ABSTRACT
In the aftermath of the US defeat in the Vietnam War, the public psychological distress of veterans of that war contributed to the codification of the PTSD diagnosis. As traumatized people began to receive treatment for PTSD, it was observed that Native American war veterans were showing poorer outcomes in response to clinical therapy. Tribal community leaders requested that the VA make Indigenous purification and healing rituals available for Native American veterans; this was found to be efficacious for many who could not find healing in clinical therapy, signaling limitations in the highly medicalized PTSD diagnosis. In the 21st century, increasing numbers of non-Indigenous veterans seek healing in Indigenous ritual, with many responding very well to the ceremonies. The appeal of these ceremonies to non-Indigenous veterans reflects cultural developments associated with “warrior” identity. However, the Indigenous perspective animating these ceremonies provides not only a critique of medicalization, but also of aspects of Colonial warrior identity that contribute to trauma experienced by people globally.
