Rapping the Pain Away: Historical Trauma and Cultural Healing in Contemporary Native American Hip Hop
Abstract
Historical trauma (Brave Heart et al., 2011) is understood as one of the primary sources of socio-psychological problems of contemporary indigenous peoples of North America and its healing is seen as of the utmost importance for the change of indigenous peoples' situation. Even though traditional practises are usually perceived as an important part of the healing process (Goodkind et al., 2012, Grayshield et al., 2015), they are not the only ones.
Particularly art production, such as music-making, can be a very effective therapeutic technique, as it captures the flow of thoughts and feelings through which the pain can be consciously released and individual suffering (eg. Kantor & Lipský, 2009, Vaillant, 1977) shared with other people also educating the general public during the process (Kirmayer et al., 2011).
Since the emergence of hip hop among indigenous North American youth in the late 1990s, native hip hop artists employed this artistic form to publicise their everyday experience as native people in contemporary America. And since the historical trauma is an inseparable part of such experience, it became an important part of the native hip hop message (Sheffield, 2011, Mays, 2018).
In our paper we will focus on many forms the historical trauma takes within Native American experience as conveyed through the means of contemporary Native American hip hop. By employing visual and textual qualitative content analysis of selected music videos of notable Native American hip hop artists (such as Frank Waln, Drezus, MC Red Eagle or Nataanii Means) we will ask how is historical trauma thematized in their artistic production and how they employ hip hop as a means of cultural healing.
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