For decades Native American culture and language was banned and outlawed. Children were taken from their homes, put in boarding schools, their hair cut, traditional clothing removed, and their names changed in an attempt to erase their savage nature and white wash them. Many of these children have been found in mass graves.
Native American women go missing and are murdered at an extremely alarming rate. In 2016, there were 5,712 reports of missing Native American women in the United States. Reports state that 85% of Native Indigenous Women have experienced sexism and violence.
The dominate American culture has forced violence upon the many nations since the white man’s arrival. It is a part of the cycle of oppression that those who are systematically, over long periods of time, exposed and subjected to overwhelming violence, that they will develop an internalized violent reaction when triggered. These reactions are not rational and many times subjected upon those closest to us.