Cultural Trauma, Hawaiian Spirituality, and Contemporary Health Status

Abstract

This article postulates a causative relationship between history and health status for the native people of the Hawaiian archipelago. In the last 225-years the native people of Hawai’i have undergone a series of striking changes in the expression of their culture and health status. The relationship of historical, social, and health status changes can now be studied to determine possible effects on health arising from cultural transformation. Changes the native culture experienced in the 18th and 19th centuries, especially highlighting modifications in local spirituality and gender roles, are recounted. Key incidents of dramatic and sudden cultural change reveal traumatological mechanisms sufficient in size that they may account for health disparities faced by Hawaiians today. For Hawaiians, these incidents of cultural trauma are postulated to have achieved a level of potency such that they may account for a significant factor effecting the health status of post-modern individuals and communities.