Healing Historical Trauma with Indigenous Medical
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE A CHICANA/O DECOLONIAL REMEDY FOR RECLAMATION OF AN INDIGENOUS IDENTITY: HEALING HISTORICAL TRAUMA WITH INDIGENOUS MEDICAL PATHWAYS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Arts in Chicana and Chicano Studies By David Hernandez Jr. May, 2017 The thesis of David Hernandez is approved: Yarma Velazquez-Vargas, Ph.D Date Peter Garcia, Ph.D Date Lara Medina, Ph.D., Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my loving and supporting family, ancestors and descendants. To my mother, Maggie, thank you for giving me the gift of life, and for your unconditional love and support. You are everything to me—in this world, and beyond this universe. To David, my father, I am carrying on you and Grandpa Paul‘s legacy in reclaiming and being proud of our Indigenous identity. To Abel, my second father, the man who raised me to be the man I am today, I love you immensely, and I appreciate your existence in my life. To Olivia and Carol, my beautiful sisters, thank you for the added joy, humor, love and support in my life. To my nephews and nieces (Anthony, Priscilla, Middy, Travis, Joey, Isaiah, Daniel, and Athena), I hope to be a great role model for you all. This is dedicated to my Indigenous ancestors. I am here because of you and will continue the traditional to fight for what is just and right. I dedicate this thesis to my descendant, who will one day live in a brighter future than this. Last, but not least, I dedicate this thesis to my community, and to my Indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere. For you, I will fight and educate, until my dying breath. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the thesis committee: Lara Medina, Peter Garcia and Yarma Velazquez-Vargas. I appreciate your great knowledge and support throughout this process. I adore and have the utmost respect for all of you. Thank you for your time, encouragement, and for embarking on this journey with me in my academic career.Thank you for encouraging and always challenging me to push myself in deeper ways. Thank you Lara, for believing in me and being my chair, I appreciate all your efforts. Thank you Peter, for your knowledge, and for encouraging me. Thank you Yarma, this thesis would not be possible without you. I am truly grateful to you. I would like to acknowledge the people who participated in my thesis. Thank you for sharing your beautiful stories with me, and how you came to your Indigenous identity. Thank you for your time, consideration and trusting me with your stories. Thank you for sharing your knowledge in holistic medicine and your resistance toward Western medicine. Thank you for teaching me that there is a connection to health and identity. Your stories and journeys prove that we have a story to tell when it comes to our identities and it needs to be heard. I would like to acknowledge my Chicana/o Studies cohort who I was fortunate to get to know and learn from. We share a bond and experience only we can understand. To all the professors that I had the privilege to take courses with and learn, thank you for your wisdom and knowledge. Thank you Amir Rabiyah, for editing my thesis, I appreciate your hard work. Lastly, to my family again for your unconditional love and support— this is for you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page………………………………………………………………………………….....ii Dedication……………………………………………………………………………………...…iii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………..…..vi Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………...ix Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………......1 Significance of Study……………………………………………………………………...7 Issue/Problem………………………………………………………………………....….10 Chapter 1 Literature Review…......................................................................................................21 Identity and Mesoamerican Cultures……………...……………………………………..21 Historical Trauma…………………………….................................................................31 Consequences of Historical Trauma…………………………………………………......38 Worldview and Curanderismo………………………………………………...................51 Chapter 2 Curanderismo in Different Perspectives…………………………………………...…62 Curanderismo as a Healing Modality for Trauma ………………………………...…….62 Expanding Curanderismo………………………………...……….……………….……..67 Indigenous Veganism……….……………………………………………...…….67 v Temazcalli (Sweat lodge)……………………………...………………….……..70 Xochitl in Cuicatl (Poetry)………………………………………………....………….....72 Physical Healing………………….…….……………………………………..............................81 The Brown Body Historical……………….……………………………..........................81 The Brown Body Today Present………………………………………….…………...,,..86 Chapter 3 Methods…………………………………………………………………….....………88 Sample…………………………………………………………………….…….……..…92 Chapter 4 Analysis…………………………………………………………………………….....99 Identity………………………………………………………………………….………..99 Chicana/o Identity……………………………………….……………………..105 Benefits of Reclaiming of Indigenous identity …….…………………………..107 Curanderismo…………………………………………………………………………...109 Healing Practices………………………………….……………….......……….112 Reasons for Seeking Curanderismo………………………………………….....116 Using Curanderismo to Reinforce Indigenous identity………..……………….118 Indigenous Worldview……………………………………………….…………….......122 Expanding Curanderismo ―La Cultura Cura‖…………………………….…….............126 Curanderismo and Enabling healing process………………………….………………..129 vi Curanderismo and Oneself……………………………………………..….……………131 Historical Trauma…………………………………………………….…..……..............133 Current Issues…………………………………………………………….………….….137 Curanderismo as an Agent of Change……………………………………….…………141 Curanderismo and Balance……………………………………………….…….............144 Healers……………………………………………………………...…………………..146 Identity…………………………………………………………………….…...………146 Chicana/o Identity ……………………………………….……………….……148 Identity and Clients……………………………….…………………..………..149 Connecting their clients to their Indigenous Identity …………………….…....150 Healing Work and Specialty……………………………………………………………151 Healing Effectiveness.…………………….…..……………………………….154 Indigenous Worldview……………………………………..…………………………..154 Historical Trauma…………………………………………………….……...................155 Current Issues.…………………………………………………………...………...........156 Chapter 5 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….......…….…...158 Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………...……..161 vii Abstract Healing Historical Trauma with Indigenous Medical Pathways: A Chicana/o Decolonial Remedy for Reclamation of an Indigenous Identity By David Hernandez Jr. Masters of Arts in Chicana and Chicano Studies This thesis examines historical trauma as a consequence of the loss of an Indigenous identity among Chicanas/os and explores how holistic healing methods or Curanderismo can aid in the process of reclaiming an Indigenous identity. The research questions that I use to investigate this exploration are: What is the role of historical trauma on the loss of culture and identity? To what extent are Chicanas/os aware of historical trauma? Is Curanderismo an effective healing modality to address the historical trauma impacting many Chicanas/os? Can Curanderismo be broadly defined to include the temazcalli (sweat lodge), an Indigenous diet, poetry, and the arts to facilitate the recovery and healing of a Chicano/a Indigenous identity? The methodologies used in this study are qualitative and ethnographic research methods including in-depth interviews, data collection, participatory observation and field notes. The study consists of six subjects; two graduate students, an undergrad, a PhD candidate who participated in holistic healing, and two healers in the community.In my findings, the subjects were aware of historical trauma in their lives. The subjects recognized that Curanderismo could be a useful tool as a healing modality to reclaim their Indigenous identity and heal historical viii trauma. Also, the subjects were able to broaden the traditional definition of Curanderismo to include other art forms and healing modalities. ix Introduction Chicanas/os must embrace their Indigenous past ―as a living cultural psychic force that informs and sustains the present‖ (Aldama 199). As a child, even before I was aware of my own Indigenousiancestry, I was fascinated by Indigenous cultures. The first time I was exposed to Indigenous culture was when I was seven years old and saw my stepfather perform Danza Azteca in Los Angeles. I became hypnotized by the beat of the drum, the intoxicating smell of copal, the dances, and the bursting colors of the regalia of the performers. While it was the first and only time I saw him dance, the seed was planted. My older sister Carol then introduced me to ―Native Americanii‖ themes, and exposed me to movies and books on the subject. In high school, I started to attend Powwows with a friend who was Cherokee, but I always felt something was missing due to the lack of education at these events. My early exposure to Danza Azteca and Native American culture was the first step toward my current interest in Indigenous history, medicine, and identity. Early exposure to Curanderismo in my family, such as experiencing my father heal people by massaging them and my mother using herbs to heal us also led me into an interest of my Indigenous identity. As a third generation Mexican ―Americaniii,‖ I grew up with parents who were born here, but of Mexican descent. As a result, I was confused about my identity and did not know who I truly was in terms of race. Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I became aware of my Indigenous Mexican (Raramuri