On May 19, 2022, PACEs Connection hosted the sixth event in our Historical Trauma in America series. The event was facilitated by PACEs Connection staff members Ingrid Cockhren (chief executive officer) and Donielle Prince (director of state initiatives and community organizing).
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The series examines the impact of intergenerational trauma on the health and well-being of individuals today. Historical trauma—another term for intergenerational trauma—is defined by Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart as multigenerational trauma experienced by a specific cultural group resulting in “a cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over the lifespan and across generations, emanating from massive group trauma.” As recent advances in the science of positive and adverse childhood experiences (PACEs) continue to show the profound impact of historical trauma on society today, PACEs Connection launched this series to educate and empower people to take action to mitigate its adverse impact and promote resilience in their regions.
Please read about events focused on the South, Midwest, Northwest, and Southwest.
Due to its popularity, PACEs Connection's Race & Equity Workgroup is continuing the “Historical Trauma in America Series.” If you would like to register for upcoming regional sessions or our event on Healing Historical Trauma on June 23, 2022, please click here.
Participants were very engaged in the session, as indicated by select contributions and comments below:
- Tasha Gill: “My grandmother refused to speak Hawaiian to me because of the trauma associated with speaking our native language that she experienced in school.”
- Patricia Beuke: “Thank you for acknowledging the impact of colonization, and militarization of my homeland of Guam - Guahan! Si Yu'os Ma'ase!...I appreciate spaces where people know and share the truth about our country's unincorporated territories.”
- Stephanie Konadu-Acheampong: “I've been learning through these talks that the playbook that groups use to dominate other groups is remarkably predictable.”
- Amanda Rodriguez: “I'm hoping that in receiving some of this information for the first time, that taking vacations in HI will be taken more into consideration as Native Hawaiians have been on the front lines of the impacts of tourism on the land for a long time.”
- Lorna Sumaraga: “I was part of the movement to have ethnic studies become a HS graduation requirement [in California]. Trauma informed history is part of ethnic studies.”
- LaTashia Sheets: “Thank you for this amazing information! I got a great education today and can't wait to explore more about this topic on my own.”
Topics covered by PACEs Connection staff included:
- Overview of the series including a review of the concepts of collective trauma, intergenerational transmission of trauma, and historical trauma, featuring the RYSE Center’s infographic on Interacting Layers of Trauma and Healing framework
- Historical examples of traumatic events impacting Hawaiians, including the history of American aggression in Hawaii and the systematic dismantling of the population, culture, and sovereignty of the Native Hawaiian people through disease, coercion, desecration of holy lands, racialization of Hawaiians, and militarization of Hawaiian seaports.
- A discussion of the history of American colonialism that continues to this day in the 14 U.S. Territories, which includes many Pacific Islands. The example of Guam was used to illustrate this history.
- Data on current health outcomes for Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders.
Additional resources shared by participants included:
- Debra Berke: “I highly encourage visiting the LiliuokalaniPalace [Iolani Palace] in Honolulu if you're ever on Oahu. Very thorough presentation of what's currently being shared.”
- Tasha Gill: “For those interested in historical trauma and its effects on health disparities, Sotero (2006) has a good conceptual framework” A Conceptual Model of Historical Trauma: Implications for Public Health Practice and Research by Michelle Sotero: SSRN
- Debra Berke: White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
Please mark your calendars for upcoming PACEs Connection Historical Trauma series sessions, including an upcoming event on Healing Historical Trauma on June 23, 2022!
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