Native women are an overlooked and underserved community of people historically impacted by domestic violence and sexual abuse. According to a report by the National Institute of Justice, 83% of women who participated in surveys on domestic violence are also Native women veterans who have served our country. In many cases when seeking help from the VA, these women have found that traditional cultural healing done by Native healers has had more impact than pharmaceuticals.
This project, created as a collaboration between Trickster Cultural Center and photographer David Tepper, highlights the need to provide holistic services for Native women veterans who are survivors of domestic abuse. Through powerful portraits and interviews, these women share their healing process and what domestic violence has looked like for them.
This exhibit, although focusing on Native women veterans, represents the bigger picture of domestic violence in all communities. In the physical exhibit space at Trickster Cultural Center, the featured portraits of women veterans stand in the middle of the room, surrounded by portraits of other men and women, both Native and non-Native, that have survived domestic violence. Some have experienced acts of physical or verbal domestic violence, or a combination of both. Domestic violence is an issue that affects all communities, all races, and all genders. Together we can bring awareness to these issues and create change for ourselves and for the next generations.
More than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native adults (83 percent) have experienced some form of violence in their lifetime. That's almost 3 million people who have experienced psychological aggression or physical violence by intimate partners, stalking, or sexual violence.
American Indian and Alaska Native women and men have been victimized at similar rates (84.3 percent for women and 81.6 percent for men). They have experienced similar levels of psychological aggression and physical violence by intimate partners. But women have experienced significantly higher levels of sexual violence (56.1 percent versus 27.5 percent for men) and stalking (48.8 percent versus 18.6 percent for men).
More than two in five American Indian and Alaska Native female victims reported being physically injured, and almost half reported needing services. The services most commonly needed were medical care and legal services. Unfortunately, more than a third (38 percent) were unable to receive necessary services.
To Native peoples of North America, “medicine” is an energy found in nature itself and deals with the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual elements of life. A “medicine wheel” is a technology that is used to allow one to become attuned to these elements through the Earth. In a medicine wheel each cardinal direction represents one of the four “great paths”. The North represents the path to wisdom and knowledge. The South represents the path to love and trust. The East represents the path to illumination and clarity. The West represents the path to introspection and transformation.
Each direction is also affiliated with a plant used for healing and spiritual purposes; they are Cedar, Tobacco, Sweetgrass, and Sage. These plants can be burned during prayer and for ritual purposes, often during healing ceremonies, an act known as smudging. These plants are thought to have a positive and purifying energies. Sage, Cedar, and Sweetgrass have physical healing properties, and can be made into a tea to drink.
Traditional healing for Native Americans not only offers physical healing of the body but also a holistic approach to mental and emotional healing. The cultural teachings have a framework for these different types’ situations, like trauma, healing, preparing for battle, and blessings, along with the duality concepts like bad and good, dark and light. By connecting or reconnecting to cultural teachings, domestic violence survivors restore balance and pull on values deep rooted beyond modern day medicine.
In our commitment to support those experiencing domestic violence, Trickster Cultural Center has compiled a list of resources for victims and survivors: