Description

Healing, Violence, and Native American Women

This article reviews and comments upon an exhibit on the American Indian Holocaust. It is a personal and analytical account of the exhibit, relating its themes to broader political and cultural issues. The article is thoughtful, interesting, and well written. It asserts that colonialism and racism support a culture that sanctions violence against Native American women. Organizers of an American Indian Holocaust exhibit translated colonial representations of Indian women, discussed their history and roles, and used tribal spiritual practices to heal the debilitating effects of colonialism. These cultural approaches emphasize the importance of translation and transculturation as powerful tools to heal from colonialism. They also underscore the need to use Native rather than Eurocentric philosophy and viewpoints to begin to move beyond colonial hierarchies that have supported a culture that condones violence against Indian women.

colonialism, violence, American Indian Holocaust, exhibit, American Indian women, urban Indians

Citation: Social Justice Vol. 31, No. 4 (2004): 103-116.