Native Americans on reservations, in border towns, and in urban areas across the United States often get trapped in pipelines of vulnerability from which they struggle to escape and which impacts how they view their cultural identity. Generational trauma, bordertown violence and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) are enormous issues in American indigenous communities. Generational (or historical) trauma is the emotional and psychological harm across generations of Native Americans caused by land loss and deaths over time. According to Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart, this trauma is the “cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over one’s lifetime and from generation to generation following loss of lives, land and vital aspects of culture.” This trauma often leads to issues such as child abuse, alcoholism, suicide, and other problems in those communities. According to nativehope.org, “the second leading cause of death for Native Americans between age 10 and 34 is suicide.” In 2018 native people were more likely to be killed by police officers than any other minority group in the nation (Center for Disease Control). Generational trauma is a leading cause of violence on reservations and in towns that border reservations. Bordertown violence occurs in the borderlands between Anglo and indigenous communities. Women are often the victims of bordentown violence. According to the Centers for Disease Control in 2018, murder was the third leading cause of death for indigenous women. Native American women, girls and Two Spirits are murdered ten times more than all other ethnicities. Indigenous women are two times more likely to be raped than Anglo-American women. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) reflect bordertown and urban violence against native women and don’t get nearly the same amount of media as missing Anglo women. Nativehope.org states that, "The National Crime Information Center reports that, in 2016, there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls, though the US Department of Justice’s federal missing person database, NamUs, only logged 116 cases." Native Americans can lose hope due to poverty and minimal economic opportunities on these reservations. However not all indigenous people live on reservations. Nativehope.org reports that, “78% of America's Native population lives off of the reservation with 60% of those residing in an urban area.” Urban Native Americans, like those on the reservations and other BIPOC individuals in American cities, also remain in cycles of poverty. With a minimal amount of educational or economic opportunities, and generations of trauma, urban indigenous individuals struggle even more with issues around the loss of Native American culture and identity. As a result of trauma and loss of hope, many Native Americans struggle with their identity.
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