The Historical Internalization and External Manifestations of Trauma Among African American and Native American Women

The critical role of African American and Native American women as the carriers of traditions and values has been essential to the existence and longevity of a people. The various forms of genocide that were inflicted on African American and Native American people have left residues of cultural practices and identities. The holes in the tattered memories have forced these two groups to assimilate substitutions from their oppressor.  Substitutions such as familial structures and roles, economic sustainability, the exchange of culture and knowledge were disseminated such that the new dominant group could enforce its ideologies on all. Hence, the women of both groups were forced with each generation to adjust thereby causing the loss of indigenous practices of survival, health, and wellness.

Women of African and Native American descent have experienced a consistent decline in their personal health and their ability to impart care based on traditional cultural practices. The rise in chronic illnesses, infant mortality, mental illness, and substance abuse for both groups is tied to the parallel oppressions experienced for generations. I will examine the impact of contact with Europeans on North American land starting with the 1492 visit from Christopher Columbus. The examination will span over 500 years of specific and deliberate socioeconomic policies that have created the African American and Native American women of the present. A historical cross analysis of African American and Native American women will be done to show the connections between the groups based on the different forms of oppression experienced.