By Corey Western Boy, Consultant, Tribal Youth Resource Center
Growing up connected to an Indigenous Dakota community, I was surrounded by the strength and resilience of Dakota people—but I also saw the quiet pain that many of our youth carry. As someone adopted and raised in Dakota culture all my life, I’ve had a unique view of both the beauty of the culture and the deep challenges our people are still facing. One of the most urgent—and too often unspoken—is the mental health crisis among Indigenous youth.
This crisis is not isolated from broader systems—it’s deeply entwined with the juvenile justice system. Indigenous youth are overrepresented in juvenile detention and correctional facilities across the U.S., often due to systemic neglect, trauma, and a lack of early mental health intervention. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), American Indian and Alaska Native youth are three times more likely to be incarcerated than white youth, even for similar offenses.
But what’s often overlooked is the root cause: trauma and untreated mental health needs. A 2022 SAMHSA report found that nearly 70% of justice-involved Indigenous youth have a diagnosable mental health disorder, including PTSD, depression, and substance use disorders—often stemming from intergenerational trauma, family instability, and disconnection from culture. The legacy of boarding schools and systemic displacement continues to manifest in our youth through cycles of grief, silence, and survival.
When we fail to address these needs early—through community support, mental health services, and cultural connection—we don’t just risk their well-being. We push them further into systems not built for healing.
But there is hope.
I’ve seen it in the way Indigenous youth light up when speaking their language, participating in ceremony, or connecting with elders. Culture heals. Connection heals. Programs grounded in Indigenous culture have shown measurable reductions in recidivism and improved mental health outcomes for Native youth. Prevention isn’t just about stopping behavior—it’s about providing youth with the tools, relationships, and identity they need to thrive.
This isn’t just a crisis—it’s a call. A call to tribal and state systems, to youth advocates, to policymakers: Our young people are not statistics. They are sacred. And unless we invest in culturally competent mental health services and community-driven prevention strategies now, we will keep failing them in courts and detention centers later.
Healing justice means reimagining what support looks like. It means listening to the stories behind the data—and remembering that every youth deserves to grow up grounded in culture, surrounded by care, and free from systems that were never meant for them in the first place.
References
American Psychological Association. (2023, October). The healing power of Native American culture. Monitor on Psychology. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/10/healing-tribal-communities-native-americans
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; Department of the Interior. (2021, June 22). Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. U.S. Department of the Interior. https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/federal-indian-boarding-school-initiative-investigative-report
Brave Heart, M. Y. H. (2012). Historical trauma among Indigenous peoples of the Americas: Concepts, research, and clinical considerations. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 44(4), 282–290. https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2012.714560
Freedenthal, S., & Stiffman, A. R. (2004). Suicidal thoughts and behaviors among American Indian adolescents: Risk, completeness of reporting, and cultural moderators. American Journal of Public Health, 94(1), 20–25. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.94.1.20
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Mental health disparities: American Indians and Alaska Natives. https://www.psychiatry.org/getmedia/d008fb53-3566-4a0a-adac-ba1f3b88528c/Mental‑Health‑Facts‑for‑American‑Indian‑Alaska‑Natives.pdf
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2022). Behavioral health services for American Indians and Alaska Natives. https://www.samhsa.gov/tribal-affairs
