Native+women+in+the+U.S.

Overview of Native Women
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as intact political communities. There are 565 federally recognized Indian Nations in the United States and they live in Indian Reservations, which is set aside by the Federal government. According to U.S. Census Bureau, the number of entire Native American in United States is about 2,508,101. The number of female population is 1,260,553 which accounts for 50.26% of entire population. Females whose age is from 45 to 54 have the largest percentage among entire native women and males whose age is from 35 to 44 accounts for the largest share of entire native men. Average age of female is 31.9 which are higher than average age of male, 29.9. Native women averagely live longer than men as 2 years. From the entire Native Americans the number of educated people is about 1,468,054, which are 58.53% of population. 52% of Native people finish high school; 17% go to college and 4% graduated from college; 2% go to graduate school. The proportion of females accounts for 51.33% from educational population and that is higher than male’s. The level prior to earning the college-level degree, proportion of male’s is 28.35%, which is higher than female’s 25.70%. However, highly educated females, who graduate high school and get more than college-level degree orbachelor’s degree, account for 25.63% of educational population that are higher than 20.32% of males’. The number of Native Americans who are born in state of residence accounts for 68.94% of entire population and 23.36% of Native people are born in other state in the United States. It seems Native Americans generally continue on living in the place they are born. And among the Native women in Unites States, 94.19% of Native females are born in United States and 35.2% of females who have naturalized U.S. citizenship are born in foreign countries.

Today's Native Women
Native women were respected from their own society and they truly had honorable power. For instance, among the Cherokees, women owned the homes and garden plots, which were passed from mother to daughter. It was also the Cherokee Women's Council who determined which men were worthy of performing sacred duties or holding public office. Many other tribes had similar matriarchal systems. Today, Native women are suffered from violence, sexism, racism, poverty and so on. They struggle against an epidemic of abuse that is physical, sexual and emotional at the hands of society and from within their own culture and families. Also the negative envornment affects children to live the same way that their mothers went through. Twelve-year-old Louise Clifford loves reading and math, and is learning how to speak Lakota. Her spirituality is very important to her, as is her horse, Glory Bee. But Louise struggles with an extremely unstable home life – her alcoholic mother Sissy struggles to hold down a job and keep the power and heat on throughout a harsh winter. Louise tried to commit suicide when she was just 11 years old and now her teachers and counselors are rallying around her. There are many programs for native women to help them to stand on their own feet. There are programs to educate women and men about fetal alcohol syndrome and how to prevent it, AIDS prevention programs, suicide awareness education and domestic violence prevention, dental health, sexual health and nutritional health programs. Even though the situation of native women seems hard to overcome, there are some women who are fighting for better life. Angela Chalmers, the first woman to win the 1500-meter and the 3000-meter races in 1990 at the Commonwealth Games, credits her Aboriginal roots for teaching her patience and perseverance. Wendy Grant-John is an Aboriginal woman who competed for national chief and although she lost that bid she remains passionate about what she sees are important steps toward healing her culture. Women like Angela and Wendy are the role models for other young women. Role models have consistantly appealed to provide stronger education and employment options for their youths to overcome severe situations and to achieve affluent society as a final goal. Now some signs of change is growing. Native women are providing the youth in Native cultures with as much as they can. Many Native women are getting post-secondary education and then in turn teach or help their people and their families. Native women set up groups and associations to help those who cannot help themselves. The grandmothers are wise and willing to teach the youth about their cultures and tell the stories that teach pride in self.

Ford, David. "Diane Sawyer Reporting: "A hidden america: Children of the plains" on Friday, October 14." ABC News. 11 Oct. 2011. web. Median Age by Sex [] Native American [] Popick, Jacqui "Native American Women, Past, Present and Future." Lethbridge Undergraduate Resarch Journal. 2006. Web. [] "Restoring Native American Families" Public Broadcasting Service. Web. [] Sex by Age [] Sex by Age by Citizenship Status [] Sex by Educational Attaintment []

=**Population Distribution** =



In 2000, The United States population was 281.4 million. Of that total, 4.1 million, or 1.5 percent were reported to be a combination of Native American or Alaskan Native. The 2.5 million people reported to be just Native American or Alaskan Native make up 0.9 percent of the population. 50.4 percent of the American Indian population is women. There are many American Indian tribal groups, Cherokee is the largest with a population of 331,000, followed by Navajo with 230,000, then Sioux, Chippewa, and Latin American Indians is the fifth largest tribe, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.The average age of the Native American population in 2006 was 31 and about 28 percent of the population is younger than 18.

=**Employment** = 

Native American women are heavily represented in extraction industries, but more frequently they are found in other industries, such as apparel manufacturing, sales workers, service workers, and gasoline stations. Native American women had an increase from 1990-2001 from about 0.2 to 0.3 percent of the total work force. Although, the number of officials and managers within this group nearly doubled within the same period. Native American men had the highest year-round, full-time median earnings at $51,094 while Native American women had a median income of $35,173. Native Americans own about 50% of all economy lodges and 35% of all hotels in the United States which combined market value is almost $40 billion.

http://www.vaw.umn.edu/documents/nativewomen/nativewomen.pdf http://www.safercampus.org/blog/2009/07/1421/ http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_3482.shtml http://www.sfgov3.org/index.aspx?page=167 http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/reports/womenofcolor/index.html#Section_1.1.4 []

=Colonization's effect on Gender Roles in Native American Society=

"Colonization- the displacement and undermining of societies, including their values, cultures, beliefs and ways of life by outside peoples- typically includes clashes whereby the colonized people are encouraged and/or forced to take on the values and beliefs of the colonizers”(Weaver). The goal of the European colonists, when they arrived in America, was to impose their Christian values and beliefs, along with their social, economic, and political structures onto Native American civilization.

Prior to Coloniztion, Native American society was matrilineal, meaning descent was determined through the female line. Also, Native women typically "owned most or all of the property" held by a family (Weaver).Native American women were viewed as equals and often held important roles in society. White women captured by the Natives also were witnesses to the respectable way in which they handled their women captors. "I have been in the midst of roaring Lions, and Savage Bears, that feared neither God, nor Man, nor the Devil. . . and yet not one of them ever offered the least abuse of unchastity to me in word or action" (Rowlandson 1974, 108-109), said one woman on her experience of being a prisoner of war. White women began to see the respect Native men had for all women and the equality they shared with their women as something European society should adopt, much to the dismay of the male colonizers.

The Colonists Viewed this equalty of men and women in Native American life as a threat to the vary ideals they planned on enforcing upon the Natives. This led the colonists to legitimize their sexists attitudes through federal policies that were aimed at transforming the Native culture to fit European Ideals. They viewed the undermining of women's roles in Native societies as a necessary tool in colonization.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">They introduced boarding schools that would take Native children from their home at a very early age and teach them gender-specific skills deemed appropriate by European society; males in farming and females in domestic skills. In these schools they also introduced the Native children to Christianity which further delivered the message that a patriarchal society was right. Another way the European colonists’ undermined the female role in Native society was European official’s refusal to negotiate treaties or divisions of land with Native women, leaving them powerless in their society.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"//The Idea of Native American women actively participating in the decisions pertaining to the use of land and the governing of their community was widely accepted by Native American nations, however it would be an aspect of native cultures which European colonists could not comprehend and accept."// (Jaimes, M.A. & Halsey T.)

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">These institutionalized actions taken by Europeans during Colonization greatly diminished the role that women play in Native society. The Ideals of the Europeans, as it comes to the role and respect given to women, have been internalized by contemporary Native communities and has led to a rise in domestic violence and sexual abuse as a whole.

[] Jaimes, M.A. & Halsey T. (1992). American Indian women: At the center of indigenous resistance in North America. In M.A. Jaimes (Ed.), //The state of Native America: Genocide, colonization, and resistance (pp.311-344).// Boston: South End Press. [] Rowlandson, Mary. 1974. //A narrative of the captivity and removes of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson//. Fairfield, Wash.: Ye Galleon Press.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Violence Against Native Women as an Extension of Colonialism** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Violence against Native women is rooted in the racism inherent to the imperialist policies that resulted in the subjugation of Native people as a whole. American forces have historically taken encouraged the mutilation if Native soldiers bodies (Smith, 10). Tecumseh, leader of the Shawnee Confederacy, was killed in the Battle of Thames and strips of his skin were cut from his back to make razor-straps (Smith, 11). This desecration of the remains of Native American soldiers was common practice among Andrew Jackson’s troops. American forces used rape and torture as a way of degrading Native people to make them and their land more conquerable; indeed it was Richard Mentor Johnson, Vice President of the United States, who was rumored to have killed Tecumseh in battle. These histories of warfare have contributed to the continued perceptions of Native peoples and their bodies as invisible, conquerable, and inherently less valuable than those of whites. Native men, like many Men of Color, were often portrayed as barbarous, overtly sexual, and warrior-like by colonial forces as an excuse for the violence committed against them; these ideas continue to hold ground in the conception of Native men today. However, prior to the subjugation of indigenous people through various wars, forceable removal of people from their traditional lands, and genocide, many women in Native American societies enjoyed positions of power or at least respect. There are even cases of white women from the 18th and 19th century leaving colonial villages to live with Native Americans because of increased equality. White women who were forceably taken in raids by Native Americans reported that they never suffered physical or sexual harm in the time they were in captivity. The problems the Native American community is suffering in regards to domestic and sexual violence have only existed in these proportions in the modern era, after generations of Native people were murdered, sent to boarding schools which derided indigenous cultures, and forced onto reservations.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Violence** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Native American women experience t he highest rate of violence of any group in the United States. Three fourths of Native Women have experienced some type of sexual assault in their lives (NOW). Native Women suffer a violent crime rate of three and a half times the national average (NOW). Native women are murdered (predominately by domestic partners) at a rate 10 times the national average. A larger percentage of these attacks against Native women were committed by white men in comparison to other ethnic groups.

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Hom****icide** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Native American and Alaskan Native Women made up 27 percent of the those murdered within their ethnic group between 1970 and 2002. White women made up 26 percent; while African American women composed 19 percent of the murders of all African Americans. However, because there are a greater number of murders of African-Americans than NAAN women (The average number of murders for African Americans per year is 1,160, while the average for Native people is 36) African-Am erican women are actually at a greater risk than Native Women. Native women //are// considered more at risk than White women, and in certain contexts are even more vulnerable than statistics indicate. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Domestic Violence** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Native women are especially susceptible to losing their children in situations of domestic abuse. There are cases of Native women staying in abusive situations in order to maintain custody o f their children because tribes come to the aid of men to keep custody.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 24px;">Native American women have the highest rate of intimate partner violence including assault, robbery, and rape.

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Violence and Law Enforcement** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">One of the biggest challenges in alleviating the domestic and sexual abuse that affects Native American women is healing the disconnect between Native people and Law enf orcement. Women living on tribal lands who report crimes often find that there is little incentive for state law enforcement to investigate these crimes, and federal efforts are scarce. This means that even when Native Women report cases of domestic and sexual assault, there is no one to investigate or prosecute the crime; at best only 50% of domestic violence cases get reported to police; and only 6% of these cases result in an arrest. In many cases when law enforcement is called the perpetrator answers the door and is able to convince law enforcement not to enter; lack of incentive and ambiguity surrounding tribal verses state jurisdiction have created an environment where Native American women feel forgotten by both their tribe and the state. An even more unsettling statistic shows that the majority of rapes of Native American women are perpetrated by white men from outside of the reservation, these cases are almost never prosecuted, as state officers will not prosecute crimes committed on tribal lands, while tribal governments do not have the authority to prosecute non-natives.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 24px;">**The Major Crimes Act**- (1885) Gave federal governments jurisdiction over certain felony charges (murder, manslaughter, child abuse, and rape included) effectively preventing tribal governments from exhorted over crimes that take place on Native American land. The tribe may conduct a simultaneous trial of these case only if all parties involved are Native; non-Natives often are not prosecuted because the federal government does not enforce these cases all the time.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 24px;">**The Indian Civil Rights Act**- (1968) Intended to act as a stand in for the Bill of Rights, limited the punishments tribal governments could give to 6 months of jail and a fine of 500 dollars; effectively stopping tribal governments from administering punishments for serious crimes.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Sexual Violence** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Native American women are almost 3 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than White, African American, or Asian American women. These assaults are also more likely to involve acts of violence aside from the rape; a higher number of these acts of violence results in injuries requiring medical care. Only 50% of these sexual assaults are reported to police; just 17% are reported to the police by the victim. Only 6% of reported sexual assaults on Native women result in an arrest being made, this is lower than the statistics for White and African American women, though these numbers are low overall. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Sexual and Reproductive Health** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Native American women have twice the rate of HIV/AIDS compared with non-Hispanic white women (Office of Minority Health). Native American babies have 1.4 times the rate of infant mortality of non-Hispanic white babies, they are twice as likely to die from SIDS, and 30% more likely to die from complications from low birth weight (OMH). Native mothers are 3.7 times as likely as non-Hispanic white women to give birth without prenatal care.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Coercive Sterilization** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">In the 1970’s the U.S. government began enforcing a policy of forced sterilization of Native Women without their consent through the Indian Health Service; 90% of the funding for these procedures came from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. To this day there is not concrete data to tell us exactly how many women were sterilized due to these policies. WARN (Women of All Red Nations) release data in 1977 reporting that 48% of Native American women of child-bearing age had been sterilized due through these practices (WARN). A more limited study by the General Accounting Office, which covered only 4 of the 12 HIS regions between 1973 and 1976, WARN found 3,406 confirmed cases of involuntary sterilization. This is only a partial sample of the all Native people; in 1970 there were only 80,000 Native Americans in the United States. Sterilization of Native people was not limited to women; some estimates put the number of Native American men who were sterilized at 10 percent. These procedures occurred either unbeknownst to the patient or under coercion from (predominantly male) doctors and social workers. In one case, Norma Jean Serena, a Native American mother had her two children taken away and was sterilized after the birth of her third; all three children were placed in foster care. Three years later Serena challenged the ruling, citing discrepancies between the social worker’s assessment of her children, which stated that they were dirty and developmentally behind, and a doctor’s, who found them to be “alert and in good health” (Johansen). It came to light that anonymous tipsters called social services to report that African American friends of Serena’s visited often; this is believed to be the impetus of the investigation. Even after the court ruled in Serena’s favor, calling for her children to be returned to her after three years in foster care, Armstrong County stalled the process for 6 months, returning them only under threat of a contempt of court citation.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Today these colonial frameworks remain ingrained in the discourse (or lack thereof) surrounding Native people and their rights. The interests and histories of Native Americans and tribal governments living in the United States today are conspicuously absent from the public consciousness.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Andrea Smith- Not and Indian Tradition, The sexual Colonization of Native Peoples <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">[]

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 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Culturally Sensitive Interventions **

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American Indian and Alaska Native women who have suffered violent or sexual victimization often rely on their own communities for help and support. Since they come from a different culture they have certain ways of dealing with situations that have negative effects on their lives. Many American Indian and Alaska Native communities are different from people of other cultures in that they have unique cultural ceremonies that can be important resources for women healing from victimization. Such traditional practices as talking circles, naming ceremonies, and sweat lodge ceremonies have been recognized for their therapeutic and curing potential for centuries (Bachman). One form of dispute resolution that has recently become an increasingly popular example of restorative justice, has transcended the US boundaries and received extensive international attention is Navajo Peacemaking. The goal of the Navajo law is nourishment of the “ongoing relationships with the immediate and extended family, relatives, neighbors and community" (Bachman). The concept of peacemaking goes back to the beginning of time and is embedded in the journey narrative. Another way to address problems was to talk about them in a controlled way. This talking out became the Diné peacemaking process. The Diné peacemaking process uses consensual agreement of the parties as the primary tool. Participation in Diné Peacemaking is wholly voluntary. The parties and participants are invited to attend, and decisions resolving disputes are reached by talking things out and a solution is reached by consent (Peacemaking Guide). This system came before the court system. The current peacemaking system uses the Navajo Nation Council's newly enacted law, "Fundamental Law of the Diné". The foundation of the enacted law is the Holy People's teachings, concepts, principles and rules (Peacemaking Guide). ======

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Other researchers believe that community-level interventions are the most appropriate ways to respond to the problem of violence again women in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Kanuhkwene project-This project was developed by Oneida women on their Wisconsin reservation to address certain critical social issues including domestic violence (Hagen). Women consistently report gaps in the delivery system of other interventions, such as the lack of transportation, lack of childcare, and lack of programs to serve pregnant women. Their meetings to discover causes of problems gradually evolve into circles of mutual assistance wherein women themselves take care of one another. They also return to traditional methods of help: using herbs for medicine rather than pharmaceuticals, natural childbirth techniques, sweat lodge cleansings, and others (Bachman). ======

Interventions occurring in healthcare settings that address IPV and rape and sexual assault within American Indian and Alaska Native communities primarily revolve around screening and referral practices. Typically, healthcare interventions do not engage in remediation interventions like offering victims counseling services and advocacy. Many of the healthcare interventions are designed to identify the occurrence of physical violence and sexual assault in the lives of their patients, as well to provide resources and referrals when appropriate (Bachman). Members of federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes are able to seek service at tribal facilities with Indian Health Service funding or at an IHS facility. “In IHS facilities, American Indian and Alaska Native women can get treatment for injuries, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and other consequences of sexual victimization with fewer financial concerns than many non-American Indian and Alaska Native women” (Bachman).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Health Care-Based Interventions **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Restorative Justice **

In First Nation and Native American justice, healing, along with reintegrating individuals into their community, is paramount. Native justice involves bringing together victims, offenders and their supporters to resolve a problem. This parallels the philosophy and practice of the restorative justice movement. In the Native worldview there is a deep connection between justice and spirituality; harmony and balance are essential to both (Mirsky).

Bachman, Ronet, Heather Zaykowski, Rachel Kallmyer, Margarita Poteyeva, and Christina Lanier. "Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and the Criminal Justice Response: What Is Known." U.S. Department of Justice, Aug. 2008. Web. 6 Dec. 2011. [].

Hagen, Janet W. "Kanuhkwene: An Empowering Concept by and for Oneida Women." ERIC – World’s Largest Digital Library of Education Literature. 1995. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. [].

Mirsky, Laura. "Restorative Justice Practices of Native American, First Nation and Other Indigenous People of North America: Part Two by Laura Mirsky." //Welcome to International Institute for Restorative Practices//. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. <http://www.iirp.edu/library/natjust2.html>.

"Peacemaking Guide." The Judicial Branch of the Navajo Nation; Navajo Courts. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. [].