Today marks Native American Heritage Day.
This is a time to celebrate the stories and traditions of Native American and Alaska Native tribes across the country. Roughly 8.8 million Native and Indigenous people live in the US today, and as we celebrate their culture, we also need to acknowledge the disproportionate effects of gun violence that they face.
Unfortunately, this has been the reality for hundreds of years, since the first colonizers arrived in North America. We cannot forget that among the core root causes for the epidemic of gun violence and suicide in Native and Indigenous communities in the US today is the historic and ongoing displacement and dispossession of Native people. That’s why fighting gun violence means we have to tackle its causes at its root, including injustice and inequity.
According to the Center for Disease Control, about 428 Native Americans die from gun violence per year. Of those deaths, a disproportionate amount are women and children.
Native American women are over 2x more likely than white women to be fatally shot by an intimate partner. And about 7.2 per 100,000 Indigenous children die from gun violence, compared to 3.3 out of every 100,000 white children.
The Native community is also disproportionately impacted by the suicide epidemic, especially young people. Death by firearm suicide is the leading cause of death for young people 10-14 in this community, and the second leading cause for folks 15-34.
This is preventable. Ending this violence is long overdue, and as with ending all gun violence, we know we need culturally sensitive and community-led interventions. Addressing the root causes of gun violence and passing gun safety legislation will bring us one step closer to a future free from gun violence.
Today and every day, we honor our Native and Indigenous neighbors with action.
In solidarity,
— March for Our Lives