Pain is Hereditary

Clearly, Native Americans have a mountain of issues from a suicide rate that is about 2.5 times as high as the national average (Meyers), a rate of alcoholism that is 6 times that national average (Ghosh), a 28.4% poverty rate (2010 U.S. Census), a 33% sexual violence rate for women (2013 Tribal Capacity Report)…But, where did it all come from?

For a long-term research project, I have been looking specifically at what has caused the incredibly high rate of domestic violence and sexual abuse on Indian reservations. Like many of the current problems faced by Native Americans today, I feel that intergenerational trauma plays a huge role. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, intergenerational trauma can be defined as: "[when] multiple generations have experienced excessive trauma, perpetrated by the European colonists and some has translated to [the modern generation]" (Palmer).

After an interview with Dr. Jane Palmer, a professor of domestic violence at American University, I gained a deepened understanding of how European colonization affected (and still affects) Native Americans. One of the main ways the Europeans tried to force Indians to assimilate to European culture was by having "Indian children taken from their families and tribes and sent to boarding schools" (Meyers). At the boarding schools, Indian children were "stripped of their identity…tortured and tormented for speaking the only language that they knew..." (Coyhis). Much of what happened at the boarding schools was inhumane and evil. Many scholars believe that the commonness of rape and abuse in the boarding schools gave Indians the idea that that was normal because it was "all they knew," so they "brought back" the way they were treated in the boarding schools to the reservations, thus, Native Americans have the highest rate of domestic violence and sexual abuse of any group in the U.S.

Only if it were that simple...

An Indian Boarding School (1912)

Another infamous event that has caused a great deal of intergenerational trauma for Native Americans is what is known as "The Trail of Tears," or the forced removal of the Cherokee Indians in 1838. As a result of the passing of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, "about 4,000 Cherokees died on the forced march during the brutal winter months…" (Mason). The trauma of being forced to leave behind their homes and all that they knew is a tragedy that has not been forgotten and like other atrocities, the pains are still felt today by native people. I will not say that the pain of losing 4,000 ancestors and having to give up the Cherokee homeland during The Trail of Tears has directly caused high suicide rates, poverty, and domestic violence, but it sure is part of the reason.

In what other ways do you think intergenerational trauma plays a role in modern American society?

After the Scholarly Interviews...

So, I've been doing quite a bit of reading on my Junior Theme topic, Native American domestic and sexual violence. To be honest, after reading hundreds of pages about my topic, I still felt like I was not learning much new information. The same statistics kept coming up over and over: 1 in 3 Native women will be raped in their lifetime, Native women are 2.5 times more likely to be raped than any other group (Weisman), 6 in 10 Native women will be physically assaulted ("Restoring Safety to Native Women and Girls and Strengthening Native Nations")...

However,  after my interviews with experts on my subject, my mind was quickly opened up to new ideas and possible reasons for the current state of domestic violence for Native Americans. The first interview I had was via email with Mr. Duthu, a professor of Native American studies at Dartmouth and my second interview was via Skype with Dr. Palmer (she insists I call her Jane), a professor on domestic violence at American University. In both interviews, I asked what they thought about my reasons for the rate of domestic violence on reservation (poverty, racist policies, and the remoteness of reservations). Both Dr. Palmer and Mr. Duthu seemed to agree with my ideas and they added to my list of reasons with "intergenerational trauma," (Palmer) "colonial-era racism," (Duthu) and "the affects related to alcoholism" (Palmer). One term that Dr. Palmer mentioned that I was especially interested in finding out more about was intergenerational trauma, which Dr. Palmer defined as "[when] multiple generations have experienced excessive trauma, perpitrated by the European colonists and some has translated to [the modern generation]." I agree completely that much of what is currently going on on the reservations is due in a great part to the actions of European colonists. Though I already have research that points to the same conclusion, I was glad that Dr. Palmer gave me the correct term, intergenerational trauma. 

I feel very lucky that both professors I interviewed provided me with invaluable information that solidified some of my previous reasons as well as giving me some new ideas. Both professors also gave me several additional sources that I plan on using give more background on new topics we discussed. In short, the interviews have helped me a great deal in terms of looking at new information and addressing the other sides of the issue of Native American violence.

Those Poor Natives

Currently there is about a 46% chance that a Native American woman will be assaulted or raped in her lifetime (National Intimate Partner Violence [IPV] Survey). Additionally, about 1-in-4 Native American girls and 1-in-6 boys are molested in Indian country by the age of 18 (Postmus). Compared to the U.S. national average of 1-in-4  women who have experienced sexual violence in their life time (National IPV Survey), Native Americans are almost TWICE as likely to be subject to sexual violence. So, the logical question is, why do Native Americans have such an outrageously high rate of sexual and domestic violence? Over the course of my research, I have come across many possible reasons such as: poverty, historic U.S. policy against Native Americans, poor tribal and federal criminal justice systems, the remoteness of reservations…among others.

To me, the most significant reason for the high rate of violence among Native American communities is the extreme poverty that plagues many Indian reservations. In fact, Native Americans experience the highest rates of unemployment and poverty than any other ethnic or racial group in the United States at an average poverty rate of about 29% compared to a national average of about 16%. I think the lack of money has led to very poor educational opportunities for Native Americans to learn how to avoid domestic violence. Moreover, because of the high poverty rates on Indian reservations, tribal law enforcement is often underfunded and understaffed, making it much less likely that they can prevent or punish acts of violence. With no one to stop them, assailants and rapists have been led to believe that they can get away with their crimes without being caught.

Home of Impoverished Native American

Besides not being able to catch and persecute sexual assailants because of poorly-funded tribal law enforcement, there is a legal loop-hole that sometimes makes it impossible for sexual assailants to be convicted for their crimes. According to the General Crimes Act of 1817, "tribes cannot under any circumstance prosecute a non-Indian--even for crimes committed on tribal land…" (Postmus). Because of the General Crimes Act, if a non-Indian commits a crime on an Indian reservation, they are basically acquitted of their crime. Though Indians are supposed to turn over to state of federal authorities for any non-Indian crimes, the government has been less than helpful in the past in cases such as Oliphant vs. Suquamish Indian Tribe in 1978.

Obama signing Violence Against Women Act

Though the situation of Native Americans domestic violence is still extremely poor, a law was recently signed by President Obama called the Violence Against Women Act in March of 2013, which will "allow Indian tribes to prosecute certain crimes of domestic violence committed by non-Indians in Indian country" (Horwitz) when the law goes into effect in March 2015. Personally, I think that the new Violence Against Women Act is a step in the right direction for Native Americans, but I do not see it making any large improvement in the poor situation of Native American.

How do you think the Violence Against Women Act will change life for Native Americans (and all women in the U.S.)?