“In the ethnography of conflict and what can be hellish violence, it is not a tremendous leap to equate Dante’s journeys of discovery with fieldwork” (Henry, p.391). I love this parallel that Henry (2006) draws with Alighieri’s classic work. The exchange that Henry highlights between Daniel and Dante, in which Daniel asks him to “be mindful of my pain,” speaks to the growth that can emerge out of trauma. Henry writes, “What starts out as a terrifying and apocalyptic vision of bodily anguish turns out to be one of the more hopeful of all Dante’s visions in Hell or Purgatory, one in which one’s trials and suffering have a transformative power for the regeneration or reestablishment of order…It is a revelation of distress, but one in which anguish and treatment are tied together, where the poet reveals to Dante his suffering, but the experience and the expression of the suffering begins the process toward rebirth and healing” (Henry, p.391-392).

I think this passage speaks to two issues related to resilience within trauma; first it suggests that the actual experience of surviving trauma can be a source of power and growth. Second, it highlights an earlier point that Henry makes with regard to the healing nature of telling one’s story; “…the act of telling served a kind of function…realizing a history that, although not necessarily explaining an event, mapped it in time and space…”(Henry, p.382).

I feel like this concept also relates to the Si John case study in Denham’s article (2008) which explores how the Si John family, “…frame their traumatic past into an ethic that functions in the transmission of resilience strategies, family identity, and as a framework for narrative emplotment” (Denham, p.391). Denham seems to suggest that when it comes to resiliency, it is not only the telling of one’s story that is important, but the way the narrative is framed. I found the Denham article to be very intriguing, in that the way in which we narrate our trauma (our historical trauma response) – to ourselves and others- can make a difference in the way trauma symptomology manifests in our lives, both individually and collectively.

It was so inspiring to see how the Si John family, despite all of their historical experiences with marginalization and abuse, had created an historical family narrative of survival and resilience, as opposed to victimization. I love that these narratives were embedded with strategies for resilience and “non-pathological adaptive response and ability to maintain or ‘spring back’ to a stable equilibrium after experiencing adversity” (Denham, p.392). Denham writes, “Specifically, trauma narratives transmit strength, optimism and coping strategies that family members internalize and use to ‘emplot’ their own narratives, or organize ‘life events and experiences into a coherent and ever-evolving story’” (p.392-393).

I feel like this “ethic of sharing” is largely absent in contemporary Western culture. It seems rare that healthy coping strategies are shared generationally within families; in the absence of this, an entire field of ‘professionals’ has emerged to meet the demand for concrete tools needed to overcome adversity. Self-help books, counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, Dr. Phil- seem to be the Western parallel to the cultural narratives of Native peoples.

I also love that the Si John family recognizes that one’s story is ever-evolving. This seems to suggest that trauma is not simply a fixed moment in time, but a process. In recognizing our capacity to evolve and change, I feel like the Si Johns create a space for growth and healing where trauma doesn’t comprise our whole identity or our whole story.