Struggles With Historical Trauma

Abstract

The chapter presents results from a qualitative phenomenological heuristic study of the perceptions of historical trauma across Native American nations. Historical trauma has been established as a by-product of cultural and physical suppression. Cultural psychology details the impact of an individual's culture on the psychological development of the individual. Therefore, by examining the change to the culture that resulted in historical trauma, determination could be made regarding how the individual was impacted. This research addressed these contentions by interviewing Native American persons from the Eastern and Northern nations of North America and Canada and determined how historical trauma had influenced their psychological development via symptoms they experienced. The research identified several areas that differed from the extant literature regarding the Eastern and Northern nations.