Abstract
This chapter overviews points of congruency and departure between American Indian (AI) traditional ways and mainstream positive psychology. Particular emphasis is placed upon recognizing AI traditional ways as systems of science and knowing that predate mainstream psychology and other academic fields. Diversity in AI orientations is acknowledged and focus is placed on the commonalities among traditional AI Indigenous worldviews already articulated in the literature by AI authors. The Indigenous Healing Model is presented as a venue for bridging the two orientations to wellness, and as a catalyst for rethinking training and research in psychology.
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Notes
- 1.
The term American Indian is used herein to denote the groups of distinct original inhabitants of North and South America and the Caribbean. These groups have been referred to variously as Native Americans, Alaska Natives, First Nations, and Indigenous or Aboriginal peoples. The diversity of peoples represented by this term is immense. In the United States there are presently more than 560 federally recognized Sovereign Nations, and scores of communities navigating the U.S. federal system seeking that government to government relationship status.
- 2.
The New Age movement emerged in the 1960s and meshes Western, Eastern, and Indigenous spiritual ways with popular psychology, holistic wellness perspectives, and metaphysics. The inclusion of AI spiritual practices has led to significant backlash from AI communities, particularly regarding AIs who would sell traditional spiritual services and non-AI persons who purport to practice such and have no legitimate training or sanctioning to do so.
- 3.
For details on the law see the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Public Law No. 95-341, 92 Stat. 469.
- 4.
Interestingly, it seems the Lakota currently bear the brunt of spiritual appropriation in the academic arena, perhaps due to their higher profile since the events of Wounded Knee II detailed further in the chapter.
- 5.
On December 29, 1890 the U.S. 7th Calvary massacred more than 300 unarmed Sioux women and children in what is now SD at the Wounded Knee Creek. This was a decisive event in the U.S. Indian Wars, and is viewed by AIs of many Nations as a common point of grief and anger. In 1973 the American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied the town of Wounded Knee, SD, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, calling attention to the plight of AI people there and throughout North America, as well as their neglected treaty rights. They were engaged by federal law enforcement officials on behalf of the Nixon administration. The standoff ended after 73 days of conflict and bloodshed between AIM and law enforcement. During the first three months of conflict, 69 AIM members and a number of other supporters were killed. By the end of the 1970s, scores more AIs would meet a violent death on Pine Ridge in the aftermath of Wounded Knee II, as well as encounters with several federal law enforcement agencies.
- 6.
Deloria’s (2006) The World We Used to Live In: Remembering the Powers of the Medicine Men, does an excellent job of presenting examples of such.
- 7.
Cajete (2000) describes finding heart as “…the impassioned purpose and spirit essential in sustaining the effort needed to transform our lives” and argues that a critical task in this for modern humans involves mustering the “…fervor for evolving a true eco-cosmology…” (p. 288).
- 8.
Deloria (1969): “Some years ago we put out a bumper sticker which read “Custer Died for your Sins.” It was originally meant as a dig at the National Council of Churches. But as it spread around the nation it took on additional meaning until everyone claimed to understand it and each interpretation was different. Originally, the Custer bumper sticker referred to the Sioux Treaty of 1868 signed at Fort Laramie in which the United States pledged to give free and undisturbed use of the lands claimed by Red Cloud in return for peace. Under the covenants of the Old Testament, breaking a covenant called for a blood sacrifice for atonement. Custer was the blood sacrifice for the United States breaking the Sioux treaty. That, at least originally, was the meaning of the slogan” (p. 147).
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Rouse, L. (2014). American Indian Traditional Ways: Convergence and Divergence with Positive Psychology. In: Kim-Prieto, C. (eds) Religion and Spirituality Across Cultures. Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8950-9_8
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