{"id":37084,"date":"2024-05-21T16:13:10","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T21:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/healing-generational-historical-trauma-with-horses\/"},"modified":"2024-05-21T16:13:16","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T21:13:16","slug":"healing-generational-historical-trauma-with-horses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/healing-generational-historical-trauma-with-horses\/","title":{"rendered":"Healing generational historical trauma with horses"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The 3rd Annual Sunka Wakan Un Wicozanikte \u2013 Healing with Horses Camp which took place at Thunder Horse Stables in Rapid Valley. (Photo by Ernestine Anunkasan Hopa) <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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RAPID CITY \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

He noticed he was attending a lot of vigils in North Rapid for both the victims and perpetrators of crime. \u201cWe were going as drum groups singing at their vigils. And we started talking about what we can do so we don\u2019t have to sing for them after they\u2019re gone. Let\u2019s sing for them while they\u2019re alive. So, we camped out for four days. For those four days nobody died and nobody got killed.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s healing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did my first co-dependency work when I was 20 years old. I thought I was going to go through recent traumas.\u201d He laughs as he remembers his younger self being totally unaware of what he was getting into. \u201cI didn\u2019t\u2019 realize I had abandonment issues. I didn\u2019t realize that I had childhood trauma. I didn\u2019t even know they were issues that were affecting me every day. So, my training started early.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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\u2019d like to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cultural part of it went hand in hand with my sobriety. And then I went on the Big Foot ride and that\u2019s where I did a lot of my grief work. That\u2019s 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\u2019s 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,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Apple wanted his camp the focus to be on youth and families. \u201cI encourage families to come out. They build that relationship as their kids are participating in camp. So there\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u201cthe collective emotional and psychological injury both over the life span and across generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The GPTEC\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids follow us and if we carry shame and trauma and grief then they pick up on that,\u201d said Apple. \u201cSo, there\u2019s a lot of healing in these camps. That\u2019s 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\u2019re going to do it. We just set the safe space and encourage our community to come out. \u201c<\/p>\n

(Contact Marnie Cook at staffwriter@nativesunnews.today<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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He Sapa Stampede Jr at the drum during the 3rd Annual Sunka Wakan Un Wicozanikte \u2013 Healing with Horses wacipi. (Photo by Chantelle Blue Arm) <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The post Healing generational historical trauma with horses<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The 3rd Annual Sunka Wakan Un Wicozanikte \u2013 Healing with Horses Camp which took place at Thunder Horse Stables in Rapid Valley. (Photo by Ernestine Anunkasan Hopa) \u00a0 RAPID CITY \u2013 Understanding, recognizing and validating Historical Trauma and Unresolved Grief among Native Americans is essential to living well. Delaney Apple <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> May 21, 2024<\/p>\n

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