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Abstract
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American Indian and Alaska Native populations experience homicide at a higher rate than some other racial and ethnic groups in the US. A 2021 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) summarized data from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) from 2003 to 2018 on homicides among American Indian and Alaska Native individuals.1 The study, which was the first to examine NVDRS homicide data for all American Indian and Alaska Native persons for such an extended period, included data on 2226 homicides of American Indian and Alaska Native individuals in 34 states and the District of Columbia during 2003 to 2018. The reported age-adjusted homicide rate among American Indian and Alaska Native individuals was 8.0 per 100 000 population, and there was a significantly higher rate of homicide among American Indian and Alaska Native men (12.0 per 100 000 population) than women (3.9 per 100 000 population). By comparison, the age-adjusted homicide rates among the US population during the same time period were 7.87 per 100 000 population among males and 2.06 per 100 000 population among females.2
Homicide rates for American Indian and Alaska Native individuals are disproportionately high compared with other racial and ethnic groups, except for non-Hispanic Black individuals. In 2020, the overall homicide rate for American Indian and Alaska Native persons (8.6 per 100 000 population) was more than double the homicide rate for White persons (3.9 per 100 000 population) and was approximately one-quarter of the homicide rate for non-Hispanic Black persons (29.2 per 100 000 population).2 In addition, cross-racial violence perpetration is an ongoing issue in American Indian and Alaska Native homicide prevention. The 2021 report from the CDC1 found that among the 1843 known suspects in cases of homicides involving American Indian and Alaska Native individuals, 32.1% were American Indian and Alaska Native, 21% were non-Hispanic White, and 11% were non-Hispanic Black individuals. These findings differ from some previous studies that have addressed cross-racial violence and bolster the need for continuing research.
Precipitating and contributing factors to homicides involving American Indian and Alaska Native populations are in many ways similar to those found in other populations. For instance, the CDC report indicated that a firearm was used in nearly half (48.4%) of homicides involving American Indian and Alaska Native individuals and in a higher percentage of homicides of American Indian and Alaska Native men than women (51.5% vs 39.1%). These data have broad policy implications for prevention efforts and improvement of law enforcement responses in cases of homicides involving American Indian and Alaska Native individuals, ie, that existing strategies could be utilized to improve efforts to reduce homicides among the American Indian and Alaska Native population.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a known contributing factor to homicides regardless of the race or ethnicity of the victim. Based on homicide data from 18 states from 2003 to 2014 for which the circumstances of death were known, 55.3% of the 8028 total homicides against adult women involved IPV and 55.4% of the homicides involving American Indian and Alaska Native adult women involved IPV...
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