The effects of colonialism have been devastating to the Indigenous population of the United States, beginning in the 15th century with repercussions persisting today. This has generated an immeasurable increase in women victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, and disappearances, as well as an utter lack of justice and protection of Native women by state and federal government.
THE ROLE OF PRE-AND POST-COLONIAL NATIVE WOMEN
The identity of a Native American woman is generally rooted in her spirituality, her extended family, and her tribe. Before interaction with Europeans, most Native cultures were based on gender balance—women and men often shared social, economic, and ritual roles equally. Many Native American societies, such as the Iroquois, were matrilocal and matrifocal, which implied the dominance of the female figure within the community and one's family. The division of labour between the sexes was typically a cooperative and non-oppressive arrangement in which each person was engaged with the work they were considered able to do.
The arrival of the European man on the American continent led to automatic prejudice against Native women, with colonisers depicting them as prostitutes or women who were dangerous and submissive to their men. In the 19th century, many Indigenous traditions such as the Sun Dance [1] were prohibited because Europeans considered them pagan rituals. Instead of their traditional religion, the Natives were supposed to worship a patriarchal male god who allowed the punishment of sins. The loss of the Sun Dance further disrupted previously egalitarian social and economic roles. [2]
The pressure to assimilate to the European culture led to new norms and behaviours, including a European education policy, which failed to recognise the differences within the Native tribes. These inner crises of Native culture and society turned into a further battle that Lakota women and other tribes had to face.
Still, in modern years, the Department of Justice report entitled “American Indians and Crime” revealed that Native American women are victims of violent crimes at a rate of three-and-a-half times the national average. Furthermore, they continue to have reduced recourse to justice or defence against abuse, as they receive very little help from the police. Indeed, police and courts overlook cases of violence involving Native American women due to the alleged confusion between federal and tribal jurisdiction.
EVOLUTION OF GOVERNMENT LAWS TO STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Based on national representative samples, it is estimated that in their lifetime, nearly one out of three women in the United States has survived physical violence, and one out of ten has survived rape. The Violence Against Women Act has made it possible to expand on legal grounds tools to combat violence and abuse against women. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was signed in September 1994 by former US President Bill Clinton. Violence against women increased to up to 9.6 victims out of 1,000 women aged 12 and over in 2018. Among these, the most disconcerting data are those concerning Indigenous women. In Native villages in Alaska, four out of five women have suffered violence, and more than 50% have suffered sexual violence, reaching a rate of physical aggression 12 times higher than the rest of the country.
Violence against Indigenous women is certainly a consequence of the fact that for more than 35 years, US law has deprived all Indigenous communities of their authority over non-native criminals. As a result, until recent changes to the law in 2013, Native courts did not have the authority to prosecute non-native criminals, who, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, commit 88% of violent crimes against Native women. This scenario is worsened by a lack of organisation between the state and federal officials, who have the authority to protect Native women and children but are unable to sustain the pace of the complaints they receive. Between 2005 and 2009, US lawyers rejected more than 67% of the complaints received by the Indian reservations regarding sexual abuse and other forms of violence. Furthermore, due to the lack of law enforcement, many of the crimes in Native communities are not even investigated.
To address these shortcomings, in 2010, President Obama signed the Tribal Law and Order Act intending to control and condemn crime in Indigenous communities, focusing on violence against women especially in the Native villages of Alaska. The law strengthens the authority of the tribes to prosecute and punish criminals, provides the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) with greater access to crime information sharing databases, and authorises new guidelines for the management of crimes of sexual and domestic violence, encouraging the training of law enforcement and judicial offices.
Only in 2013, with the extension of VAWA, the Reauthorization Act allows tribes to try and convict non-natives for cases of domestic violence and abuse within a relationship, rape, and other serious crimes. However, it is necessary to prove that the (i) victim is a native, (ii) the crime took place in the Indigenous reservation of the tribe in question, and (iii) a non-native defendant must have sufficient links to the Indigenous tribe.
These new jurisdictional provisions came into effect in March 2015. Since that year, eight native nations have been exercising the new special criminal jurisdiction against domestic violence. While VAWA can be considered a victory for many Indigenous tribes, the situation in the villages of Alaska remains critical. Given that the law states that non-natives are punishable when they commit a crime within native territories, only one of the 229 tribes in Alaska is classified by federal law as Native villages. Further, in at least 75 of these villages, there is no police presence.
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT RESPONSES
The numerous reports of abductions and murders of Native women and girls represent one of the most horrific aspects of the spectrum of violence committed against them. Too many times these injustices have been committed to a response of deafening institutional and governmental silence. The murder rate of Native women is more than ten times the national average in some reservations. Often, these disappearances or murders are connected to crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and sex trafficking.
In 2017, the Montana Congressional Delegation led the way for passage of a Senate resolution declaring May 5th as a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls. This marked day was the birthday of Hanna Harris, a 21-year-old member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe who went missing on 4 July 2013. Each year since 2017, the national movement to end violence against Native women has organised activities in support of the May 5th National Day of Awareness. This National Day also highlights the need for ongoing grassroots advocacy, changes to laws and policies, and increased allocation of resources to end these injustices. The issues surrounding missing and murdered Native women must be brought into the public dialogue to increase accountability for these crimes. More recent changes, since 2019, are afoot. For example, President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a White House task force on missing and murdered Indigenous women. Its mandate consists in developing protocols to apply to new and unsolved cases and creating a multi-jurisdictional team to review cold cases.
Despite the obligation to protect Indigenous communities, violence against Native women in the United States has reached epidemic proportions and far exceeds that of any other female population in the United States. 34% of Native women are raped in their lifetime, and 39% are victims of domestic violence. Between 2010 and 2018, among US urban communities, where most incidents occur, 71 communities were observed from which data was gathered. In those 71 cities, 506 cases of missing and murdered Native women and girls in urban areas were reported. Out of 506 cases, 128 were reported missing, 280 were murdered, and 98 are still unknown. These statistics demonstrate the urgent need to tackle those legal barriers that for years have prevented reservations from protecting their small towns.
While many issues need to be addressed to confront this human rights crisis, it is clear that limitations placed on tribal government jurisdiction by the US are a key contributing factor, with non-native perpetrators falling through the cracks of the system. The National Congress of American IndiansTask Force on Violence Against Women supports the congressional restoration of tribal authority to prosecute non-Indians who commit domestic violence and related crimes on tribal lands. Additionally, the Task Force supports national legislation and policy that contains tribal specific provisions that would provide tribes with the resources needed to prosecute violent crimes committed against Indigenous women and to adequately serve Native victims, as well as enhance tribal sovereignty. With proper authority and willingness to give Native women justice and, therefore, dignity, tribes can restore safety in their communities and heal them from the violence, pain, and trauma they have endured over generations.
[1] The Sun Dance could be practiced by both sexes with some small differences. Men, on the fourth day of the ritual, slip two pieces of sharp bison bone through two incisions made with a scalpel under the skin of the chest. The two bones are tied to ropes knotted to the sacred tree placed in the centre of the consecrated space in which the rite takes place. For women, it is enough to offer tiny pieces of skin, as they already offer blood to the earth through menstruation and childbirth.
[2] The Sun Dance was the most important ceremony practised by the Lakota (Sioux) and nearly all Plains Indians. It was a time of renewal for the tribe, people, and earth. Furthermore, the Sun Dance was practiced to thank earth and sun for the past year and to ask for prosperity for the next one. Through this dance, men and women symbolically gave their bodies to other human and animal beings.
Giulia graduated in Communications and is a student in Human Rights and Multi-level Governance. She works for a trade union for workers' rights. She is an activist for the rights of indigenous peoples, for the rights of prisoners, and the rights of women. She is the co-founder of Labiba, an editorial project about Palestine.