Native American Postcolonial Psychology

by Eduardo Duran

This book shows that it is necessary to understand intergenerational trauma and internalized oppression in order to understand Native Americans today. It makes native American ways of conceptualizing the world available to readers.

Genres: Psychology, Indigenous, Nonfiction, Mental Health, Social Justice, Native American

246 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Gamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had I read this book while in university I probably would have remained a psychology major.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely incredible book. The ending, while showing how Husserl, Jung, Fanon, and Freire got something right about education, and that most of our Western institutions are not teaching how to unmoor ourselves from deeply entrenched linear thinking, shows how communities need to be listened to: "In any system where there is an unequal distribution of resources and power, systems of domination exist which act symbolically and instrumentally to reinforce that domination." (204) The Durans take tradition and community as part and parcel of healing -- they are not against new knowledge or research, but "the new knowledge must be derived from within the community itself." This concerns "all our relations"! What a Christmas present!

[Sarah Sevedge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eduardo and Bonnie Duran set the cornerstone for exploring how a system mirrors who had a seat at the table of governance. Who sat at the table of mental health and mental illness. How did they get to their seats. Who sits at your table, who are you dialoguing with, who informs your worldview and your perception of yourself and others. Who has been denied a seat at your table. Further, it asks us to reflect on the field of psychology as built upon the imposition of one world view (the West) unto another worldview where it inherently didn’t make sense (indigenous culture). The imposing system subjugated rather than expanded to allow for the existence of both as valid in their own right. Exploration of the human condition and subsequent actions to address ailments of the body/mind/spirit/community didn’t just materialize when the West came. The colonizer snuffed out the understanding it found by force and banished it to the plane of the illegitimate. When we look at psychology today, we don’t see indigenous cosmologies seated laterally to the western paradigm. It’s not given an authoritative position in it’s own right nor all the blessings of autonomy and self-determination bestowed upon the western model. Instead, it struggles against fitting into a model of legitimacy (scientific method, best practices, academia) that was never built with it in mind. The authors ask us as humans and psychologists to elevate and legitimize indigenous cosmologies of healing as a radical act of social justice.

[Edwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read this for a college class, interesting book. It really needs to be updated though.

[Linda Zamora · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Review_NativeAmericanPsychology]
My entire perception of the Native Americans has been transformed by reading this book! We all know there were atrocities committed against the Native Americans generations ago but until I read this book and put myself in their shoes, I did not realize the full impact it would have had on a person or family. It was stated that the Native American population went from 10,000,000 in pre-colonial times to only 250,000 by 1900! The atrocities committed against them were compared to the Holocaust. In essence, over the years, acts carried out and crimes against the Native Americans was very much the same exact acts carried out by Hitler himself! The US military was ordered to relocate or exterminate as many Native Americans as possible. We stripped the Native Americans of their "life world". Meaning, their environment, their livelihood, their culture, their social status, their economic wealth, their roles and most devastatingly their families and children. Native Americans were forced to assimilate to the white colonial way of life.

These atrocities have led to an intergenerational PTSD. The unresolved state of mourning and "carthexis" - where all of their bottled up rage, hostility and frustration which is their mental energy focused on a person, place or idea caused immense mental anguish that if left unresolved caused great mental despair and hostility that is turned back onto themselves or anything that reminds them of themselves and their perceived self worth. This grief, anger and mental anguish then carries down to multiple generations by way of observation, lifestyle, environment and abuse of not only family but alcohol. In a sense the alcohol became their anesthetic to take away the pain.

Therapists who tried to help, do so in the white western philosophies of therapy. What they need is a therapist who understands, believes and practices the Native American philosophies where ones life has a balanced center and that is one with the earth.

Overall a wonderful and educational read on understanding the history and it's effects on the Native American people for generations! Note, I do have to admit though, that the first 30 pages were very dry and hard to remain interested in the book.

[Denise Alvarado · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone interested in learning about Native American psychology and the role of historical trauma on the Native American psyche, then read this book. Duran introduces the idea of the Spirit of alcohol and drugs and how one needs to redefine their relationship with these spirits in order to achieve recovery. He introduces the hybrid approach to substance abuse and mental health treatment, which combines traditional Native American healing modalities with conventional Western approaches with the goal of providing culturally competent care.

[Nagisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting read. Native Americans suffer from alcoholism, suicide, family and community problems which stem from PTSD due to longtime colonization. Native Americans internalize the oppressor, which leads them to violence such as child abuse and suicide. Since Native Americans view the world in harmony with the Earth and their cosmology is thus different from the Western one, the authors suggest intergrating Native American spiritual tradition into clinical approach when dealing with the aforementioned issues.

[Family Promise]

This book shows that it is necessary to understand intergenerational trauma and internalized oppression in order to understand Native Americans today. It makes native American ways of conceptualizing the world available to readers.