American Indian Culture and Research Journal

American Indian families experience many of the societal forces common to American family life, as well as those that are unique to their historical, regional, and cultural context. They have survived aggressive efforts to abolish their culture and continue to endure the effects of systems that disregard their values and discredit their identity. It is apparent that American Indians have impressive reservoirs of strength and coping in spite of adversity, but that adversity is not without cost, for they do experience high rates of disorders associated with social stress. What is lacking in the empirical literature are studies of effective adaptation strategies (in contrast to pathological ones) used by American Indian families in response to numerous challenging life circumstances. One such challenge is the presence of a family member with a disability. American Indians have a disability rate that is higher than other groups in the United States—21.9 percent compared to 9.9 percent for Asian and Pacific Islanders, 15.3 percent for Hispanics, 19.7 percent for white people, and 20 percent for black people.3 Furthermore, American Indian children are frequently labeled as having a disability. A national survey found that only half (53 percent) of American Indian students were classified as “not handicapped in any way and 11 percent were classified as mentally retarded.” The higher disability rate may be associated with economic conditions. Disabilities in general are more prevalent among children in poor families than in families who are not poor. Without doubt, American Indians are among the most impoverished people in the United States. The 1999 per capita income of American Indians and Alaska Natives was $12,893, much lower than the national average per capita income of $21,597 and lower than the $14,437 per capita income of African Americans. These data define the scope of a significant cultural and societal challenge that has not been systematically addressed.