ACEs are stressful and traumatic events experienced during childhood, up to age 17, such as experiencing abuse or neglect or witnessing violence in the home. ACEs can have negative effects on health, opportunities, and overall well–being.
ACEs have been associated with poor physical, mental, and behavioral health outcomes. CDC reports that ACEs can elevate the risk of injuries, sexually transmitted infections, maternal and child health issues, and involvement in sex trafficking. ACEs can also be linked to other chronic diseases and leading causes of death, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and suicide.
For these reasons, addressing ACEs is important to creating healthier individuals and building stronger Indigenous communities.
On this page, we use the term Indigenous Peoples, American Indian and Alaska Native, Tribal Nations, and Native American interchangeably as cited by literature, public health professionals and Indigenous people. We recognize there are distinct differences, beliefs, and traditions across Indian Country. We honor those differences and what we share here may not be representative of all Indigenous Peoples within the United States of America.
A study completed by Giano et al., (2021) used Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data across 34 states between 2009 to 2017.3 It is one of the largest studies of ACES for AI/AN communities to date.
Another study by Kenney & Singh, (2016) examined ACEs among AI/AN children (aged 0-17 years) using parental responses from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children’s Health.
ACEs are usually measured by individual adversity, but adverse experiences can also be collective. The ongoing effects of colonization, history of wars, displacement, and systemic oppression continue to negatively impact the health of Indigenous individuals, families, and communities. This historical trauma, which includes forced assimilation and cultural suppression through mechanisms like residential boarding schools, has intergenerational trauma and cumulative effects that still affect the health of Indigenous Peoples today.
We tell our children they are Indigenous and that means they need to be resilient, as if it is a great strength. But the painful truth is that our children should not have to endure this burden. They should not have to bear the consequences of colonialism, oppression, lack of resources, and continuous trauma. The weight of historical and intergenerational trauma is deeply rooted within us, and it cannot be erased. Yet, urging our children to be strong and resilient, to keep bouncing off these immovable boulders, is exhausting, frustrating, infuriating, and defeating. It can make us hard and angry as we keep colliding, never moving forward.
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