Historical trauma – Roots and belonging on Native American land
Facilitators: Patrick Dougherty, Eva Giedt, Jim Bear Jacobs; trainees: Cheryl Sarno, David Sherman
Language: English
We stand upon this land which was inhabited and stewarded by Indigenous people. We also stand upon the violent history of how we came to be here through colonization and genocide of Indigenous people. In this lab we hope to deepen awareness of how this unprocessed collective trauma is carried in all our bodies. We hope to discover how the unprocessed trauma impacts our sense of rootedness and belonging and to gain a greater capacity to host the discomfort of what price Indigenous people have paid and continue to pay. Join us for a bi-weekly, 6 month long journey, as we slowly walk through the history of the US together, with the help of a Mohican minister and storyteller, and find ways to embody our existence on this land with others, so at the end of the class you hopefully have a deeper sense of belonging.
We will be exploring
- What constitutes the historical background of colonization and genocide of Native American peoples manifest as collective trauma today?
- How does the unprocessed trauma of colonization and genocide of Native people influence the construction of identity and the process of ‘othering’ of who belongs here and who doesn’t?
- How does the trauma of colonization and genocide influence the development of cultural architecture governing the current relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people?
- How does our use of language reflect and reinforce the consequences of this collective trauma?
- How does this trauma show itself in times of crisis (e.g. Covid-19, land management, climate emergencies)?
- Can we collectively create a coherent we-space and a process of witnessing that leads to an integration and eventual healing of this trauma?
Participants are asked to commit to
- Attend the 6-months duration of the group and on a regular basis your triad outside of the group meetings
- Care for the well-being of the group as much as caring for yourself.
- Be willing to share your personal and ancestral reflections, as well as being deeply present to others sharing.
- Be willing to see how we all participate in the ongoing trauma.
- Ensure to be free from the influence of drugs.
- Assume confidentiality – all personal sharing within this Lab will be kept confidential and names of other participants will not be shared, nor will they be described.
- Assume self-responsibility for your health – this Lab does not provide therapy or treatment.
Max. group size: 30
Time: Meet every 3 weeks. 2 hours for labs with the 3 co-facilitators, Patrick, Eva and Jim Bear and 90 min for labs with just Patrick and Eva. Start time 10:30 am pst, 1:30 pm est (Please check here to find the time in your location)
Dates: Nov 24 2 hr. Dec 15 2 hr. Jan 5 90 min. Jan 26 2 hr. Feb 16 90 min. March 9 2 hr. March 30 2 hour. April 20 90 min. May 11 2 hour June 2 90 min. June 22 2 hour
Lab Team
Eva Giedt
is a psychotherapist and mental health nurse practitioner in private practice and offers online private sessions utilizing mystical principles. She is passionate about embodied purposeful living, conscious relationships, field awareness, and the explorations at the edge of the known and unknown. She works with individuals and facilitates groups and corporate wellness trainings. She teaches meditation and qi gong and is a certified Hakomi Therapist. Eva has been involved in healthcare as a practitioner and teacher for 30+ years. In 2011 she participated in the first US intensive with Thomas Hübl and has worked closely with him ever since. Eva is a Teacher for the USA Practice Group Leader Training. Eva works and lives in the SF Bay Area and Monterey California.
Patrick Dougherty
is a licensed psychologist who has over 40 years of clinical work and decades of working with social despair and collective trauma. The last 5 years he has been developing models and protocols to support therapists, individuals and groups to stay in good relationships as they work towards integrating trauma. Stemming from his experience as a Vietnam veteran, he has a focus on collective trauma cause by involvement in or experience of armed violence, war and genocide. He has been with the Pocket Project since its inception.
Jim Bear Jacobs
was born in St. Paul, he is a member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation, an American Indian tribe located in central Wisconsin. He has degrees in Pastoral Studies and Christian Theology and has served various churches as youth minister, adult Christian educator, and director of Men’s Ministries. Presently he is parish associate at Church of All Nations Presbyterian Church. He is a cultural facilitator in the Twin Cities and works to raise the public’s awareness of American Indian causes and injustices. He is the Director of Community Engagement and Racial Justice for the Minnesota Council of Churches. Additionally he is the creator and director of “Healing Minnesota Stories,” a program of the Minnesota Council of Churches dedicated to ensuring that the Native American voice is heard in areas where it has long been ignored.
