Indigenous Peoples’ Traumatic Experiences

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Table of Contents

Introduction
History of Trauma
Artwork Explanation
Practicing Dadirri in the Healing Process
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Knowledge of the world of children comes mainly from the experience of the behavior of their environment, primarily parents. They are strongly influenced by the life positions of those around them, and they adopt their behavior model. Children copy the behavior of their parents or caregivers and learn to navigate future relationships based on what they have learned. Sustainable coping mechanisms can be forged from efforts to avoid and/or restore anger, violent behavior, mistreatment, depression, or other problem behaviors. Trauma can develop, which has various types of manifestation and occurrence. Simple trauma can be caused by experiencing a limited traumatic event, such as an attack or a threat. There is also a complex trauma, when new traumatic events occur against the background of an already existing trauma or when a series of traumatic events occurs. Complex trauma at an early age can be detrimental to many aspects of a child’s development. The Stolen Generation and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descendants have been identified with chronic health problems, disabilities, and a disturbing financial and social disadvantage for the children of Stolen Generations and their families.

History of Trauma

Australia and its Indigenous peoples had a challenging, traumatic experience with the forced removal of Aboriginal children in the early to mid 20th century. For a long 60 years, from 1910 to 1970, every third child was abducted from indigenous settlements; much of the event affected the Torres Strait Islanders (Timeline of trauma, 2018). In Australia in those years, a new assimilation policy was opened, which led to the removal of indigenous children. The traumas, pain, and sadness caused by these events still worry the children and their relatives taken away from their families. Children who fell under the brutal assimilation policy were called the Stolen Generation (Trauma – healing, 2020). Those who experienced the horrors of the old politics experienced tremendous grief and received a lot of psychological and sometimes physical trauma. In doing so, they lost any connection to their family, culture, and identity in general.

The survivors of the Stolen Generation policy have a harrowing experience that is still not forgotten. Still, they collectively remember the experience of being in various institutions and usage of them as unpaid domestic servants and pastoralists. For children, they created a rigid framework for assimilation into a society different from their culture. They could not communicate with their blood family, speak their native language, and even use their real name given to them by their parents at birth (Menzies, 2019). The government kept no records of the birth dates or places of birth of many children. When these children grew up, it was almost impossible for them to be reunited with their families again. In many cases, the children were taken away and placed away from where they were stolen.

Since the children were abused and neglected, they were often stressed and suffered from low self-esteem and mental illnesses. Moreover, they experienced vulnerability to various manifestations of violence, mental, physical, and sexual. It was while they were under the care of the state, non-indigenous families, or at work. Stolen children have fewer opportunities to receive even a secondary education and have a tendency to increase arrests (Hunter et al., 2006). Many studies show that these children suffer from a disadvantaged position in society.

When the children of the stolen generation start their own families today, the impact of their experiences of displacement and separation from the family is also felt. Due to the fact that children have been deprived of the experience of a normal family structure, they pass on their traumatic experiences and develop intergenerational trauma. According to the AIHW report, a large percentage of survivors (about 30%) do not have access to special services, so one in seven lives with a disability (AIHW reports, 2021). Moreover, of the poorest 30 percent of the population, survivors of the stolen generation make up the majority (66%) (AIHW reports, 2021). Separated from their families, children have lost touch with cultural and spiritual values.

Traumatic experiences were passed down from generation to generation and led to the emergence of a common intergenerational trauma. According to a study by the Healing Foundation, most indigenous peoples in Australia do not fully understand the impact of these traumatic events on their lives (Aboriginal and Torres, 2018). One of the key steps to healing is acknowledging the presence of trauma, as learning to work with it, plays an important role. Dealing with intergenerational trauma in this way will significantly impact dealing with it, not only among indigenous peoples in Australia but also among other Aboriginal people. Many factors have contributed to the development of intergenerational trauma, such as socially sanctioned racism, forced displacement and assimilation, and lack of cultural heritage and land (Andrew & Hibberd, 2022). As a result, the impact of the trauma only grows and prevents survivors from fully participating in their own social life.

Artwork Explanation

The child is torn off and isolated, and I presented this in part A of the task in my drawing. They cannot fully assimilate into a new society different from their traditions, as the then policy of Australia wanted. At the same time, they are losing the identity of their people, which is why their isolation affects their lives so much. Indeed, in the context of indigenous peoples, the intergenerational transmission was interrupted by colonization. The younger generations have to rid the older ones of the hurt caused by colonialism by helping them relive their life stories in order to bridge the gap between the past and the present. Therefore, it is important to preserve and promote Aboriginal identity and look to their internal practices to restore the balance of their culture and authenticity.

The child’s violent attachment to other people only contributes to the development of a lost identity. Despite the fact that children were instilled with common life values, they still remained suspended from the whole world, without the opportunity to fully assimilate into a new culture while losing their roots. Therefore, the child in the picture and part A is depicted as vulnerable and alone. There was a loss of culture due to the realities of life experience and assimilation into a new society. It led to the fact that parents were not able to pass on hereditary knowledge to their children, that is, to teach them the cultural traditions of the natives. Grandparents and parents passed on some aspects of the culture during the summer holidays when children returned home from residential schools, but there was no consistency in this (Norris, 2008). The loss of culture-led the children to be excluded from both societies, into which they were unable to fit in as a result.

Practicing Dadirri in the Healing Process

Links between tradition, healing, and Aboriginal health are becoming increasingly popular. Research clearly shows that understanding Aboriginal culture and ethnicity affects their health and well-being (Waller, 2018). The Aboriginal worldview, together with specific cultural knowledge, brings up the healthy behavior of people. Therefore, actions toward local peoples in the process of healing should not be considered stereotyped behavior. Cultural diversity must be taken into account to increase the sensitivity of those who work with the urban part of the Aboriginals.

By using different learning modes, children can interact with culture differently using different forms. With the help of self-immersion in issues of identity and self-knowledge, they realize that they are not just someone’s ideas but co-emergences between themselves and the world (Norris, 2008). Authentic assessment, like authentic learning, must have students as one of its authors, so immersion in the characteristics of Aboriginal culture is essential.

Dadirri’s practice allows people to own their data or intellectual property rights to their stories. The dadirri principle is to watch and listen, wait and then act. Dadirri, like many research methodologies, considers ethical responsibility to be vital. Putting dadirri into practice is, in many ways, a process of learning to stay in the current of the community, in which the river of need and exchange sometimes flowed slowly and profoundly and sometimes was fast and turbulent (Stronach & Adair, 2017). The stolen generation needs to listen and stay where they were meant to go. It means to follow the direction they chose when their experiences were defined and rethought so they can find their own stories and their healing paths.

Self-awareness and other patterns of thought should be valued, as the mental worldview provides a deeper understanding of what is important for the healing of the aboriginal peoples. Recovery involves relating to them in authentic ways, with an understanding of the experience of trauma, as well as acknowledging the interconnection of the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual realms for well-being (Andrew & Hibberd, 2022). Understanding the experience of urban natives is needed, and using their traditional practices for their ways of dealing with complex mental and physical health problems.

Dealing with trauma and working to heal survivors requires a significant amount of resources that strengthen Aboriginal cultural bonds and identities. The result aims to improve people’s emotional state and raise their social status. In this way, it is possible to improve the general level of education among the natives, as well as to influence their relationships within the family positively. That, in turn, will reduce the number of children falling under the state protection system. Some schools in Australia are already doing this; for example, Murray in Queensland has coordination services aimed at therapeutic intervention and working with the families of survivors (Aboriginal and Torres, 2018). The school has created a holistic system that considers cultural diversity and brings together professionals who can help children with intergenerational trauma. Many schools and various foundations rely on the methodology of identity reconstruction, by referring to it, to help children overcome intergenerational trauma.

Conclusion

Many indigenous peoples have had traumatic experiences and experienced the collective trauma associated with colonization. As a result of the transfer of experience from generation to generation, intergenerational trauma has developed. Colonization led to forced migration from traditional settlements, eviction, locals, and forced transfer of children from their parents to boarding schools, foreign families, or orphanages. As a result, children have lost their culture, family stability, and traditional values. It stemmed from the impossibility of passing on important cultural values from parents and elders to the children who were taken away. In addition, resettlement and settlement in a new society alienated many indigenous people from their traditional way of life and prosperity. As a result, children feel disconnected from their own identity and unable to assimilate into a new environment. To overcome the trauma of the stolen generation, it is necessary to address their cultural practices to create and support the development of a healthy society.

References

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Stolen Generations and descendants: Numbers, demographic characteristics and selected outcomes, overview. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2018). Web.

AIHW reports. The Healing Foundation. (2021). Web.

Andrew, B., & Hibberd, L. (2022). The Blacktown Native Institution as a living, embodied being: Decolonizing Australian First Nations Zones of trauma through creativity.Space and Culture, 25(2), 168–183. Web.

Hunter, L. M., Logan, J., Goulet, J.-G., & Barton, S. (2006). Aboriginal healing: Regaining balance and culture.Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 17(1), 13–22. Web.

Menzies, K. (2019). Understanding the Australian aboriginal experience of collective, historical and intergenerational trauma.International Social Work, 62(6), 1522–1534. Web.

Norris, J. (2008). A Quest for a theory and practice of authentic assessment: An arts-based approach. LEARNing Landscapes, 2(1), 211–233. Web.

Stronach, M. M., & Adair, D. (2017). Dadirri: Using a philosophical approach to research to build trust between a non-indigenous researcher and indigenous participants. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 6(2), 117–134. Web.

Timeline of trauma and healing in Australia. Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet. (2018). Web.

Trauma – healing. Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet. (2020). Web.

Waller, L. (2018). Indigenous research methodologies and listening the dadirri way.Ethical Responsiveness and the Politics of Difference, 227–242. Web.

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