As the poster states, murder is the third leading cause of death for Native American Women. Prior to European settlement, women of native nations lived in a culture free from gender-based violence.
In doing research for this poster, I found more alarming statistics and, as per an article by Robin Whyatt, Professor Emeritus in the Columbia Mailman School Department of Environmental Health Sciences in the February/March 2023 issue of The Progressive Magazine, the reason for this violence is deep seeded in America's colonial past.
My design was inspired by and uses motifs from Native American ceramics. Namely, the bear claw, to an outsider may appear Freddy Krueger-like and menacing, but in many Native American tribes, bear claws are considered powerful spiritual objects, used in ceremonial regalia and rituals to symbolize strength and bravery, exactly what these women convey. In addition, deer imagery in Native American art symbolizes life, strength, and abundance, as deer were important to many tribes as a source of food, clothing, and tools. Thus, deer are also a symbol of family protection and fertility—a perfect motif to represent native women.
It was precisely because of their life-giving power to grow their tribes that violence by white men against Native women became a central element of the colonial strategy for conquest and genocide during European colonization—and this clearly continues today. The perpetrators of sexual violence crimes against all Native American victims are predominantly white men. According to comprehensive data from 1992 to 2001, white men committed approximately 80% of the crimes.*
This poster was shortlisted by members of Poster for Tomorrow's jury for the 2024 competition, Stop Killing Women.
*Steven W. Perry, U.S. Department of Justice: Office of Justice Programs: Bureau of Justice Statistics, A BJS Statistical Profile, 1992–2002: American Indians and Crime (December 2004), https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/aic02.pdf.)
