Healing generational historical trauma with horses

 

RAPID CITY – Understanding, recognizing and validating Historical Trauma and Unresolved Grief among Native Americans is essential to living well. Delaney Apple (Oglala Lakota), organizer for the third annual Healing with Horses Camp said he saw the gang violence, suicide, addiction, substance abuse and grief impacting the entire Native community in Rapid City.

He noticed he was attending a lot of vigils in North Rapid for both the victims and perpetrators of crime. “We were going as drum groups singing at their vigils. And we started talking about what we can do so we don’t have to sing for them after they’re gone. Let’s sing for them while they’re alive. So, we camped out for four days. For those four days nobody died and nobody got killed.”

Apple was barely 19 years old when he first sobered up. He said there was a big recovery group in Rapid City at that time. He worked at Hope Lodge, an inpatient treatment center. To be able to do the work there he had to go through the co-dependency program before he could be part of other people’s healing.

“I did my first co-dependency work when I was 20 years old. I thought I was going to go through recent traumas.” He laughs as he remembers his younger self being totally unaware of what he was getting into. “I didn’t’ realize I had abandonment issues. I didn’t realize that I had childhood trauma. I didn’t even know they were issues that were affecting me every day. So, my training started early.”

Apple recognized that many members of the Lakota population that live in Rapid City are disconnected from their culture. Add to that historical trauma and unresolved grief.

“I work construction but I have a background in substance abuse, counseling and mentoring. And I thought I could offer something. A lot of us go through challenges here in town and we might not have the crutch of our culture as much as we’d like to,” he said.

He has relatives who are involved in equine therapy and so knows that connecting with horses can be healing. But he also had his own experience during his grief therapy which included ceremonies and inipis.

“The cultural part of it went hand in hand with my sobriety. And then I went on the Big Foot ride and that’s where I did a lot of my grief work. That’s why this is a horse camp. The thing I know that really helps our people is connecting with horses. And riding horses. The power that is there can help you with grief, with suicide, with low self-esteem, low self-confidence and trauma. It’s really healthy and positive and I know that it works. It raises self-confidence and so I wanted to develop a camp to address those needs in our community. We know the drugs and violence are there. We know alcoholism and addictions are there. Those are the challenges and struggles that we face but what are the solutions and what can we do,” he added.

Apple wanted his camp the focus to be on youth and families. “I encourage families to come out. They build that relationship as their kids are participating in camp. So there’s a lot of opportunities out here, unseen even, that we might not set as goals. We want to create a traditional environment so we can celebrate our culture, language, songs, horsemanship, our social activates and our ceremonies.”

Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart (Oglala Lakota) an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Director of Native American and Disparities Research at the University of New Mexico in the Center for Rural and Community Behavioral Health defines historical trauma as “the collective emotional and psychological injury both over the life span and across generations.”

The effects include unsettled emotional trauma, depression, high death rates, alcohol abuse, child abuse and domestic violence. These are then transferred across generations. The historical unresolved grief is the grief that accompanies the trauma. This response was observed in Native populations, including Lakota, as well as Jewish Holocaust survivors and descendants as well as Japanese American internment camp survivors and descendants.

In her research, Brave Heart found that incorporating ceremonies in the healing process is imperative. The Great Plains Tribal Epidemiology Center (GPTEC) found that incorporating cultural elements into prevention programs provides for a more meaningful intervention. Research has also found other prevention factors like emphasis and celebration of Native American identity in the community, acknowledging history, traditions and contributions of Native Americans, highlighting the importance of values, and fostering a sense of pride are all prevention factors.

Research has also found that cultural factors play a protective role against substance misuse. Some protective factors include having a strong Lakota identity, practicing traditional values, and experiencing support from and connection to family and community.

The GPTEC’s Connecting With Our Youth (CWOY) has a culturally adapted program that includes a focus on postvention. Postvention is the organized immediate, short-term and long-term response in the aftermath of a suicide to promote healing and mitigate the negative effects of exposure to suicide.

“Kids follow us and if we carry shame and trauma and grief then they pick up on that,” said Apple. “So, there’s a lot of healing in these camps. That’s why I call it healing. I want us to realize how beautiful we are. If someone comes here with the intention of finding something or themselves, they’re going to do it. We just set the safe space and encourage our community to come out. “

(Contact Marnie Cook at staffwriter@nativesunnews.today)

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