Summary

"Tanisi" -- Danny Morrison, a Cree man, was referred to Gildiner by his employer after Danny’s wife and daughter died in a car crash. Danny did not appear to grieve. He returned to work as a long haul truck driver the day after the funerals. Gildiner notes that it was while she was working with Danny that she realized how inadequate White man’s therapy was in dealing with Danny’s problems because there were so many cultural issues.

Gildiner first had to overcome Danny’s refusal to interact with her. For the first three months, he sat in silence in Gildiner’s office. Gildiner contacted Dr. Clare Brant, a Harvard-educated Indigenous psychiatrist, who helped her understand that Indigenous people were taught to avoid conflict. They did not interfere with each other in terms of asking questions or...