and physical wellbeing may be even more noticeable and predominate in the American Indian parental structure (Evans-Campbell et al, 2002).

Adding to the conversation, academic scholar Daniel Carlock notes, “health disparities between Native Americans and the general population of the United States are a major health concern” (Carlock, Danielle). Hence, an inherent culturally based issue arises where natives are disregarding modern medicine and Western medical practices and instead turning to a traditional holistic approach. Alternative to standard science being the leading factor towards understanding illness and medicine, a cultural barrier divides indigenous peoples perception of the effectiveness of Western science in regards to traditional beliefs. This creates much difficulty for the U.S. government agency the Indian Health Service providing health care and assistance to federally recognized tribes and indigenous peoples. Commenting on Native American health discrepancies, professor James E. Cheek finds “the infectious disease rate in Native Americans populations was significantly higher than that of Whites”(Cheek, James E). This connects Native American cultural beliefs to an increase in medical disparities in relationship to following standard Western medical practices. With tradition ingrained in Native American culture, indigenous medical practices fail to focus on pathology and curing the disease, instead restoring balance between one's mind, body, and spirit is the focus of natives. Consequently, this is leading to standard Western medical practices and medicine being disregarded because Western culture in terms of medicine has been seen to impede important native spirituality beliefs. “The rates for the top ten underlying causes of death were significantly higher for Native American persons than those for whites” (Cheek, James E). This study accounts for the disparities in regards to

Counseling a Native American client will often present a unique set of challenges, especially if the client has a high degree of what Horse refers to as native consciousness (2001, cited by Choudhuri et al., 2012, p. 85) in which he or she is deeply “anchored in tribal traditions and native language” (p. 85). About 37% of Native people live on over 300 reservations and tribal jurisdictions within the United States. To be prepared to help them, a counselor should know the Native demographics of the state in which they practice, be familiar with the populations and businesses of local reservations, and become educated about the customs and structures of local tribes. Native American tribes have a great diversity of fascinating culture and language, yet share many common ethnic values and tragic historical experiences with the U.S. government which contribute to their unique worldview. Perhaps the most obvious commonality among Native tribes is a strong sense of community derived from a sense having survived this common peril. Indeed, the situation of a Native person voluntarily seeking help from an outside source instead of from a traditional healer is unusual in itself (Barcus, 2003, p. 25). Whatever the Native client’s presenting problem may be, it is likely a reflection of communal conditions and beliefs. In order to successfully treat Native American clients, a counselor should use an approach that integrates Native community values and be willing to advocate and utilize

In the novel Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko the reader is shown that in the Native American culture to be connected and to be mentally healthy that the individual must be in touch with their culture and land. The protagonist in this story, Tayo, is a WWII vet who is unbelievably damaged from the war . After Tayo comes back from the extreme brutalities of WWII and witnessing his cousin Rocky’s death he has a lot of problems coping with his stress and his extreme feeling of emptiness. Tayo is suffering from PTSD at this time and feels disconnected from his Native American culture. Tayo has close to no connection with the land anymore.

The United States is home to five hundred and seventy-eight federally recognized indigenous tribes and twenty-one of those tribes reside in Arizona. In fact, Arizona State Tempe campus is located on the ancestral homelands of the Akimel O’odham (Pima) and Pee Posh (Maricopa) people. Native American healing is a unique system that varies from tribe to tribe but most share similar characteristics of treatment. Native American healing goes back thousands of years before the European settlers migrated to North America. The indigenous people at the time were familiar with plants, herbs, smoke, prayers, and chants to treat illnesses. It is believed that the indigenous population may have known more about the plants and herbs than today which kept illness and disease away. Native Americans believe in being in harmony with oneself, mother earth, and father sky. Native American healing takes a holistic approach which focuses on the body, mind, emotion and spirit during treatment. According to National Institutes of Health/National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), “Native American (NA) traditional healing is identified as a whole medical system that encompasses a range of holistic treatments used by indigenous healers for a multitude of acute and chronic conditions or to promote health and wellbeing.”2 When the Europeans migrated to North America they brought new diseases such as smallpox which devastated the indigenous population. Millions of the indigenous

I believe that increasing the autonomy that individual Indigenous communities have over their health care system needs to happen to incorporate all the diverse Indigenous cultures. We have seen in this class that when it comes to Indigenous peoples health issues’ need to be addressed by whole cultural communities rather than dealing with one individual wounds (Chandler & Dunlop, 2015). This is largely due to the shared cultural wounds communities have from colonization, residential schooling, and dispossession of knowledge (Wexler, 2016). For example, diabetes prevalence rates amongst Indigenous peoples across Canada have increased by 70% over the past 15 years (Martin, 2016). However, prior to the 1980s there was no reported incidences of diabetes for Inuit peoples and none for First Nations prior to the 1950s (Martin, 2016). Similarly, in Northwest Alaska, where suicide is a big issue amongst the Indigenous communities, there were no recorded youth suicides until the 1960s (Wexler, 2016). Therefore, allowing communities to make their own decisions would also prevent a potential mistake of painting all Indigenous communities in Canada with the same brush to arrive at a one-size-fits-all approach (Chandler & Dunlop, 2015).

Power- it is an extreme word with both negative and positive sides attached to it. When it is negative, it acts like an antagonist and can hurt a lot of people, either physically, mentally or socially. Diverse societies meeting up in North America over the hundreds of years, it is clear that “White Society” has been the more powerful side. Domination of European society over Aboriginal people of Canada had negative effects on them in terms of physical, mental

Providing therapy and societal acceptance of Isaaq’s again would help the healing process. By inserting Anthropologist into the lives and social networks of the Isaaq’s and Ogaden people we can better comprehend their relationships. The Anthropologist would use holism to create a complete understanding of how each group is still effected today. The information gained

Historical trauma (HT), also referred to as Intergenerational trauma, is the theory that large historical traumas can be experienced by descendants generations later. (Walkerdine, Olsvold, & Rudberg, 2013). The position that clinicians take is that traumatic historical events associated with events such as war, slavery, colonization, and poverty are experienced and transmitted between family members and crosses generations. Some ethnical groups that have historical trauma response in the United States are: Jewish Holocaust survivors, African Americans, Japanese Americans, and Native Americans. I want to focus on the historical trauma of American Indians and the work of Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart, Ph.D. in examining the historical trauma

Indigenous peoples possess a variety of unique languages and beliefs and hold a strong relationship with the land. These concepts are interrelated and help build a strong Indigenous community and capture a holistic view of Indigenous health. The World Health Organisation (2012) constructs health as a state of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease.

The healing circle is valuable technique used within Aboriginal communities to initiate healing through their own traditional belief systems (Stevenson, 1999). Traditionally, “a sharing of one’s journey is a great teacher, for it acknowledges that the pain, laughter, and love we experience can bring us closer together and helps us to learn from one another’s experiences” (Stevenson, 1999, p.9). Moreover, Aboriginal peoples created the healing circle to help each other learn by personal experiences, and to ensure the community says connected to one another. An organization that uses healing circles to connect individuals is called the Community Holistic Circle Healing. This organization uses healing circles as a response to sexual abuse in