This paper seeks to clarify the link between historical trauma and the concept of embodiment. The researchers explain that present-day health inequities among Native American communities are increasingly being attributed to historical trauma, which has been described as traumatic events targeting a community (e.g., forced relocation) that cause catastrophic upheaval and result in pernicious effects that persist across generations through a myriad of mechanisms from biological to behavioural. However, the scant scholarship on historical trauma and the various conceptualisations of these events have so far prevented any convincing theorisation of historical trauma and measurement of its impact on Native health. The paper’s authors utilise ecosocial theory and the indigenist stress- coping model to argue that contemporary physical health reflects, in part, the embodiment of historical trauma. They discuss future research directions.
