Historical Oppression and Indigenous Families: Uncovering Potential Risk Factors for Indigenous Families Touched by Violence

• Author: Catherine E. Burnette
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12191
• Date: 01 April 2016
• Published date: 01 April 2016

C E. B Tulane University

Historical Oppression and Indigenous Families:

Uncovering Potential Risk Factors for Indigenous

Families Touched by Violence

Violence against Indigenous women in the

United States is higher than for any other racial

group. Indigenous women tend to rely on fami-

lies for support and recovery,yet the risk factors

related to Indigenous families affected by vio-

lence are unknown. Therefore, interviews from

a critical ethnography were used to uncover

the perspectives of Indigenous women who

have experienced intimate partner violence,

along with the professionals who serve them,

to understand potential risk factors that create

vulnerability to and impair recovery from vio-

lence. Several themes emerged from pragmatic

horizon analysis of interviews with 49 Indige-

nous women and professionals who work with

tribal members affected by violence, including

family divisions and parental impairments (i.e.,

intergenerational patterns of absent parental

gures, parental alcohol abuse, and impaired

bonding). Future researchshould examine these

potential risk factors related to families affected

by violence and their connections with historical

oppression.

In this article I explore how historical oppres-

sion has been imposed on and has been inter-

nalized into the daily lives of many Indigenous

School of Social Work, 127 Elk Place, No. 8906, New

Orleans, LA 70112-2699 (cburnet3@tulane.edu).

KeyWords: American Indians, domestic violence, family risk

factors, family violence, historical oppression or trauma,

intimate partner violence, Native Americans.

American families (Burnette, 2015), heighten-

ing Indigenous women’s vulnerability to vio-

lence. Historical oppression is dened as the

intergenerational, chronic, and insidious experi-

ences of subjugation experienced by Indigenous

communities. The term Indigenous was cho-

sen because it acknowledges the distinct social,

political (e.g., sovereign status in the United

States based on a legal and trust responsibil-

ity from the federal government to safeguard

the lives of Indigenous peoples; Committee on

Indian Affairs, 2007), and diverse cultural histo-

ries of Indigenous peoples who share a history

of colonization (Gray, Coates, & Bird, 2013).

Violence against Indigenous women in the

United States is higher than for any other

racial group and has been characterized as an

urgent public health and safety issue (Cross-

land, Palmer, & Brooks, 2013), but less is

understood about violence experienced by

Indigenous peoples than by any other racial

group (Matamonasa-Bennett, 2014). This lack

of understanding limits practitioners’ ability

to address and treat this injustice. The present

study focused on understanding Indigenous fam-

ilies affected by violence; families are highly

salient for Indigenous communities (Red Horse,

1997), and Indigenous women who have experi-

enced violence overwhelmingly rely on families

for support and recovery (Dalla, Marchetti,

Sechrest, & White, 2010).

Although risk factors for violence against

Indigenous women span legal, social, profes-

sional, and personal dimensions (Crossland

et al., 2013), the present study was limited

354 Family Relations 65 (April 2016): 354–368

DOI:10.1111/fare.12191