Violence Against Native Americans In The Roundhouse

In The Roundhouse, a central portion of the novel surrounds the horrific rape of an innocent Native American mother, Geraldine, as well as the murder and abuse of Mayla, a young Native American woman. The theme of abuse of Native Americans, in particular, women, is essential to the plot. It is the painful reality of Native American life: that these peoples have been systematically and egregiously mishandled, attacked, and abused. I was interested to see how prevalent the violence against both Native American women and men was. I wanted to know the statistics surrounding the abuse as well as what kinds of abuse. In addition, I wanted to learn more about the kind of perpetrators of crimes against Native Americans. The violence against Native
It is truly an epidemic. As expressed by the Indian Law Center Research in “Ending Violence Against Native Women,” one-in-three Native women are rape victims. In addition, a Native American woman is ten times more likely to murdered (“Ending Violence Against Native Women”). Additionally, over 95 percent of Indian women and 90 percent of Indian men, who have been violently attacked, have at one time suffered a violent attack from a non-Indian (“Five Things About Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men”). In “Tribal Affairs,” published by The United States Department of Justice, the DOJ accredits these kinds of attacks to deep-seated prejudices and “systemic and pervasive abuse and persecution.” Past attacks upon Native Americans by the settlers and United States government has a direct relation to attitudes of abuse that exist today. I learned that most Native American women will be victim to a violent crime, but due to oppressive laws designed to limit Native Americans’ right to govern, many perpetrators go free and renders tribal law enforcement powerless, which is explained in “Native Americans Face Legal Challenges In Domestic Violence Cases” (Morales). Finally, the violence goes further than