Journal Article

El Nacimiento del Pueblo Mestizo: Critical Discourse on Historical Trauma, Community Resilience and Healing

Avila, Magdalena, Cacari Stone, Lisa, Duran, Bonnie

2021

Overview

Purpose. Historical trauma has been widely applied to American Indian/Alaska Native and other Indigenous populations and includes dimensions of language, sociocultural, and land losses and associated physical and mental disorders, as well as economic hardships. Insufficient evidence remains on the experiences of historical trauma due to waves of colonization for mixed-race Mexican people with indigenous ancestry (el pueblo mestizo). Research Question. Drawing from our critical lenses and epistemic advantages as indigenous feminist scholars, we ask, “How can historical trauma be understood through present-day discourse of two mestizo communities? What are public health practice and policy implications for healing historical trauma among mestizo populations?” Methodology and Approach. We analyzed the discourse from two community projects: focus groups and ethnographic field notes from a study in the U.S.–Mexico border region (2012–2014) and field notes and digital stories from a service-learning course in northern New Mexico (2016–2018). Findings. Our analysis describes the social and historical experiences of Mexicans, Mexican Americans, Chicanas/os, and Nuevo Mexicano peoples in the southwestern border region of the United States. We found four salient themes as manifestations of “soul-wound”: (1) violence/fear, (2) discrimination/shame, (3) loss, and (4) deep sorrow. Themes mitigating the trauma were community resiliency rooted in “querencia” (deep connection to land/home/people) and “conscientizacion” (critical consciousness). Conclusion. Historical trauma experienced by mestizo Latinx communities is rooted in local cultural and intergenerational narratives that link traumatic events in the historic past to contemporary local experiences. Future public health interventions should draw on culturally centered strength-based resilience approaches for healing trauma and advancing health equity.

• Publisher: SAGE Publications,SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subject: Aggression / Alaska Natives / American Indian Culture / American Indian or Alaska Native / American Indians / Borders / Colonization / Community / Community Programs / Community Relations / Consciousness / Counseling Techniques / Cultural Awareness / Cultural sensitivity / Discourse / Discourse Analysis / Discrimination / Disorders / Epistemology / Ethnography / Fear / Feminism / Focus Groups / Foreign Countries / Geographic Regions / Grief / Healing / Health disparities / Health education / Health promotion / Hispanic Americans / Historical Trauma / History / Humans / Indians, North American / Indigenous peoples / Information Technology / Intervention / Land Use / Mental disorders / Mental Health / Mexican Americans / Mexicans / Multiracial people / Multiracial Persons / Participatory Research / Populations / Public Health / Public Policy / Race / Racial Discrimination / Regions / Resilience / Resilience (Psychology) / Rural Areas / Service Learning / Shame / Sociocultural factors / Sorrow / Story Telling / Trauma / Traumatic life events / United States / Violence