Historical Trauma

The term historical trauma describes the way that massive, population-level traumatic events affect multiple generations. Indian people who directly faced violence, as well as cultural and family destruction, experienced powerful negative health effects. Emerging research shows that these events can have a lasting genetic, physical, and psychological impact on their children and grandchildren as well.

In order for an event to be considered a historical trauma, it generally has three major components: ¹³

• It is a large-scale trauma that is experienced by a group of people.
• The group shares an identity or affiliation, even if it is just living in the same area.
• The trauma affects the physical and mental health of multiple generations.

How does historical trauma work? On an individual level, parents’ negative experiences might lead to trouble forming healthy attachments with their children or unhealthy behaviors that negatively affect their children. Within communities, stories and memories get passed down from generation to generation reinforcing the fear and trauma experienced by parents and ancestors. The event may cause the destruction of protective factors, like tribal languages, cultures, spirituality, and health practices. This in turn contributes to the trauma through loss of identity, community, and feelings of isolation ^{14, 15}. In this way, a historical traumatic event, such as war or mass displacement, continues to have powerful negative health effects on the children and grandchildren of those who originally experienced the trauma.

Many Indian communities have developed strategies to cope with historical trauma and promote cultural resilience, such as:

• Increased family and tribal cohesiveness
• Redefined sense of purpose and meaning
• Increased charitable giving and volunteerism

When working with tribal communities, you can assist these strategies by being aware of adverse childhood experiences (ACES) and supporting trauma-informed approaches.