Jonathan Summaries: McGoldrick Chapter 3, Part 2

The Missionary System of Assimilation

The goal was to Christianize the heathens. The government seemed to support this by encouraging missions.
Missionaries cost the government very little (the cost of a soldier to protect the missionary) and yet it gave a way to get rid of tribal language and tribal beliefs. Missionary schools were used from around 1607 to 1783, but ultimately they were insufficient as a means to assimilate and annihilate the native american cultures.

The Boarding School Phenomenon

"All-out warfare, with associated atrocities, was a much more humane method of dealing with native americans."
Children were essentially taken away from their parents

English language immersion with punishment for speaking a tribal language
Destruction of traditional garments and replaced with alien, western clothing
Braids and traditional hairstyles were shaved and replaced with western style haircuts
Buildings, dormitories, campuses, and furnishings of western design
Forced physical labor in the kitchens, stables, gardens, and shops, necessary to run the schools
Corporal punishment for the infraction of rules or for not following the work and school schedules.
Immersion in western educational curriculum with associated alient goals and philosophy
Regimented, time-bound schedules

Implications for Treatment

These clients tend to have a pervasive sense of self-worth, powerlessness, depression, and alienation from the power and strength of cultural values.
Treatment mud provide for cathartic release of affect during the initial process
Treatment must provide an emotional container so that the client feels safe and competent to handle the feelings that emerge
Timing is critical to ensuring that the client can cope with the feelings and knowledge associated with multigenerational trauma.
Traditional ceremonies and healing processes provide a grounding for clients linked to their culture and history.

Jonathan Summaries