Ethnostress

Ethnostress

            Historically, Indian people have been forced to continually renegotiate their environments, including the communities in which they resided. Ethnostress is caused by a disruption in the development of cultural beliefs and personal identity.  Stereotypes can carry a lot of weight in relationship to self-perceptions.  They may influence social relationships through the creation of an illusion of reality. 

Today, many people have the freedom to express their cultural identity and move beyond past oppression.  Many Native Americans have fallen into a trap of internalizing the stereotypes, such as filthy and/or drunken Indians, that have been placed upon them for centuries. As a result of these false perceptions, Native American people of the United States and Canada have had and continue to have the highest rates of suicide, alcoholism, family breakdown, and other family and individual difficulties than any other ethnic group.  These points are being repeated over and over again; however, they are important points that need to be addressed.

            “Response patterns” associated with ethnostress include feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness caused by an act or acts committed by the people in power.  Interactions with people from their own culture and interactions with people from other cultures are negatively influenced by ethnostress. One of every two tribal adults has personally dealt with alcoholism during the twentieth century.  Researchers have not conducted studies exploring the correlation between the high rates of alcoholism with the attendance of the residential and boarding schools. 

Indian people were forced onto reservations and their livelihoods were taken away, which exacerbated confusion about their own identities.  Thus, they became reliant on the government to provide for some of their basic needs, such as clothing, food, and shelter because in the past they were hunters and gatherers.  However, other basic needs were neglected and pushed aside.  For example, the voices and concerns of the Indian people were not heard, and only the need to conform was considered paramount by the dominant culture. As a result, these needs were not met:

·         Being heard in communication.

·         Being seen.

·         Knowing their communication is accepted and believed.

            ·         Knowing that others have faith and trust in them.

·         Being allowed to take a place of honor in the world.

·         Feeling secure about, and at peace with one’s self.

·         Feeling that one’s existence is not detrimental, but beneficial to the important people in one’s  life.[i]

            It is important to consider the differences between wants versus needs, and the magnitude in which the desire to place wants before needs has caused a vast amount of damage. Wants are usually short lived in their importance.  Needs are essential for survival throughout the course of a person’s lifetime.  Trauma can seriously damage an individual’s psychological and emotional well-being and, in turn, can negatively impact survival.  The unmet needs, such as feeling a connection to others, have impeded a vast amount of people of all races of securing feelings of a healthy emotional well-being.  In order to address the problems caused by historical trauma, communication between all parties must be established.

 

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[i] Antone, R., Miller, D., and Myers, B. (1986).  The Power Within People.  Ontario: Peace Tree Technologies, Inc., 8.

 

 

Words for Teens

Northland College principal John Tapene has ofered the following words from a judge who regularly deals with youth. "Always we hear the cry from teenagers, 'what can we do, where can we go?"
"My answer is this: Go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, visit the sick, study your lessons and after you've finished, read a book. You r town does not owe you recreational facilities and your parents do not owe you fun.
"The world does not owe you a living, you owe the world soemthing. You owe it your time, energy and talent so that no one will be at war, in sickness and lonely again. In other words grow up, stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world and develop a backbone not a wishbone. Start behaving like a responsible person. You are important and you are needed. It's too late to sit aorund and wait for somebody to do something soemday. Someday is now and that somebody is you!"

The Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands 

The Galápagos Islands are probably the most famous wildlife-watching destination in the world. Charles Darwin’s conducted his ground-breaking theory of natural selection on San Cristobal Island, which is located to the east of the other islands. He wrote the book “The Origin of Species.” The land on the islands consist of geologic hot spots which are only a couple of million years old. Approximately 130,000 tourists visited last year and the islands can only support up to 200,000 tourists per year.

            Approximately 620 miles off the coast of Ecuador and South America, and right on the equator, there is a cluster of thirteen volcanic islands (larger than four square miles) plus six smaller islands and more than 100 islets. Each island has its own unique atmosphere, distinctive landscape and wonderful wildlife.

            On the islands there are penguins living in the tropics and boobies with bright blue feet to tool-using woodpecker finches and male frigate birds turning their wrinkled throat sacs into fully inflated red balloons. The word booby means clown in Spanish. Giant tortoises can be seen in the highlands, and some people have snorkeled with sea lions in crystal-clear water. Some of the giant sea tortoises eat the Gian Prickly Pear Cactus. Marine iguanas settle on black lava rocks. The islands host other unique and astonishing species of wildlife such as the Lava Heron, Pelicans, Galagapos Doves, Black Necked Stilts, the Silly Lightfoot Crab, Flamingos and amazingly there are penguins. These are the only penguins that live north of the equator.  

            There are only a few landing spots on the islands, some of the islands host landfills and some of the islands have very little to no people residing on the islands.

            When a volcano erupts, the first plant life is the Lava Cactus. The volcanoes are active on these picturesque islands. The trees lose their leaves every year at about the same time even though the weather stays a relatively constant temperature. One of the types of trees are called the Palo Santo Trees. This archipelago is a land of stark lava formations, cactus forests, lush green highlands, turquoise bays and tropical beaches.  As soon as anyone lands on one of the islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, they can be face-to-face with more oddly fearless and curious animals than anywhere else on Earth. The animals have no reason to fear humans.

            Some of the natives speak their own languages and Spanish is spoken by other inhabitants. Makes me wonder if there were Spanish explorers that landed on these islands some time ago. Goods are transported to the islands to support the tourist trade such as beverages, cabbages and beer. The islands appear to be a magical place to visit and people possibly take a step back in time.