Social & Cultural Diversity -Events and Impact

5 People of Native American and Alaskan Native Descent

TOPICS COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER

•  History

•  Geography and Demography

•  Social, Psychological, and Physical Health Issues

•  Acculturation

•  Cultural Philosophies and Values

○  Native American Identity

•  Implications for Mental Health Professionals

•  Case Study

•  Summary

Native American and Alaskan Natives refer to people having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000c). The origins of Native American and Alaskan Native people have been greatly debated.

One of the most insightful theories regarding the people who occupied the New World was proposed by Jose de Acosta, a 16th century Spanish Jesuit missionary. De Acosta was also referred to as a pioneer of the geophysical sciences or as one of the Founders of Physical Geography given his novel observations of natural phenomenon and his significant writings, including Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias (i.e., Natural and Moral History of the Indias, published in Madrid, Spain, in 1590; “Jose de Acosta,” n.d.).

de Acosta theorized that North America had been settled before the birth of Christ by a group of hunters and their families, who in following large and largely extinct animal herds, passed over a land bridge or narrow strait from Asia. Although the wooly mammoth, giant short faced bear, scimitar cat, and American lion are extinct, the muskox thrives today on Seaward Island in Alaska (National Park Service, 2015).

Proponents of the land bridge theory believe that very low sea levels resulted in a partial drying of the strait and created a land bridge that allowed passage between the two continents. Temporary ice melts for several thousand years most likely created natural passageways in the ice sheets for large game and their spear-wielding human predators (Waldman, 2000). An exploration of the eastern borders of the Russian Empire was chartered by Peter the Great, Russian Czar from 1682 to 1725 who recruited Vitus Behring, a Danish navigator. The Bering land bridge was named after him. It is widely accepted that the first Americans arrived in North America by way of the Bering land bridge, or Beringia. While anthropologists agree with de Acosta’s theory, the debate rages over timing issues, as to whether the first people arrived in the Americas more than or less than 15,000 years ago. DNA studies comparing Native Americans with other population groups found three distinct genetic mutations in Mongolia and Siberia, suggesting a separation as early as 30,000 years ago.

Callaway (2014) published an article in Nature detailing a story about the remains of a young boy, ceremonially buried 12,600 years ago in what is now known as Montana. The child, under the age of 2, has the ancestry of one of the earliest populations in the Americas, known as the Clovis culture. The boy’s genome sequence revealed that Native people, who span North and South America, are all descendants from one population that trekked from Asia across the no longer in existence Bering land bridge. Than (2014) noted that this DNA was compared with other DNA, which showed that it was similar to the genomes of people living in Siberia and East Asian ancestors. The team also discovered a close genetic affinity between the boy’s genetic material and those of 52 Native American tribes living in South America and Canada. Native American creation stories tell of being brought into existence by the Great Spirit or having come from the womb of Mother Earth. In writing of these origins, Gunn Allen (1994) honored Woman:

There is a spirit that pervades everything that is capable of powerful song and radiant movement, and that moves in and out of the mind. The colors of this spirit are multitudinous, a glowing, pulsing rainbow. Old Spider Woman is one name for this quintessential spirit, and Earth Woman is another, and what they together have made is called Creation, Earth, creatures, plants, and light. (p. 13)

History

It was estimated that over 5,000 years ago, the native population was at its highest (Than, 2011). According to Russell (1994), there were approximately 1 million inhabitants within the continental United States (Russell, 1994). Upon his arrival to the new world in 1492, Christopher Columbus thought he had landed in India and thus referred to the Native people as “Indios,” “Indien” or “Indianer” (Brown, 1981). According to a genetic study (Than, 2011) that used samples of ancient and modern mitochondrial DNA passed down only from mothers to daughters, the number of Native Americans quickly shrank by roughly half following European contact more than 500 years ago. It did not take long, just a few years after the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World, that the decimation of Native people began. This study supports historical accounts that the arrival of Europeans triggered unprecedented losses for indigenous populations across North and South America in the form of ethnic cleansing, starvation, slavery, genocide, war, and disease. Typhus, smallpox, and measles were the greatest killers (Vernon, 2002).

In 1790, the enactment of federal policies with the goal of displacing Native people began. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was created in 1824 and is responsible for the U.S. relationship with the 566 federally recognized Native American tribes and Alaskan communities. The job of Thomas McKenney, the first director of the BIA, was to manage Native schools and administer Native trade. For many Native peoples, the BIA represented betrayal: “They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land, and they took it” (Brown, 1981).

America’s defeat of the British during the War of 1812 had helped create a nation with little concern for European alliances. In March 10, 1821, U.S. President James Monroe appointed General Andrew Jackson as commissioner of the United States to take possession of Florida. In this role, he was given the full powers of governor. Four months later, on July 17, 1821, Spain transferred Florida to the United States (Florida Department of State, 2015). The annexation of Spanish Florida contributed to America’s perception of Indians as hindrances to the expansionist interests of the millions of white European immigrants coming to America.

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was under the leadership of Andrew Jackson, the 17th president of the United States, from 1829 to 1837. The act was intended to relocate Indians to a new Indian country, west of the Mississippi, not to include Missouri, Louisiana, or Arkansas (Hoxie, 1996; Russell, 1994). The cultural and psychological violence is evident in Jackson’s Second Annual Message to Congress, given shortly after he became the president of the United States. In this message, he announced the benevolent policy of the government with respect to Native people and its aims, which was to support the millions of Europeans immigrating to the U.S. and to economically advance states. Ultimately this policy removed Native people from Mississippi, the western part of Alabama, and other southern states. Jackson said in 1830, “It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly thirty years, in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy consummation” (as cited in Library of Congress, 2015).

The policy was seen as kindly and Godly, saving Native people from themselves. Jackson said,

By opening the whole territory between Tennessee on the north and Louisiana on the south to the settlement of the whites it will incalculably strengthen the southwestern frontier and render the adjacent States strong enough to repel future invasions without remote aid. It will relieve the whole State of Mississippi and the western part of Alabama of Indian occupancy, and enable those States to advance rapidly in population, wealth, and power. It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites; free them from the power of the States; enable them to pursue happiness in their own way and under their own rude institutions; will retard the progress of decay, which is lessening their numbers, and perhaps cause them gradually, under the protection of the Government and through the influence of good counsels, to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 2015)

Jackson considered this act of removal to be benevolent because the government was funding the relocation. To the Native people, it was their “trail of tears” or the westward herding of the “Five Civilized Tribes” (Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles) to Oklahoma. During the cold and brutal winter, people traveled by foot, horseback, wagon, and steamboat. People were hungry, cold, and sick, and hundreds died from starvation, exhaustion, disease, exposure, and accidents (Brown, 1981; Hoxie, 1996). Although Native resistance to removal was fierce, their oppressors were opportunistic, cunning, and destructive. For example, in New Echota (present day Georgia), the capital of the Cherokee nation from 1825 until their forced removal in 1830, the Georgia militia destroyed the printing press of the Cherokee Phoenix, a newspaper written in the Cherokee syllabary that Sequoyah had created (Waldman, 2000).

In 1928 and prior to the beginning of the Great Depression, The “Meriam Report” was published; the government study described the intense poverty and living conditions on the reservations, including disease, morbidity rates, terrible care of children attending the Indian boarding schools, and catastrophic aftereffects of the erosion of Indian land caused by the General Allotment Act. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal policies were designed as a response and focused on relief, recovery, and reform. This context gave rise to passing of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) in 1934, also known as the Wheeler-Howard Act or the Indian New Deal. The IRA began a new era of federal government and tribal relations. The most important aspect of the IRA was the promotion of the exercise of tribal self-governing powers (UAF Interior Aleutians Campus, n.d.).

Another goal of the IRA was to end restrictions against Native religions. Today, the Reorganization Act remains the basis of federal legislation concerning Indian affairs. World War II ushered in a period of greater attempts by the government to integrate Native people into American society. As had been typical of the past, more sacred lands were lost during this time and cultures were destroyed. During the 1960s and 1970s, the aims of the act were reinforced by the further transfer of administrative responsibility for tribal lands to Native people. During the 1970s, many traditional Indians were arrested for possessing sacred objects such as eagle feathers or for using peyote in religious ceremonies. Protests against this interference contributed to the 1978 passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. Congress concluded that Native ways of worship were an essential part of Native life and this law sought to protect and preserve such religious liberties (Hoxie, 1996).

Today, Native American and Alaskan Natives are a heterogeneous group, with 252 tribal languages and 566 federally recognized Indian tribes in the United States and in Alaska (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). There are nearly 80,000 Alaskan Native tribal members that comprise the 229 Alaska region jurisdictions. This area stretches from Ketchikan in the Southeast Panhandle to Barrow on the Arctic Ocean and from Eagle on the Yukon Territory border to Atka in the Aleutian chain (U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs, 2015).

Native American and Alaskan Native tribes have tremendous diversity in customs, language, and family structure (Hoxie, 1996). Aleut, Arapahoe, Arikara, Catawba, Central American Indian, Comanche, Colville, Cree, Crow, Erie, Eskimo, Hopi, Hupa, Inupiat, Kiowa, Lumbee, Osage, Ottawa, Menominee, Mi’kmaq, Mohave, Narragansett, Ottawa, Paiute, Pima, Potawatomi, Seminole, Seneca, Shawnee, Shoshone, Tlingit-Haida, Tununak, Ute, Wampanoag, Winnebago, Yaqui, Yup’ik, and Zuni represent only a fraction of Native American and Alaskan Native tribal groups. (See  Population Box 5.1: The Largest Native American Tribal Groups ).

Population Box 5.1: Largest Native American Tribal Groups

1. Cherokee: 819,105

2. Navajo: 332,129

3. Choctaw: 195,764

4. Mexican American Indian: 175,494

5. Chippewa: 170,742

6. Sioux: 170,110

7. Apache: 111,810

8. Blackfoot: 105,304

9. Creek: 88,332

10. Iroquois: 81,002

Source: Norris, Vines, and Hoeffel (2012).

Geography and Demography

In 2014, there were 6.5 million Americans who identify as American Indian, Alaskan Native, either alone or in combination with one or more other races (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015b). The nation’s Native American and Alaska Native population totaled 6.5 million as of July 1, 2014, up by 93,000, or 1.4%, since July 1, 2013. The increase in numbers among Native people is a reflection of better census methods and wider acknowledgment of mixed ancestry. The 2010 Census revealed that there were 2.9 million people who indicated Native American and Alaskan Native ancestry alone, representing 0.9% of the total population (Humes, Jones, & Ramirez, 2011). Another 2.3 million people indicated American Indian/Alaskan Native with another race. Since the 2000 census, there has been an increase of 1.1 million people in the nation’s American Indian and Alaska Native population. This represents an increase of 26.7% compared to a national growth rate of 9.7%.

More than half of the Native American population reported more than one race. Between 2000 and 2010, the Native American population grew 18%, from 2.5 million to 2.9 million. The majority of Native American and Alaskan Natives have mixed backgrounds as biracial and multiracial people and a variety of phenotypic characteristics are found among Native American Indians (Humes, Jones, & Ramirez, 2011).

In 2013, there were 14 states that had more than 100,000 Native Americans and Alaska Natives: California, Oklahoma, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Washington, New York, North Carolina, Florida, Alaska, Michigan, Oregon, Colorado, and Minnesota (U. S. Census Bureau, 2014a). California, Oklahoma, and Arizona had the highest percentages among states with the American Indian and Alaska Native population. California had the largest American Indian and Alaska Native population of any state in 2014 (1.1 million) and the largest numeric increase since 2013 (13,000). Alaska had the highest percentage (19.4%). Los Angeles had the largest American Indian and Alaska Native population of any county in 2014 (235,000), and Maricopa, Arizona, the largest numeric increase (4,700) since 2013. Shannon, South Dakota, on the Nebraska border and located within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation had the highest percentage at 93% (U.S. Census, 2014a). (See  Knowledge Check 5.1 : The 14 States With More Than 100,000 Native Americans and Alaska Natives.)

Of single race Native Americans and Alaskan Natives, Alaska alone had the largest proportion at 14.3%. Wyoming and South Dakota had 3.4% and 3.2%, respectively, of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives in their populations. All other states combined represented 34% of the Native American and Alaskan Native population (U.S. Census, 2014a).

In 2010, there were 557,185 American Indian and Alaska Native families. Of these, 57% percent were married-couple families, including those with children. The average age of marriage for Native American and Alaskan Native woman was 26.8, and for men, it was 29.6. These data are not significantly different from the general population. In 2004, the greatest percentage of Native American and Alaskan Native adults were married, at 40.1% percent (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011).

Overall, about 68% of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives live in family households. Twenty percent of these families are maintained by a woman only with no husband present, and 7% were male only with no wife present. Nonfamily households comprised 31.8% (U. S. Census Bureau, 2014a). A nonfamily household is defined as people who live alone or people living with unrelated individuals.

Similar to blacks, Native American and Alaskan Natives are also more likely than non-Hispanic whites to live with and care for grandchildren. About 7% of Native American and Alaskan Natives aged 30 and older were grandparents living in the same household with their co-resident grandchildren under the age of 18. More than half of grandparents (58%) were also responsible for the care of their grandchildren. With respect to the age distribution of American Indian and Alaska Native alone-or-in combination population, nearly 65% are 16 to 64 years of age; 28% are under the age of 16, and 7% are over 64 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011).

About 75% of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives aged 5 and older spoke only English at home, compared with 94% among non-Hispanic whites. Roughly 28% of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives spoke a language other than English at home (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). The speakers of Inuit-Yupik-Aleut languages are primarily members of First Nations in North America. Some speakers live on the coast and islands of eastern Siberia, Russia. There are approximately 90,000 Inuit, Aleut, or Yup’ik speakers (Sorosoro, 2011).

In 2010, there were 334 federal and state recognized reservations. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 20% of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives lived inside an American Indian area (i.e., federal reservation and/or off reservation trust land, Oklahoma tribal statistical area, state reservation, or federal- or state-designated area) (Norris et al., 2012).

In addition to earlier federal laws that played a role in the populating of urban areas with Native people, high unemployment on tribal lands has contributed to the move of Native people to urban areas. In several states, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah, less than 50% of Native Americans who are 16 years or older and who are living in or near the tribal areas of federally recognized tribes are working (Indian Affairs, 2014).

Horse (2001) maintains that Native Americans are geographically dislocated from their homeland within a culture bombarded by the Internet, the U.S. school system, peer pressure, and the mass media. Despite the reality of some Native people’s cultural discontinuity, which refers to the gulf between mainstream expectations and traditional cultural values maintained by many Native people, bicultural survival is a reality for many (Garrett & Pichette, 2000). Arndt (2011) discussed the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that characterizes many Native people contending with colonization and its deleterious aftereffects.

Knowledge Check 5.1

The 14 States With More Than 100,000 Native Americans and Alaska Natives

1. California

2. Oklahoma

3. Arizona

4. Texas

5. New Mexico

6. Washington

7. New York

8. North Carolina

9. Florida

10. Alaska

11. Michigan

12. Oregon

13. Colorado

14. Minnesota

Social, Psychological, and Physical Health Issues

Compared with the non-Hispanic white population, Native Americans and Alaskan Natives had a larger proportion of younger people and a smaller proportion of older people in 2010. Twenty-eight percent are younger than age 18, whereas only 7% are 65 years or older. The median age among Native American and Alaska Natives is 30.8, which is nearly 7 years younger than the median age for the non-Hispanic white population (U. S. Census Bureau, 2014a).

In 2013, the poverty rate for American Indians and Alaskan Natives was 29.2% compared to 15.9% for the nation. This rate was the highest of other poverty rates for non-Hispanic whites, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and blacks (Infoplease, 2015). For Native American and Alaska Native children, economic conditions have worsened. In 2013, 36% of children lived in poverty, which is seven points higher than it was in 2008 (Kena et al., 2015).

In 2013, the median household income for single-race Native American and Alaskan Natives was $36,252, which is nearly $16,000 less than the median income for the general population. Income is related to status of housing. Although 54% of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives lived in owner-occupied homes, the percentage of renters is 44.5% compared with a national rate of 32.9%. Nationally, 64% of Americans own homes (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014b). Among Native Americans and Alaska Natives who own their homes, the median value is $95,000, which is $60,000 less than the median value of $154,000 for white owner-occupied homes.

Nationally, 26.9% of single-race Native American and Alaskan Natives in 2013 did not have a usual or normal source of health care and were not regularly seen by a doctor or a clinic that can provide preventive care (U. S. Census Bureau, 2014a). The lack of health insurance among the general population is 14.5%. As a result of treaty obligations, Native Americans receive their health services largely through the federal government and the Indian Health Service. Since 1955, the U.S. Public Health Service was designated to provide federally funded health care to all Native Americans and Alaskan Natives who belonged to federally recognized tribes and lived on or near the reservations throughout 12 service areas (Byrd & Clayton, 2003). Because the majority (78%) of the Native and Alaska native alone-or-in combination population live outside of American Indian and Alaska Native areas, the quality of and access to federally funded health care has been adversely affected by the way in which Native people are scattered throughout the country (Joe, 2003). In light of these and other data that reveal the poor quality of life for unacceptably high numbers of Native American Indian and Alaskan Native people, many First Nation people feel distrust for the dominant culture (Heinrich, Corbine, & Thomas, 1990).

More recently, a total of 3,771 Alaskan Native research participants were recruited in 26 communities across three regions of Alaska to investigate the presence and prevalence of depression. The researchers found higher rates of depression among women. Males who were not married or living together as married and whose highest level of education was below high school had positive odds of depression. Among men, depression was associated with lower levels of income. Among women, odds of scoring positive versus negative were significantly elevated among women aged 34 to 59 years versus 60 and older. Little or no identification with tribal tradition was associated with increased odds of depression in women and decreased odds in men. Stronger acculturation to Western culture, which was more predominant among Alaskan Native males than females, was associated with greater perceived stress and more use of alcohol and drugs as a coping mechanism. Stronger enculturation or Yupik identity, which was more predominant among Alaskan Native women, was associated with less depression and the use of religion and spirituality to cope (Dillard, Smith, Ferucci, & Lanier, 2012). The research is inconclusive regarding cultural identity and substance abuse problems. Venner, Wall, Lau, and Ehlers (2006) reported conflicting findings about the protections against substance abuse that a bicultural identity may offer. However, Dillard et al. (2012) posit that there are aversive consequences of acculturation, namely loss of cultural meaning and viable socioeconomic opportunities.

A vulnerability for Native families is the high incidence of intimate partner violence. Native women are much more likely to be killed by an intimate partner than Latinos and whites and have twice the incidence of rate of rape. There are both immediate and long-term social, economic, and psychological consequence of physical, sexual, and/or psychological threats to Native women (Peregoy & Gloria, 2007).

For many Native Americans, alcohol use disorders affects family life, newborn health, and employment prospects. In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that Native Americans along with non-Hispanic white adults were among those with the largest prevalence, frequency, and intensity of binge drinking, compared with other racial/ethnic populations (CDC, 2015). Given the relationship between substance addictions and mental health problems, comorbidity is evident. Among Native people, alcohol abuse is a substantial problem with cirrhosis of the liver in the top 5 of the 10 leading causes of death (CDC, 2015).

Dillard et al. (2012) found binge alcohol use played a positive role in depression for women. More specifically, drinking five or more alcoholic drinks on an occasion one or more times versus never was significantly related to depression among women. In addition to the adverse health effects of alcohol abuse on the body, alcoholism is linked to high-risk behaviors such as unprotected sex because it decreases inhibition, which means greater susceptibility to sexually transmitted infections.

Compared with other racial/ethnic groups, Native Americans ranked fifth in estimated rates of HIV infection diagnoses in 2013, with lower rates than in blacks/African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Native Hawaiians/other Pacific Islanders, and people reporting multiple races, but higher rates than in Asians and whites. In 2010, fewer than 1% of the estimated 47,500 new HIV infections in the United States were among Native people (CDC, 2011).

Related to poor diet, diabetes ranges from 5 to 50% among tribes and Native communities, and colon and rectal cancer rates are the highest among any racial or ethnic group in the country (Institute of Medicine, 2003). As major causes of morbidity and premature death, these and other poor health outcomes contribute to nearly one in three Native deaths before the age of 45 (Vernon, 2002).

There are alcohol treatment programs for Native Americans, but empirical, research-based findings on the efficacy of various treatments for alcohol problems in Native Americans is lacking (Thomason, 2000). The term nativized treatments refers to standard treatments that have been adapted to be more culturally appropriate for Native populations. These nativized treatments would include, for example, Native American cultural values and traditional healing techniques and ceremonies. A comprehensive program may be the best approach to treating Native clients with alcohol abuse issues. Such a program is descriptive, includes medical care, self-help groups, and purification ceremonies (Thomason, 2000).

Educationally, there have been increases in the high school graduation level, GED, or alternative certificate, now at 82.2% among Native American and Alaskan Natives 25 years of age and older. This percentage compares with 86% for the general population (Infoplease, 2015). Just over 17.6% had completed a bachelor’s degree compared with 29.1% of the general population. Nearly 31 different tribal groups have established their own tribal colleges (Horse, 2001). Among Native American people who are more traditional and are not interested in leaving their reservations, lack of educational attainment may be a conscious decision, particularly in light of limited access and economic challenges (Rayle, Chee, & Sand, 2006).

About one quarter (25.9%) of Native American and Alaskan Native workers are employed in management or professional occupations, compared with 38% among non-Hispanic whites. Over 22% of Native Americans worked in sales and office occupations, which is similar to non-Hispanic whites (27%) and 25.2% worked in service occupations (U. S. Census Bureau, 2014a).

Although the available data are dated, the number of Native-owned business has increased in the United States, as has the amount of money that Native people contribute to the U.S. economy. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2011), in 2007, there were 236,967 Native American and Alaska Native-owned businesses. This represents an increase of 17.7% from 2002. Also in 2007, American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses generated $34.4 billion in receipts, representing a 28 percent increase from 2002.

Native people have been overlooked for their inestimable contributions to the Western world. Hoxie (1996) stated that across the Americas, Native people were the first farmers, invented the hammock, the snowshoe, the blow gun, the bulb syringe, the kayak, the rubber boot, herbal oral contraception, bunk beds, petroleum extraction, and pest control. They also wove cloth from feathers, crafted animal and bird decoys for use in hunting, and used acid to etch designs onto shell.

Gunn Allen (1994) reminds us of the irrefutable influence of Native American and Alaskan Native people. Elaborate systems of thought and governments based on egalitarianism, service, pacifism, and freedom characterized many tribal societies prior to the presence of patriarchy. In fact, Iroquois ideas were central to the founding principles of America’s Constitution. Portman and Herring (2001) stated,

Native American Indian women were integral to the economic and social survival of their nations and tribes. They also held positions of political importance. Native American Indians provided guidance and influenced governance decisions and served as leaders and advisers in many Native American Indian tribes and nations. (p. 187)

Acculturation

Most Native adults whose ancestry is both Native and non-Native not only retain their traditional values but also seek to live in the dominant culture (Garrett & Herring, 2001). According to Herring (1992), Native American and Alaskan Native people are “more unalterably resistant to assimilation and integration into mainstream society than are other minority groups” (p. 135); some, however, have become acculturated.

Garrett and Pichette (2000) offered a clear definition of acculturation in their discussion of Native American acculturation. It was stated that acculturation is

the cultural change that occurs when two or more cultures are in persistent contact… A particular kind of acculturation is assimilation, in which one culture changes significantly more than the other culture and as a result comes to resemble it. This process is often established deliberately through force to maintain control over conquered people, but it can occur voluntarily as well. (p. 6)

Acculturation influences value structures and is important to an understanding of cultural adaptation. Garrett and Pichette (2000) identify five levels of acculturation among Native people: (1) traditional, (2) marginal, (3) bicultural, (4) assimilated, and (5) pantraditional.

These levels exist on a continuum and are a function of a person’s life experiences. The traditional Native person may or may not speak English and will hold traditionally Native values, including tribal customs. The marginal person identifies with neither mainstream values nor traditional values. The bicultural person knows and practices both mainstream and traditional values. The assimilated person holds the mainstream American values in high esteem to the exclusion of those Native. Finally, the pantra-ditional person consciously seeks to return to the “old ways”; he or she attempts to embrace lost traditional values and beliefs and is often bilingual.

Acculturation may take place at the expense of one’s original cultural values as one internalizes values and traditions. This process is not always conscious (Sue, 1989), and there is the likelihood of cultural alienation from one’s traditional culture because the dominant culture is esteemed over one’s own.

One dimension of acculturation is assimilation. Assimilation is different in that it describes those persons who consciously do not desire to maintain their cultural identities and thus seek sustained interaction with other cultures outside their own. The original cultures have been lost or relinquished, and persons have given up most cultural traits of their cultures of origin and assumed the traits, behaviors, and attitude of the dominant culture (Berry & Kim, 1988).

Christianization was one way assimilation was accomplished among many Native Americans. Some Native Americans do not regard the two to be incompatible. In the Native American Church, Christian and Native beliefs coexist (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001). In addition to the Spanish and French languages, European colonizers brought English to America. Language is a medium of culture, and English functioned as a way to deny the existence and relevance of Native languages. Such a policy existed in the U.S. government-sponsored Indian boarding schools designed to mainstream American Indian youth. The first such school was established in 1879 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, under the influence of General Henry Pratt. His motto was “kill the Indian and save the man” (Hoxie, 1996; Lesiak & Jones, 1991). In these colonializing contexts, children’s hair was cut, traditional clothing was taken away, American Christian names replaced Native names, and only English was allowed to be spoken. The virtues of white American Christian traditions were extolled, and Native ways were denigrated as uncivilized (Cameron & Turtle-song, 2003). Native Americans and Alaskan Natives who possess a strong sense of heritage and honor tradition may be more likely to feel at peace on the reservation, where cooperation with others and respect for tribal values based on ritual are commonplace (Gunn Allen, 1994).

Cultural Philosophies and Values

Despite chronic and contemporary challenges, a commitment to peoplehood, a spirit of resilience, and a strong sense of identity are evident among Native peoples. The tribe is a source of belonging and security for Native American and Alaskan Native people. Personal accomplishments are honored and supported if they serve to benefit the entire tribe or collective. Competition, the hallmark of the educational school system and a dominant cultural value rooted in individualism, is at odds with collectivism, a spirit of cooperation, and sharing of resources that belong to everyone.

Although values vary from tribe to tribe, Native American and Alaskan Native people believe in a Supreme Creator that is considered both male and female and is in command of all the elements of existence. Gunn Allen (1994) said, “There are many female gods recognized and honored by the Nations. Females were highly valued, both respected and feared and all social institutions reflected this attitude” (p. 193). Native Americans and Alaskan Natives also believe that all things in the universe are connected, have purpose, and exemplify personhood “including plants (e.g., ‘tree people’), animals (‘our four-legged brothers and sisters’), rocks and minerals (‘rock people’), the land (‘Mother Earth’), the winds (‘the Four Powers’), ‘Father Sky,’ ‘Grandfather Sun,’ ‘Grandmother Moon,’ and ‘The Red Thunder Boys’” (Garrett & Garrett, 1994, p. 138).

Honoring the Creator is sacred to Native American and Alaskan Native people and is central to Native Americans’ and Alaskan Natives’ harmonious relationships with nature and all things. Garrett (1998) said that “the wellness of the mind, body, spirit, and natural environment is an extension of the proper balance in the relationship of all things” (p. 78). In these cultures, sharing is valued over materialism because all things belong to Earth. (See  Storytelling: Resistance Is Not Futile .)

Among many Native Americans, a leader’s influence was based on personal qualities. Authority within a group was derived from the ability to make useful suggestions and knowledge of traditional ways and tribal lore (Waldman, 2000). Elders are valued among Native American and Alaskan Natives “because of the lifetime’s worth of wisdom they have acquired” (Garrett & Garrett, 1994, p. 137). Elders are accorded respect, and as they age, there is an increase in sacred responsibility for the tribe and family. They understand that their purpose is to care for and guide young people, yet a spirit of curiosity and openness to life’s lessons prevails (Garrett & Herring, 2001).

Native American cultural values emanate from a spiritual center that emphasizes coexisting in harmony with nature. (See  Table 5.1 : Common Cultural Values Among Native Americans and Alaskan Native People.) This entails a respect for Earth as natural medicine (Peregoy, 1993). Native people have always depended on the land, because it provided life, shelter, food, and medicine. The Paiute boiled sagebrush to relieve headaches and rheumatism. Even dandruff was cured by rubbing boiled willow leaves into the hair and scalp (Ballentine & Ballentine, 1993). “This harmony entails a holistic sensing of the state of continuous fusion among the elements of self with all life, including the creator” (Dana, 1993, p. 84).

Source: Compiled by author.

Implicit in this value system is reverence for and acceptance of the gifts from the earth. In their reverence for the earth, a variety of plants, wild and cultivated, were used for both religious and practical purposes, as well as for pleasure. Clearly some Native people, particularly where agriculture was highly developed, used alcohol prior to contact with Europeans, but for the most part, drinking alcohol was a postcontact reality (Waldman, 2000). Native American people believe that to be human is a part of the Sacred, thus there is an acknowledgment that human beings make mistakes (Trujillo, 2000). Nature, in its natural, undisturbed state is respected, and coexisting (not interfering) with nature is paramount as all things have spiritual energy. The universe, or Mother Earth, belongs to all people. For the Indian, the concept of land ownership was foreign and made as much sense as did carving up the sky (e.g., national airspace boundaries).

Honoring traditional ways suggests a respect for the past and the contributions of the ancestral spirits. According to Peregoy (1993), “The traditional Indian/Native’s system of life is intertwined with the tribe and extends further into a metaphysical belief system” (p. 172). Native American and Alaskan Natives see the extended family and the tribe as taking precedence over the self (Garrett & Garrett, 1994; Gunn Allen, 1994; Peregoy, 1993). Among many Native American and Alaskan Native people, the concept of self tends to be fluid and includes the individual as well as the tribe, the extended family, and even plants and animal spirits (Dana, 2000). A belief or knowledge in unseen powers and reference to deities and mystery is core to many tribal values, as is the importance of balance (Trujillo, 2000).

Respect for and coexistence with helpful animal spirits are enduring values found in nearly all Native American and Alaskan Eskimo societies. It was believed that the animals made themselves available to humans only for as long as there was respect from the hunters for the animal spirits. This involved ritual treatment of the animals so that the animals would, upon their death, return to the spirit world with a good report, which would ensure the success of future hunters. If a hunter was unsuccessful, it could be stated that the animal spirits had not been treated properly; therefore, proper rituals were needed to restore harmony and to correct the imbalance (Hoxie, 1996).

According to Garrett and Pichette (2000), there are verbal and nonverbal communication style differences between contemporary mainstream American cultural values and those of traditional Native people. More specifically, immediate responses, frequent interruption, and emphasis placed on verbal skills are characteristic of dominant U.S. cultural styles. Delayed responses, less frequent interjection, and emphasis placed on nonverbal skills characterize Native cultural traditions. Some Native children are taught not to establish eye contact with adults as a sign of respect.

Native American Identity

Bryant and LaFromboise (2005) conducted research with 103 Lumbee Indian high school students using the People of Color Racial Identity Attitude Scale by Helms (1995). This instrument was developed to provide a measure of racial identity attitudes among Asians, African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans. There are four stages. Conformity represents conformance to the dominant ideology and a devaluing of a person’s own racial group. Dissonance reflects confusion about a person’s racial group. Immersion describes identification and even idolization of a person’s racial group. Finally, internalization refers to commitment to a person’s group and an ability to integrate a person’s racial identity into his or her life. Internalization attitudes were dominant among this group, followed by immersion, dissonance, and conformity.

Bryant and LaFromboise (2005) concluded that the internalization findings “suggests they possess a positive American Indian racial identity and also have the ability to acknowledge the positive aspects of White society” (p. 86). In addition, immersion attitudes may suggest some level of psychological as well as physical retreat into the Lumbee American community. Given the students’ level of awareness about the impact of race on a daily basis, the conformity and dissonance attitudes may reflect some confusion, albeit minimally, about the sociopolitical constructions of race. Scholl (2006) had similar findings in his research with 121 Native American college students. Internalization attitudes were dominant and conformity (or preencounter) attitudes were least likely to be represented.

Ethics, or the principles or moral values that guide people’s actions, provide Horse (2001) with a clear conceptualization of Indian identity. Part of this ethic is within the context of a collective consciousness. Consciousness requires memory, which Gunn Allen (1994) remarked is not encouraged in the West: “The American idea that the best and the brightest should willingly reject and repudiate their origins leads to an allied idea—that history, like everything in the past, is of little value and should be forgotten as quickly as possible” (p. 192). According to Horse (2001), consciousness is influenced by multiple issues: the degree to which someone is grounded in the native language, tribe, family, and culture; the worldview that is embraced; recognition as a member of an Indian tribe by the government of the tribe; and the validity of a person’s genealogical heritage as an Indian. Concerns over human-made laws, such as blood quantum amounts (Wilson, 1992), is not as relevant as is someone’s consciousness and identity as an Indian.

STORYTELLING: RESISTANCE IS NOT FUTILE

1992 was the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the western hemisphere. That year, people across races and nationalities united with First Americans to reject the celebration and glorification of a man who was responsible for genocide, biological warfare, and oppression. The National Council of Churches asked Christians to refrain from celebrating the Columbus quin-centennial. One teacher in Portland, Oregon, took a year off from his job to travel the country, helping teachers learn to tell the truth about the Columbus experience. A student climbed aboard a romanticized Columbus exhibit sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities called First Encounter. The student held a sign that read, “Exhibit Teaches Racism.” Now thousands of teachers are telling the story of Columbus differently as they engage in decolonizing practices.

Implications for Mental Health Professionals

Much of the emphasis in multicultural counseling and psychology has been on helping mental health professionals work effectively with patients who are different with respect to race, gender, class, disability, sexuality, and other sources of differences, however, mental health professionals need to appreciate the tremendous intragroup diversity that exists. Being from the same tribe or family is not an indication that people will endorse similar values, which is the meaning of treating people like a monolith wherein intragroup differences are discounted or minimized. Among Native people, the influences of acculturation, phenotype, identity development, collectivism, and the place of gender play a critical role in psychological and physical health.

Case Study

Success in School

Ocean is 10 years old and in the 4th grade. He is from the Narragansett tribe and lives in Rhode Island with his mother and stepfather. Ocean has been sent to the school’s adjustment counselor for difficulty that he has with completing homework on time and participating in class. His teacher has noted that Ocean is a very kind child yet seems to lack confidence, has school anxiety, and seems to feel alienated from school. To improve his academic performance and to help the teacher and counselor personalize interventions for specific students and student groups, Ocean and his parents agree to participate in an online Succeeding in School Program (SIS) program. The program was designed in 1986 as a paper-and-pencil instrument to help school counselors improve the academic performance of fourth and fifth grade elementary school students (Gerler & Anderson, 1986). Used widely in school to assist with retention and mathematics achievement (Zyromski, Bryant, & Gerler, 2011), the program was moved online during the 1990s. Ocean’s teacher, aware of lower rates of educational attainment among Native students, decided to focus on helping students negotiate and navigate schools environments that can be culturally alienating for ethnic and minority students as they become more mindful of their cultural and racial identities and begin to experience feeling different from their non-Native peers.

Being comfortable in school and asking for help in school were the program components that she emphasized. Being comfortable in school focused on identifying fears related to school and how to overcome fears surrounding the academic environment. Asking for help in school centered on students’ experiences and feelings about asking for help in school. Ocean would panic when called upon—his heart would beat quickly and his cheeks would turn red—he would feel dizzy and stammer, which would create a cycle of feeling more anxious, inadequate, and fearful. Ocean would sometimes cry, which as a boy, was the height of humiliation for him. His teacher would gently come to his desk and reassure him that she was there for him and encourage him to ask for help. Although Ocean felt a bond with his teacher, he did not like feeling so needy and different from the other children. He wanted to be strong and to feel smart. Finally, Ocean is frequently told by his non-Native classmates that he does not look Native. Ocean has fair skin, green eyes, and light brown hair.

Questions

1. What are Ocean’s fears?

2. What meaning does Ocean assign to asking for help?

3. How can Ocean’s school counselor help Ocean rethink a request for help?

Discussion and Integration

Through a review of Ocean’s online entries, it became clear that Ocean was afraid of being wrong, being seen as stupid, and being held back. Understandably, he was concerned about the perceptions that his peers had of him (Zyromski, Bryant, & Gerler, 2009). Ocean was older, taller, and bigger than most of his class peers. His mother made a decision for him to start kindergarten at age 6 instead of age 5. His stepbrother is younger and yet in fifth grade. Because Ocean feels embarrassed at being older, he had previously associated asking for help with not being very smart. Ocean’s teacher worked closely with him based on the results of the SIS program. She asked Ocean to find a story online about a Native member who asked for help. Ocean found countless stories of Native people, who as collectivistic people, depended on the tribe to function. Asking for help meant honoring each other’s contributions and working collectively as a tribe and a group. Due to her knowledge of collectivism among Ocean’s family, Ocean’s counselor invites Ocean’s parents to an initial school meeting to hear their concerns and share the SIS program with them. Over time, Ocean’s confidence in his abilities is seen as he takes greater risks with raising his hand and asking for help, which he now connects with courage and bravery. He also finds that many of his classmates benefit from his questions or often have the same question that he has, helping Ocean to feel like a leader.

Finally, Ocean has been equipped with some behavioral strategies that help him to identify his feelings and respond on his terms. He quietly tells his panic to stop and envisions himself on a horse with a lasso where he captures the panic. Ocean relayed this strategy when his counselor asked him, “What can you do about the panic when it starts to get big and run around?”

His teacher demonstrated multicultural competence in her ability to apply her knowledge of Ocean’s culture with interventions that could be relevant to him (Sanchez & Davis, 2010). The image of the horse and the lasso resonated with Ocean and is a source of humor for him that he has learned to use to his advantage. His counselor also helped Ocean to understand that being told that he does not look Indian is referred to as a microinvalidation, which according to Walters (2010), refers to communications that nullify the experiential reality or identity of Native persons (e.g., being told that you do not look or act like a real Indian). Media depictions of Native people, even in the 21st century, are too often demeaning and erroneous. There is tremendous phenotypical diversity among Native people, just as there is with other racial groups, including white people. Ocean is shown pictures of Native people and sees people who look just like him.

Ocean also feels apart from others. His counselor recognizes clearly that “the greatest loss that an Indian/Native can have is the loss of family and community connection” (Peregoy & Gloria, 2007, p. 67). Thus, strong family and community connections are at the heart of what Ocean needs psychologically and academically.

Ocean is not unusual from many children, across age, ethnicity, gender, and race who have personal concerns of competence. According to Garrett and Herring (2001), appropriate uses of humor are critical in integrating Native culture with psychotherapeutic healing. Humor is also a way to maintain Native culture and cope with a difficult situation (Garrett, Garrett, Torres-Rivera, Wilbur, & Roberts-Wilbur, 2005; Mohatt, 2010), which is what Ocean is learning to do through his strategy of using a lasso to subdue anxiety.

Summary

This chapter provided a history of Native American and Alaskan Native people. From an international lens, Western allies, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand are similar to America concerning the shared legacy of colonialism and First Nation indigenous people. Irrespective of the political, historical, and ideological differences across these Western bodies contained in each country’s narrative are abuses of power, privilege, and patriarchy. Tribal people’s cultural ways of living, languages, land ownership, and humanity have undergone ethnic cleansing and trauma. This chapter focused on the prominent and palpable colonialistic legacy, reflecting cultural violence, the highest of poverty rates, genocide, intragroup violence, educational, and health-related disparities among first nation indigenous people. Representation in the United States, demographic information, history, and common cultural values among American Indian and Alaskan Natives were provided. A summary of these values can be found in  Table 5.1 . A case study with a school age child was provided for purposes of application of multicultural counseling competencies and SIS, a novel educational program.