Journal Article

Navajo Women and Abuse: The Context for Their Troubled Relationships

Rivers, Mary J.

2005

Overview

In this article, on the basis of interviews with seven Navajo women, the author discusses the Navajo woman's perspective on domestic violence. These discussions reveal several factors that distinguish the Navajo woman's experience of abuse from that of the Anglo (3) woman. These factors are examined in light of historical and contemporary understandings of the Navajo world. Three cultural elements can help us understand the Navajo woman's experience of abuse: the cultural concept of hozho, the searing tale (in the Creation Story) of the quarrel between First Man and First Woman, a quarrel that brought great tragedy to the people; and the Kinaalda, the female puberty rite. It is the author's argument that these facets of the Navajo culture, in addition to Western explanations for women's staying with abusive partners, are powerful contributors to the Navajo woman's understanding of abuse in her life and if we are to develop successful techniques for intervention, we must consider these elements as well as those of the dominant culture.

• Publisher: Kluwer/Plenum,Springer,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Abused women / Abusers / Adult / American Indians / Battered Women / Behavior / Biological and medical sciences / Cultural attitudes / Cultural Identity / Cultural Relativism / Culture / Domestic violence / Family law / Family studies / Family Violence / Indigenous populations / Medical sciences / Native North Americans / Navaho / Navajo Indian people / Navajos / Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry / Psychopathology. Psychiatry / Puberty / Puberty rites / Rituals / Social aspects / Social problems / Tragedy / U.S.A / USA / Victimology / Women / Writers