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May 2008 MIM Event: Herb Grant- Connectedness is What Matters
Reading the many books in our MIM library helps us understand mental illness. Hearing
a personal story is another effective way to learn and on a Monday in May, Herb Grant was very effective in sharing his story and the story of many people. He shared his spirit and as Sandra White Hawk says, “Herb Grant has such a great spirit.” His experiences, knowledge, charm and humor quietly told us a powerful story of the struggles, the culture and the mental health needs of American Indians.
Grant(third from the left in picture) is a doctoral candidate in Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota, holds a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology, is on the Faculty of St. Mary’s University of Minnesota and is a marriage and family therapist. Perhaps, most importantly, he was born and grew up in Alaska and is an enrolled member of the Tlingit and Haida tribes of Alaska. Grant said that uncles are very important in influencing nephews because uncles might not be as lenient as a father might be. So his uncle helped raise and influence him.
Grant provides supervision and consultation in the American Indian community in Minneapolis and for a number of community agencies. About 80% of his clients have anxiety, maybe also depression, but it is the anxiety, worry and fear that are the bigger issues. It’s the anxiety of living between two worlds. American Indians live in a space that is unique. They are not a part of the dominant culture and the culture of which they are a part either no longer exists or the numbers are getting smaller.
There are 563 federal tribes. American Indians are unique in that to claim such heritage, one must have identification to prove their heritage—no other ethnic group needs to do that. This can be another reminder of being marginalized. Over 60 % of those who claim to be American Indians live in urban settings, but only 10 to 15% of the money for health needs goes to populated urban settings. Health disparities are built into the system.
Grant’s research is mostly on urban American Indians. His doctoral studies are on Historical Trauma. He sees depression, diabetes, anxiety, chemical dependence, trauma caused by various kinds of abuse, Traumatic Brain Injuries, fetal alcohol effects, ADD, insomnia, poverty. Poverty brings a lack of education and resources. Many people have thoughts of suicide.
Theresa Dolata led us in prayer with one of her writings. Nurture them, Mother Earth, as you rebirth their souls…Let the Spirit set them free.
Resulting from the Dawes Act policies, the United States moved Indians to reservations and required mandatory attendance at boarding schools for children; where their hair was cut and children were often punished for speaking in their native language; all in an effort to assimilate American Indians. Sometimes children didn’t see their families for years. Connectedness is of great importance to American Indians, but disconnectedness was everywhere. Their land, their language, their children, the cultural values that parents teach their children—all gone. Children weren’t with the family when relatives died. Children were often separated by gender; girls and boys, brothers and sisters didn’t know each other. Generations of children were taken from their families.
Connectedness was gone. Children came back to a lack of connectedness to their families, to their culture. Loyalty issues were and are a problem.
The four stages of life were infant, youth, adult and elder. There was no adolescence. Elders and adults cared for infants and children. Children and adults cared for elders. Elders provided wisdom and guidance to parents. Adolescence is what happens when adults and elders are unable or cease to teach children their roles as adults. Historical trauma can amplify the symptoms of anxiety and depression. The laws against removing children changed only in 1978.
A lot of very hard, traumatic events happened. Where do people go to talk about their pain? There’s all this grief that they share and about which they don’t want to talk. People who are marginalized tend to put all the control outside of themselves.
When Theresa Dolata led our group with one of her writings, she used a drum. Grant borrowed her drum to show us the medicine wheel drawn on the drum head. The medicine wheel is a connection for American Indians in this area, so that’s the tool with which Grant begins. He draws a medicine wheel, divided into four equal parts of physical, emotional, mental, spiritual health. He asks clients to think about which of these areas are out of balance. He begins with one area and asks what they do to take care of themselves, such as physical health—sleep, eat well, exercise. Then he asks them to think of one thing they can do that day in each of the four areas. Mentally, they can read a book. Grant tells them, “We’re hunting a new buffalo today.” Most clients want to take home the drawing of the medicine wheel to help them think of what they can do for themselves.
It’s a sense of connectedness for his clients when they know that Grant has seen their family members or friends.
Grant spoke of ways that American Indians may look at mental illness such as schizophrenia. They don’t think in categories, they look for layers; everything is connected and they look for the connectedness. Some people may have schizophrenia, but it may be misunderstood. They may not be having psychotic experiences; they may be connecting with the Spirit. They are very spiritually connected.
Grant cautioned us not to glamorize American Indians.
In some cultures you are measured by what you get, but in the American Indian culture, you are measured by what you give. We take care of ourselves by taking care of each other. This is not thought of as a duty, but just part of our responsibility to each other.
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