The purpose of the article “Examining the Theory of Historical Trauma Among Native Americans” was to uncover the historical trauma Native Americans are facing, such as depression, diabetes, unemployment, alcohol consumption, and many more symptoms. The challenges the Native Americans faced increased their levels of psychological distress, impacting their overall mental and physical health. Many of the diseases the Europeans brought to North America were the leading causes of death for many of their population. Although deliberate intentions to spread the diseases significantly increase the overall number of deaths. Unresolved grief was carried from the generations that followed the attacks on their culture, people, and land. Many Native Americans with historical trauma are affected by problems of psychological behaviors in today’s century. The Native American population is struggling for recovery because European cultures had deliberately destroyed their land, families, culture, and everything that made the Native Americans who they were. Due to the aftermath caused by the Europeans, the suicide rates significantly increased and became a secondary cause of death for 10-34-year-old Native Americans. Following the deaths of loved ones such as their families and friends, a federal law was enforced to prevent Native Americans from displaying any forms of grieving practices, including ceremonies. It wasn’t until 1978 that this law was revoked from enforcement. The U.S. government relocated Native Americans from their homes and land to urban areas. And many more deaths had followed this transfer of the Native Americans. After demanding that the Native Americans needed to be moved, the U.S. government further pushed to change the identities of the Native Americans. This included changing their traditions, physical appearance, religious practices, and self-characterized identity.
Additionally, families were separated, and there was no family contact with children who attended boarding school for at least eight years. Based on the previous events, many Native Americans developed unhealthy and dangerous coping strategies to compensate for their environmental and social circumstances. This event influenced how Native Americans coped with future problems. From this point forward, Native Americans were highly represented in child protective services, lacked a high school or college degree, statistically increased rates of unemployment and alcohol, and increased levels of PTSD, mood disorders, and suicides.
