The Dilemma of White Providers in Indian Country

Abstract

The legacy of the European diaspora across North America is fraught with grim realities as it relates to the impact on indigenous populations long-residing here. Generational trauma related to centuries of systematic cultural dismantling has ravaged tribal populations. As an RN of Scots-Irish descent practicing in western Montana among the psychiatric and corrections populations, I have had the opportunity to witness the challenges unique to the predicament of providing care to the Native population for non-Native providers. Is it possible for members of the dominant, historically oppressive culture to provide care without re-traumatizing?