In
today’s society, the awareness of the existence of mental or psychological
problems is often lacking. Mental illness is often almost a taboo subject, in that people would much
rather pretend it did not exist. This discomfort has existed throughout time.
Discussions of the existence of mental illnesses in aboriginal peoples often
fails to look at the possibility of their existence prior to colonization. (Waldram, 2004, p. 169) .
It is a widely accepted notion
that depression and suicide, along with many other diseases and social issues, were
introduced to aboriginal peoples with the arrival of the Europeans, and, more
specifically, their forced confinement of aboriginal peoples. (Waldram,
2004, p. 169)
People generally seem to believe that aboriginal peoples only encountered psychological
problems after the Europeans colonized the west. This of course was a drastic
change in the way of life for the native peoples, and therefore the development
of social problems is to be expected. “Simultaneously, and indeed throughout
their encounter with Europeans, the Subartic peoples were exposed to diseases,
especially smallpox, measles, and alcoholism[…]” (Lovisek, 2002, p. 100) .
Though
this is the widely accepted view, there is a large amount of evidence stating
otherwise. There are references to depression and suicide in many different
native languages. The existence of ‘heartbreak’ amongst the Mohave peoples has
been described as a “traditional problem” that sometimes leads to suicide.
Similarly, in Oglala Sioux, “wacinko syndrome” essentially referred to a form
of depression occasionally accompanied by suicidal ideation. In Dakota, “tawatl
ye sni” has been described as meaning “totally discouraged”. (Waldram, 2004, p. 169)
In our
local aboriginal community, the Anishinaabek language has many different words
for depression, and “elders in northern Ontario described depression as a
problem that existed in earlier times, often the result of shame.” (Waldram, 2004, p. 169) .
Even in
the study of historical events, the people of today often try to gloss over the
existence of mental illness within society.
Refrences
Lovisek, J. A.
(2002). Algonquins/Subartic. In P. R. Magocsi, Aboriginal Peoples of
Canada: A Short Introduction (pp. 98-128). Toronto: University of Toronto
Press Incorporated.
Waldram, J. B.
(2004). Revenge of the Windigo. Toronto: University of Toronto Press
Incorporated.
I really enjoyed your post and I agree with you when you say that in the past mental illnesses were shamed and ignored. I believe that mental illenss has been around for a long time and it occurs in every culture around the world. Its sad that people could not accept it in the past, and would think of the person as literally being sick and sometimes they would view them as contagious and nobody would want anything to do with them. I believe that today in our society mental illenesses are much more accepted and understood. In pre-contact Aboriginal times, people with mental illnesses were usually take care of by family, as they were very caring people and they shared everything and made sure that everybody in their community was taken care of.
ReplyDelete-Lyndsay
It was interesting to read your post. You introduced some ideas and issues that I was unaware of. Mental illness is always a major social problem and sadly was ignored for the longest time. Statistics now in today's society show that 1 in 3 people/children are diagnosed with a mental issue. I can only hope that this will decrease over time, and that people can become more aware of this issue.
ReplyDelete-Amy
Hi Alyssa! Your post sheds some light on what is usually a narrow-minded notion about the Europeans coming to colonize the "New World". We often view the arrival of the Europeans as being the beginning of all the issues for the Anishinaabe people. Although I do agree that there was a lot of negative that came out of the contact for the First-Nations, I find it odd how we forget that mental illness must have definitely been present in pre-contact times for they are after all, people like you and I dealing with the same physiological aspects.
ReplyDelete~Valerie
It's interesting how people will ignore the mental kinds of disabilities. It's not necessarily something that we may notice right away so if we think something is wrong we will cover it up or give it an excuse. And I also aw that you mentioned that Europeans brought these sort of problems to the Native Americans when they settled and I agree, I say basically the same thing in one of my papers except it was more focused on the different diseases that they brought with them. But either way it seems as though Eurpeans haven't done much good for the Native Americans.
ReplyDelete- Chelsea L
This post was enlightening in that it surfaced the idea of Europeans introducing mental illness to the Native Americans. I was aware that they may have introduced certain diseases, but at times mental illness is overlooked as a disease. I find it very interesting when comparing these two different cultures and how they viewed mental illnesss. I think that the effects of colonization can be felt through this culture which results in certain mental illness. As was mentioned above depression and suicide is a major factor among this culture. My question is how do we start to help these individuals facing mental illness who are located in remote areas, with little access to resouces and programs?
ReplyDeleteAlissa B- mental illness group