“I'm in this world for a reason”: Resilience and recovery among American Indian and Alaska Native two-spirit women

ABSTRACT

American Indian and Alaska Native sexual minority (two-spirit) women are vulnerable to substance misuse and mental health challenges due to multiple minority oppressed status and exposure to stress and trauma. Yet, these women find pathways toward healing and wellness. We conducted a qualitative data analysis of interviews derived from a national health study and gained an understanding of 11 two-spirit women's resilience and recovery patterns. Emergent from the data, a braided resiliency framework was developed which elucidates multilayered abilities, processes, and resources involved in their resiliency. We recommend that resilience-promoting strategies be incorporated into substance misuse and mental health interventions.

KEYWORDS:

• American Indian
• Alaska Native
• two-spirit
• Indigenous stress coping
• resilience
• recovery
• identity
• lesbian women of color
• qualitative research
• substance use
• mental health
• sexual orientation
• culture
• spirituality
• social support
• social determinants of health

Funding

This research was supported by the Minority Fellowship Program from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration; the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH R01MH65871); the National Institute on Drug Abuse (HHSN271201200663P) award; and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (P60MD006909) National Center of Excellence Award.

Notes

1. The term “two-spirit women” will be used in this article to describe lesbian, bisexual, and women-loving indigenous women. We acknowledge that the term “two-spirit” can also be used more inclusively.

2. The Peacemaker was sent by Creator and was the originator of the Great Law of Peace, resulting in the League of Five Nations and requiring that all weapons be buried in order to maintain peace; and that differences be worked out in order to maintain the confederated nations' well-being (Barreiro 1992). It was the Great Law of Peace and The Iroquois Confederacy that significantly informed the U.S. Constitution and democratic structure.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jessica H. L. Elm

Jessica H. L. Elm, M.S.W., is a Ph.D. student at University of Washington's School of Social Work. She is a citizen of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin and a descendant of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohicans. Her research interests include historical, political, and social determinants of American Indian wellness, health inequities, and resilience; and accumulation of stressors, including adverse childhood experiences, stress embodiment, and the mental health and chronic disease onset and management challenges that follow over the life course.

Jordan P. Lewis

Dr. Jordan P. Lewis, M.S.W., is Aleut from the Native Village of Naknek and an Assistant Professor with the University of Washington, School of Social Work and the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute. Jordan's research explores the role of culture in the aging process and successful aging in rural Alaska. As a social worker, community psychologist, and gerontologist Jordan's research uses an ecological systems approach in exploring health behaviors and health disparities among AIAN populations. Jordan received his doctoral degree in Cross-Cultural Community Psychology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Karina L. Walters

Dr. Karina L. Walters, M.S.W., is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Associate Dean for Research, the Katherine Chambers Hall Scholar, and the Director and Principal Investigator of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI; NIMHD P60MD006909) at the University of Washington. IWRI is one of 16 National Institutes of Minority Health and Health Disparities Comprehensive Centers of Excellence and one of two devoted to AIAN research and researcher development in the country. Dr. Walters' research focuses on historical, social, and cultural determinants of health and substance abuse among AIANs. Curve magazine selected her as one of the top 20 lesbian academics in the world.

Jen M. Self

Dr. Jen M. Self, Ph.D., L.I.C.S.W., is the founding and current Director of the University of Washington Q Center, and affiliate faculty at University of Washington's School of Social Work and Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies. Jen explores questions of the intersections of race, gender, sexual orientation, and social justice. She is committed to critical queer, feminist, interpretive scholarship aimed to disrupt entrenched systems of sociopolitical power, with specific focus on social work praxis.