PsyD Cultural Immersion Trip: Alaska

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At the end of their first year, Northwest University’s PsyD students participate in an International Field Study course. This course is a case study of the psychology, culture, and social justice issues related to the people indigenous to the country of the cultural immersion trip. Previous trip destinations included Brazil, El Salvador, China, and Israel. This past year, due to COVID travel restrictions, the PsyD cohort went to Alaska. Below is a journal entry from Rebekah Thompson, a student in the program.

After breakfast, Alan (Alan Kanne, Superior Tours) drove us to meet up with Eric Oba (University of Anchorage faculty), the recreational therapist who we met on day three. We did a hike down to the beach with Eric, and saw a moose on the way, which was really cool! Then we went to the Alaska Native Heritage Center, which was probably the highlight of the trip for me. The experience at the center reminded me (again) of the differing worldviews between Alaska Natives and Westernized people, and I thought a lot about how psychology can be applied when working with Native people.

The Heritage Center is youth led, and we were blessed to have a 16-year-old indigenous young man give us a thorough and insightful tour right after we arrived. There are six village sites at the center, with authentic, life-sized dwelling places. As we entered each home, he showed artifacts of the Native people from that region of Alaska who would live in a home like the one we were standing in. Again, I was fascinated by the subsistence lifestyle and the many ways different local animal parts were used by the Native people in each region. For example, the Iñupiaq and Yupik people, from the north part of Alaska, used a hollowed-out seal pelt to store and preserve meat, as they had learned that the oils inside and the insulation of the skin, fat, and fur made the seal pelt ideal for this.

At one point, our guide shared some more personal aspects of his own mental health and that of his family. He shared that he deals with depression and anxiety and that he has family members with other mental health concerns, such as alcoholism. He said something powerful, that stuck out to me, that Native people are born grieving and that they can feel the generational trauma from the day they are born. This touched my heart, and I began to think about ways that psychologists and therapists can help the Native population to alleviate the mental burden. I thought about the healing that can come from empowering youth to participate in their culture and in teaching others about it, like the Native Heritage Center is doing. O’Keefe et al. (2019) discussed how retelling the stories of ancestral pain can increase connections to the land and bring healing to Alaska Native individuals. King and Trimble (2013) wrote about the Native holistic view of health, which includes an interconnection and harmony of body, mind, and spirit. Traditional spiritual practices are an integral part of healing and should be considered and incorporated along with the counseling processes when working with Alaska Native populations (Droby, 2020; King & Trimble, 2013). The youth lead program at the Heritage Center seems to offer exactly these healing opportunities for the upcoming generation.

Emily Edenshaw, the president and CEO of the Alaska Native Heritage Center, took the time to talk with our group and offered encouragement. She stated, “it’s hard work, but it’s heart work” and “you’re on the right path.” Emily is currently working on her PhD in Indigenous Studies, and as a mom and doctoral student, she reminded us that women can do it all and do it all well. Her encouragement was so heartfelt, and as a fellow mother, who sometimes feels like I am failing to keep up, it meant a lot. I also really enjoyed the traditional songs and dances performed by some of the youth, especially as the drummer explained the stories behind them.