ABSTRACT
Unique communication characteristics of American Indians modifies the normal expectancies of the group process, requiring specific shifts in technique for even the experienced therapist. The Indian’s comfort with protracted silence, an extreme sense of personal privacy coupled with a guardedness for fear that cultural secrets may be revealed and lost, and the acceptance of individual difference being a right, makes the non-Indians quest for the “why” of behavior antipathetic to the Indians cultural orientation. In a search for an approach that will utilize the strong sense of oneness with all Indians that each feels, an attempt has been made to utilize the individual Indian’s sense of striving to remain in harmony with his environment. Through drawing him out regarding those thoughts and actions which cause abnormal stress to him and those about him, the group members have achieved an awareness of a group process that is compatible with their Indian ways.
