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Can We Feel Trauma From Our Ancestors?

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At AHC we honor the reality that some people and communities are suffering from effects of trauma even if they haven't personally lived through dramatic event. Ancestral trauma can be attributed to internal factors, genetics and external factors environments, behaviors, or situations someone in your familial lineage was subjected, long ago.​ Ancestors and survivors of intergenerational trauma live with the ongoing tragic struggles -- still affecting families today, revealing the lasting effects of intergenerational trauma are real.

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Epigenetics, the study of how people’s environments and behaviors can affect how genes work, known as “gene expression” along with  DNA sequences -- can be passed on from one generation to another -- this is called epigenetic inheritance.

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We Can Heal Trauma From Our Ancestors 

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At AHC we focus on healing intergenerational trauma with Native American people who are affected by their ancestors tragic deaths associated with colonization, massacres and the implementation of boarding schools. Ancestral trauma spans across all cultures and time. Holocaust survivors, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latin Americans carry the burden of historical trauma from genocide, slavery, refugee violence, and stressors related to migration.

 

We practice the Lakota Tradition of Wóakiktuŋže, an ancient spiritual approach to forgiveness. Taught by Lakota Elder Basil Brave Heart, we use Native ceremonies, prayer walks, and name changes to help heal the history. By reaching back to the ancestors through prayer and traditional ceremonies, a spiritual doorway opens for forgiveness

and -- healing happens.

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