Aspects of community healing: experiences of the Sault Sainte Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians.

Modern American Indian tribal communities are working toward addressing serious social concerns like poverty and destruction of social structure. These are the legacy of historical oppression, boarding schools, systematic loss of culture and disappearing original territorial lands. The Sault tribe and other tribes in general, deal with behavioral patterns resulting from loss of identity, spirituality and culture, serious alcohol abuse, and domestic violence. They also experience vocational stresses, identity loss, cultural isolation, and other distress patterns evident in the dysfunctional behavior of community and/or tribal members. The prospect of community healing, from internalized oppression and "ethnostress" and reaching a stronger spiritual, cultural-base is a long-term, multi-faceted, human liberation that touches on key American Indian issues.