~ Historical Trauma ~
Historical Trauma (HT) refers to the cumulative trauma that occurs
as a result of traumatic events, such as war and genocide and its
traumatic impact on all of these affected. HT and Collective Trauma
(CT) are often used interchangeably, although they are not
necessarily the same. With HT, we refer to the horrors that have
occurred and been documented as historical atrocities and is often
applied to the Native American and other endogenous peoples that
have historically been mistreated, such as through colonization and
forced removal from their lands and/or homes such as with groups of
refugees.
With CT, while the events themselves may be historical, they are not exclusively as such. For example, the Holocaust can be appropriately thought of as an Intergenerational Trauma (IT), but also as a CT because an entire group of people were affected, but not necessarily an HT, because the Holocaust was a single, non-repeating albeit horrific event. Whereas with colonization and the status of certain refugees, these may be historically on-going events, hence the differentiation between HT and CT.
as a result of traumatic events, such as war and genocide and its
traumatic impact on all of these affected. HT and Collective Trauma
(CT) are often used interchangeably, although they are not
necessarily the same. With HT, we refer to the horrors that have
occurred and been documented as historical atrocities and is often
applied to the Native American and other endogenous peoples that
have historically been mistreated, such as through colonization and
forced removal from their lands and/or homes such as with groups of
refugees.
With CT, while the events themselves may be historical, they are not exclusively as such. For example, the Holocaust can be appropriately thought of as an Intergenerational Trauma (IT), but also as a CT because an entire group of people were affected, but not necessarily an HT, because the Holocaust was a single, non-repeating albeit horrific event. Whereas with colonization and the status of certain refugees, these may be historically on-going events, hence the differentiation between HT and CT.