The Intergenerational Effects of Relocation Policies on Indigenous Families

• Main Authors: Walls, Melissa L., Whitbeck, Les B.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 2012
• Subjects: American Indians; Native Americans; Intergenerational Transmission; First Nations; Historical Trauma; Family; Life Course; and Society; Social Psychology and Interaction; Sociology; Indian
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/sociologyfacpub/304; https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/sociologyfacpub/article/1313/viewcontent/Whitbeck_JFI_2012_The_Intergenerational_Effects.pdf

This research utilizes life-course perspective concepts of linked lives and historical time and place to examine the multigenerational effects of relocation experiences on Indigenous families. Data were collected from a longitudinal study currently underway on four American Indian reservations in the Northern Midwest and four Canadian First Nation reserves where residents share a common Indigenous cultural heritage. This paper includes information from 507 10 – 12 year old Indigenous youth and their biological mothers who participated in the study. Results of path analysis revealed significant direct and indirect effects whereby grandparent-generation (G1) participation in government relocation programs negatively impacts not only G1 well being, but also ripples out to affect subsequent generations.