Domestic violence is a prevalent issue dating back to the early 1900s on the Navajo Nation. Domestic violence is defined not only as violence but also any form of abuse in a domestic setting. Incidence on the Navajo Reservation though possibly under-reported is on a steady incline. There are many sociological tendencies of Navajo Reservation Natives surrounding domestic violence on the reservation. Domestic violence is correlated to substance abuse, social network, childhood abuse, governmental assimilation efforts and risk factors in adults. Influence on sociological tendency comes from both internal and external forces. Internally the viscosity of Navajo culture largely influences the behavioral patterns involving domestic violence.
Externally the US government influence is considered historically and contemporaneously; spanning from early government cultural assimilation programs to the existing relationship between the federal government and the Navajo Nation. Geographic influence is another contributing factor; including the lack of accessibility to the police and the large distances between the reservation and possible outside aid. Effective efforts against domestic violence are more recent as traditions have changed and become less effective in prosecuting perpetrators of domestic violence.
Influencing factors
External federal and societal influence
Federal and societal influences should be considered separately when looking at historical factors of current-day domestic violence. Societal influences refer to non-governmental actions, while federal influences generally refer to legislation enacted that directly impacted Native American populations.
Assimilation
Societal influence on Navajo culture was largely focused on the assimilation of the Navajo into what was viewed as more mainstream American culture. Past efforts to aid or force assimilation societally include the use of American Indian boarding schools, which were used to force children to use English instead of Navajo, attend Christian church services, forgo traditional religious and cultural coming-of-age ceremonies, and generally move away from being 'Navajo' and towards being more 'American'. Another prominent coordinated effort to help Navajo youth assimilate was the Indian Placement Program, operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 1947 to 1996.
Research on the effect of forced assimilation has shown some correlation to rates of domestic abuse on Navajo reservations, although causation has not been sufficiently shown.
Legislation
The federal government of the United States has, in the past and to varying degrees, passed many bills and adjudicated many cases that involve the sovereignty of Native American tribes. Some of the intended results of previous bills have been to move Native American tribes to reservations and to define the limits of Native American land ownership, religious practices, and citizenship. The cases adjudicated generally involved sovereignty of Native American criminal prosecutions, the levying of taxes on reservations, and questions of property rights. In the late 1800s the American government urged Navajo's to appoint male leaders, directly opposing the Navajo matriarchy.
Paternalism was the primary political attitude when dealing with Native American tribes. In particular, the effects of forced movement from traditional tribal lands to reservations, the removal of native children from homes, and federal action that prevented tribal sovereignty when attempting to deal with criminal cases were some of the biggest sources of conflict with Native American tribes. The relationship between paternalism and increasing rates of domestic abuse, poverty, alcoholism, and many other additional variables has been studied for decades, with mixed results.
Geographic and economic influence
The physical isolation and high levels of poverty on many reservations could be contributors to the high levels of domestic abuse on Navajo reservations. Additionally, the act of leaving a reservation, whether to seek help for abuse, find employment, or other reasons, can carry a stigma in some Native American cultures.
Poverty on the reservation
Extreme poverty has endured on most Native American reservations for decades. The high levels of economic instability could contribute to the low rate of seeking help off of the reservation. There have also been correlations shown between the level of poverty on reservations and increased levels of single motherhood and divorce, both of which have been shown to correlate to increased risk of domestic violence.