This is so spot on, Matthew. In my own experience last winter in addressing the deep intergenerational trauma around the management of wild buffalo, which manifests as the exertion of state control outside the boundaries of Yellowstone NP, I was rather shocked to discover that in the process of successfully shifting the narrative towards Tribal Sovereignty and control, the most difficult dynamic to manage was from within the organization I was representing. As we were achieving our mission to wrest control over buffalo herd size and range from the livestock industry whose interest the state's represent, it unleashed unresolved organizational trauma and, unfortunately, the long-time head of that organization began acting out from what was clear to me too much cumulative trauma from 25 years of watching the animals he loves killed. This was quite a shock to me - not that the organization itself carried trauma, which I was well aware of, but that it could manifest in such a way as to undermine its mission right at the time we were ACHIEVING its mission! I did my best to manage it, but it was very messy and caused a lot of fallout internally. Fortunately, with the help of our mutual friend and Lakota healer Dallas, we kept the train on the track, and recently a summit of eleven Tribes met to form solidarity around the issues of co-stewardship, which the Park Service is committed to implementing. So in the end, good results came at the expense of bad feelings and broken relationships. So sad!
After reading Dean Yates' Line in the Sand (2023) - and following your own recent posts, Matthew - I've come to see that my passion (?) for social justice is a clear indication of the PTSD/MI I have within me from a sexual assault I suffered when aged 11 - and when the perpetrator was protected by the NSW (Australia) justice system (I'm thinking a cabal of magistrates/others existing to protect paedophiles - over 60 years ago). Thank-you for your posts.
This is so spot on, Matthew. In my own experience last winter in addressing the deep intergenerational trauma around the management of wild buffalo, which manifests as the exertion of state control outside the boundaries of Yellowstone NP, I was rather shocked to discover that in the process of successfully shifting the narrative towards Tribal Sovereignty and control, the most difficult dynamic to manage was from within the organization I was representing. As we were achieving our mission to wrest control over buffalo herd size and range from the livestock industry whose interest the state's represent, it unleashed unresolved organizational trauma and, unfortunately, the long-time head of that organization began acting out from what was clear to me too much cumulative trauma from 25 years of watching the animals he loves killed. This was quite a shock to me - not that the organization itself carried trauma, which I was well aware of, but that it could manifest in such a way as to undermine its mission right at the time we were ACHIEVING its mission! I did my best to manage it, but it was very messy and caused a lot of fallout internally. Fortunately, with the help of our mutual friend and Lakota healer Dallas, we kept the train on the track, and recently a summit of eleven Tribes met to form solidarity around the issues of co-stewardship, which the Park Service is committed to implementing. So in the end, good results came at the expense of bad feelings and broken relationships. So sad!
thank you for this resonance -- really helps to ground what can sometimes seem like abstract concepts in a very concrete and important example.
After reading Dean Yates' Line in the Sand (2023) - and following your own recent posts, Matthew - I've come to see that my passion (?) for social justice is a clear indication of the PTSD/MI I have within me from a sexual assault I suffered when aged 11 - and when the perpetrator was protected by the NSW (Australia) justice system (I'm thinking a cabal of magistrates/others existing to protect paedophiles - over 60 years ago). Thank-you for your posts.