Through colonization and European settlers, Native culture has been disrupted and dismantled. Our people were forced to assimilate into American society as they were driven off traditional home lands, stripped of their language, and unable to fully partake in their culture. Resources were destroyed, which led to the deaths of thousands of Native men, women, and children. Residential boarding schools taught stolen children “white ways” like speaking English, where many faced assault and abuse. According to Hunkpapa, Oglala Lakota professor at University of New Mexico Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart, historical trauma is defined as the “cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over one’s lifetime and from generation to generation following loss of lives, land and vital aspects of culture.” Unresolved historical trauma often results in addiction, suicide, poor health, violence, unemployment, and poverty. A 2004 study conducted by Brave Heart shows that 46% of participants had daily thoughts of alcohol dependency and the impact it has on communities. The historical loss of culture causes an enormous amount of stress and grief on the mind and body. Confronting the trauma we hold is the best way to “move on”. Understanding how genocide and trauma effects Native communities is vital for mental growth. It allows us to be aware of behavior and relationships that lead to a better mental attitude.

Native Hope. “Understanding Historical Trauma and

Native Americans.” Voices of Indian

Country. 2018. Web.

https://blog.nativehope.org/understanding-historical-trauma-and-native-americans

Accessed 7 October 2021.

The United States federal government instituted residential boarding schools as an attempt to assimilate Native American children into American Society. Young children were forcefully taken from their homes and reservations to attend school. This experiment began when Captain Richard Pratt opened the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in 1879. Pratt entered the educational system after being a former military officer as his belief was that American Indians should be fully assimilated. For the children at the boarding school, everyday life was spent reading, writing, and spelling while the remainder of the day was spent training in manual labor or learning homemaking. They were stripped of their traditional clothing, long hair was cut, and were punished if their native languages were spoken. Strict uniforms were worn and many students had been given European names. This was a way of distancing young Native children from their identity and was an easier way for teachers to call them as they could not pronounce indigenous names. Indian affairs commissioner William Jones issued a statement on controlling Native children, “The wearing of citizen's clothing, instead of the Indian costume and blanket, should be encouraged . . . Indian dances and so-called Indian feasts should be prohibited.” (Fixico). Carlisle’s “outing” system places Native students with non-Native families near the school or sometimes farther away. Many of the students tried running away from the school as irregular absences were very common and drop out rates were high. Those who graduated from residential schools often did not pursue higher education or work as they were torn between western and traditional culture.

Fixico, Donald L. "Native American Boarding Schools." The

American Mosaic: The American

Indian Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2021,

https://americanindian-abc-clio-com.sfis.idm.oclc.org/Search/Display/1537502?terms=boarding+schools&sTypeId=2 . Accessed 8 October 2021.

The Covid 19 pandemic has truly taken a toll on indigenous communities across the country. Benjamin Din, author of ¨´Race against time´: Pandemic propels fight to save Native American languages¨ speaks with Maxine Wildcat Barnett, a Yuchi elder of Sapulpa, Oklahoma, who experienced hospitalization after being exposed to the virus. The Yuchi language was at risk of extinction as Barnett is the last fluent tribal speaker. Like most Native languages, there are no written materials or dictionaries. It's uniqueness places the dialect at a higher risk for extinction due to no other language in the world being related. Tribes all across North America are struggling to save more than 150 endangered languages as the pandemic takes its course and are asking the federal government for funding assistance. In order for Barnett to re-learn her language, she spent hours talking in front of a mirror repeating words over and over until they sounded correct. The residential school Barnett attended near the Oklahoma-Kansas border instituted internalized shame upon young Native children who spoke their native tongue. Yuchi Language Project executive director Richard A. Grounds says, ¨The message was very clear: Your language is dirty, your language is unclean, your language is unwholesome. We've got to wash that out of your mouth.¨ (Din,¨´Race against time´: Pandemic propels fight to save Native American languages¨.) Grounds´ grandmother attended residential school, which prevented her children from actively learning the Yuchi language. Despite the pandemic's unfair outcome towards Indian people, there still is hope. With the help of Zoom and Kahoot, fluent tribal elders are able to give virtual lessons and feedback to learners of all comprehension levels. Learners can create videos of themselves using everyday vocabulary while performing certain tasks around their homes. Everyday, speakers become better and better through the experience of virtual learning.

Din, Benjamin. “'Race against Time': Pandemi

Propels Fight to Save Native American

Languages.” POLITICO,

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/13/pandemic-native-american-languages-4810.

Accessed 05 November 2021.

With over 562 federally recognized tribes across the country, Native Americans are a culturally diverse group who are able to trace ancestry to any and all original people of the Americas. Our demographic makes up 1.6 percent of the United States population, yet we are at an increased risk for various mental health issues throughout our lives. According to the article ¨Depression in Native Communities¨ by Linda Wasmer Andrews, American Indians are three times as likely to experience depressive feelings compared to other Americans. The Native American adolescent suicide rates within communities are two to five times as high than other adolescent groups (Andrews). Despite these statistics, not much is known about diagnoses, treatments, and symptoms amongst Native teens. The effects of residential schools and continuous forced assimilation into western society can be categorized as the main causes or influences for mental health problems. Native Americans and Alaskan Natives often run into cultural barriers or mistrust when reaching out for help through the mental health care system. The concept of mental illnesses often do not translate or relate to Indigenous contexts, which can make it difficult to open up about our health. The lack of access to proper care prevents further treatment and knowledge about healthy coping mechanisms. Many turn to drugs and alcohol if healthcare is not accessible. Language is also another barrier to proper mental health assistance as cultural views are difficult to overcome. However, having a strong sense of cultural identity through learning one's language can be a beneficial treatment option. Andrews uses Navajo as an example of a complex language that reflects a different worldview from others and follows by saying, ¨The traditional Navajo identity—which emphasizes spirituality, family, and the environment—helps guide behavioral choices, direct personal relationships, and give meaning to life.¨ (Andrews.) This has beneficial advances in depression and identity expression.

Andrews, Linda Wasmer. "Depression in Native

Communities." The American Mosaic: The

American Indian Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2021,

americanindian-abc-clio-com.sfis.idm.oclc.org/Search/Display/1618415. Accessed 5 Nov. 2021

1 in 3 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were taken from their families between 1910 and the 1970s due to government assimilation policies. Children were placed in institutions, foster homes, or were even adopted by white Australian families. In recent years, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare used existing data from surveys from Aboriginal people to study how forced separations affected children in different generations. The survey consisted of 7,900 Aboriginal children under 15 years of age living with a member of the Stolen Generations and was compared to about 40,800 Indigenous children who lived with no adults removed from their families years prior. Chief executive of the Healing Foundation, an organization that works towards healing of the Stolen Generation, Richard Weston said, “Trauma stays with people, and its impacts are far-reaching and they’re profound,” (Nogrady). The study concluded that children in Stolen Generation families were twice as likely to report being treated unfairly at school because of their Indigenous background and 26% of children rated their health as poor. These results showed how communities are living with repercussions of the racist implemented policies that have damaged several generations of people. However, the report found children living in these households were twice as likely than other Indigenous children living elsewhere to identify with their clan or language group and can recognize areas of homelands. While governments like the United States recognize the effects of childhood trauma and the increased risks of substance misuse, Weston says the Australian government is not adequately addressing the trauma from the policies. The trauma is also being repeated today as Indigenous children are being removed from their families under child welfare laws. Weston also says that it is a contradiction for the government to want to improve the lives of Indigenous people when children are still being misplaced in state care.

Nogrady, Bianca. “Trauma of Australia’s Indigenous

‘Stolen Generation’ is still affecting children

today”. Nature. 2019. Web.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01948-3 . Accessed

16 February 2022

The Indigenous people of Bolivia took control over their own history by reverting back to oral traditions starting in the 1960s after five centuries of colonial domination and dictatorships. Today there are over 38 different indigenous groups in the country that make up half of the population. However, after the fall of the Incan empire, the region of the Americas were never the same due to Spanish colonization and influence. New nations were established as a way of decolonizing around the eighteenth century, but old oppressors were replaced by new ones, thus Indigenous people were sent to work on plantations or in factories. Oftentimes, the people were jailed or massacred for refusing to obey demands. Colonizations left indigenous communities without land, culture, political institutions, and their histories. Bolivian sociologist Pablo Manami says, “The indigenous have always been treated as ‘savages,’ as non-men, as people without history and without collective memory,” (Dangl). A system of racial oppression is also a part of colonialism in Bolivia. Colonial states required policies that covered up crimes, genocide, and unjust indgenous wars. Decolonizing meant recovering and remembering histories then using them to fight the oppressor by challenging the elite’s version of history. Indigenous activists took their historical knowledge from elders, textbooks, community members, and political speeches to use for resources like published pamphlets. This way of decolonizing allowed for Bolivian activists to build solutions to better their communities.

Dangl, Benjamin. “How Bolivian Indigenous Peoples

Mobilized History for Social Change”. Truthout.

2019. Web.

https://truthout.org/articles/how-bolivian-indigenous- peoples-mobilized-history-for-social-change/ . Accessed 16 February 2022

The Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and Kuril Islands are home to about 25,000 indigenous Ainu people. In the 19th century, assimilation policies were implemented by the Japanese government which caused the Ainu to become a dying ethnic group. Between 1871 and 1876, the government forced Ainu people to be Japanese citizens with their consent. Their language was forbidden, land was turned over to the public, and their hunting and fishing lifestyles were banned as well. Efforts including traditional dances and rituals are currently being made to preserve the language and culture of the Ainu. Very few people speak the language, but today a Ainu language radio program and other activities encourage people to learn. Vice executive director of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido Kaushi Abe said, “Since 1996, I have been attending indigenous rights meetings in Geneva and found that other indigenous groups say the same thing as us. Even though we have been invaded and conquered by powerful people from outside, we all strive to conserve our languages and cultures,” (AINU: Indigenous Peoples in Japan). Although there is not much exposure of Ainu culture in Japan, music plays a part in recognizing the indigenous people of the region. Musicians like Mina Sakai sing in Japanese, Ainu, and English, allowing for her once dying language to be heard on various platforms across the continent.

“AINU: Indigenous People in Japan”. United Nations.

YouTube. 2017. Web.

https://youtu.be/fKZOmRNarj8 . Accessed 16 February 2022