![]() ![]() As survivors continued to share stories, some of them sharing on their own, some as groups, I began to recognize that people’s experiences were unique to the specific boarding schools they attended as well as to the years of their attendance. It was nothing compared to what these elders had experienced firsthand. I wanted to listen and support the elders who were there to share their own stories.Īs the first survivor bravely shared their story of horrific abuses endured in boarding school, later life struggles with alcoholism, and eventual healing, allowing them to fulfil important cultural roles in the community, I began to understand the strength I needed-physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally-to continue listening. I felt that this demonstrated her commitment to actively listening and documenting. ![]() Secretary Haaland instructed survivors to state the dates and locations of boarding schools they attended when sharing their experiences, and although her staffers were clearly documenting what was said, Secretary Haaland listened with a notebook and pen in hand. The President of MSU gave opening remarks and introduced Secretary Haaland who gave a short introduction to the Federal Boarding School Initiative, made some introductions of her staff, and talked about how her team’s primary function that day was to listen. The event began with the singing of an honor song. ![]() We took our seats in a ballroom on the Montana State University campus. My friends and I traveled to Bozeman because we wanted to be part of this journey. government offers a direct acknowledgement of its crimes against us-a necessary step. By entering survivors’ accounts in the federal record, the U.S. The sharing of stories, though extremely painful, indeed has the potential to contribute to a road to healing. So while I don’t like calling these listening sessions a “tour,” I believe that the events are accurately named. Traumas have been passed on from one generation to the next. As we know, these experiences continue to affect our communities across the generations. Survivors have shared their stories about physical and sexual abuse about violent suppression of traditional languages and cultural practices about being separated from siblings and listening to other children crying in the night and about how these sorrows have not faded with time and how some instances or objects such as lye soap serve as trauma reminders. government to document and acknowledge the devastating effects of the boarding school policies it put in place beginning in the early 1800s and lasting through the 1970s. The oral histories and the Road to Healing events, in turn, are part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, which represents the first-ever comprehensive effort by the U.S. These accounts are recorded and documented for posterity as part of a larger oral history project the Department has undertaken. That term brings to mind tourism, and it risks trivializing what happens at the events: survivors of boarding schools share their testimony about what they endured, while Secretary Haaland and her staff listen on behalf of the federal government. Media outlets commonly refer to the series of events as the Road to Healing “tour,” but I am not comfortable thinking of them in that way. (Our colleague at NNCTC, Kimee Wind-Hummingbird, was in attendance.) Secretary Haaland and her team from the Interior Department have since held events in Michigan, South Dakota, Utah, Arizona, Washington, Minnesota, California, Alaska, and New Mexico. The first Road to Healing event was held in Anadarko, Oklahoma, in July of last year. On Sunday November 5th, I had the opportunity to travel to Bozeman, Montana, with two close friends to attend the last of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s Road to Healing events. If you are aware of other resources that provide guidance for clinicians on historical trauma, or if you would like to talk further about this subject, please don’t hesitate to email Dr. The book is available for sale through the website of the publisher, John Wiley and Sons. Her guidance includes adaptation of an interview guide offering lines of inquiry that may be appropriate for eliciting important information about a client’s individual, family, and community experiences connected with historical trauma. Rides At The Door’s contribution in a section on clinical interviewing about historical trauma. Chapter 11, “Diagnosis and Treatment Planning,” features Dr. We encourage you to review the whole book, especially if you are an instructor who teaches the subject. John and Rita Sommers-Flanagan’s Clinical Interviewing, a leading textbook for psychology and clinical mental health graduate students. Maegan Rides At The Door, recently coauthored a chapter addressing this subject in the 7th Edition of Drs. ![]()
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