Across Indian Country, a silent crisis is unfolding—Native American Veterans are dying by suicide at an alarming and accelerating rate. These are not just numbers; these are our relatives, our friends, our leaders, our protectors.
According to recent data from the Department of Veterans Affairs and tribal health partners, suicide rates among Native American Veterans have increased by a staggering 52% in just the past 3–4 years. This is not a trend—it’s an emergency. There are actionable solutions, from addressing barriers to effective treatment such as traditional healing modalities to improving access to data and much more.
Confronting the problem: Why Are Native American Veterans at Greater Risk?
Native Americans serve in the U.S. military at higher rates per capita than any other group in the country. We have a long-standing warrior tradition rooted in protecting our people and this land. Yet when our Veterans return home, they often face compounded challenges that place them at higher risk for suicide:
Historical Trauma & Cultural Disconnection: Generational trauma from boarding schools, forced assimilation, and cultural loss can intensify feelings of hopelessness.
Isolation in Rural Communities: Many Native American Veterans return to reservations or remote areas where access to mental health care is scarce or nonexistent.
Barriers to Healthcare Access: Native American Veterans often encounter systemic barriers when trying to access VA benefits, including confusion over eligibility, transportation difficulties, and a lack of culturally responsive providers.
Socioeconomic Stressors: Native communities face higher rates of poverty, unemployment, and homelessness—factors that correlate strongly with increased suicide risk.
PTSD and Moral Injury: Combat stress, survivor’s guilt, and unaddressed mental health struggles often go untreated due to stigma or lack of resources.
The Numbers Speak for Themselves
- According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), there are currently more than 140,000 Native American Veterans in the United States.
- Roughly 40% (approximately 56,000) of Native American Veterans are enrolled in VA Healthcare. (Institute for Veterans & Military Families (IVMF).
- 52% increase in suicide rates among Native American Veterans from 2020 to 2024 (VA Suicide Prevention Annual Report, 2023).
- 28.3 suicides per 100,000 Native American Veterans, compared to 16.8 per 100,000 for Veterans overall (Source: VA Suicide Prevention Annual Report, 2024)
- Rural Native American Veterans are 2x more likely to lack access to adequate mental health services than their non-Native counterparts (Indian Health Service / VA data).
- 80% of Native American Veterans report unmet behavioral health needs, citing long wait times and lack of culturally relevant care options.
Finding Solutions: Effective Engagement is Key
For Native American Veterans, the crisis isn’t just about lack of services—it’s about the absence of culturally responsive healing spaces that resonate with Indigenous identity and experience.
Our VA partners and allies have shown strong motivation to do better, yet there is still a disconnect that stems from a comprehensive lack of understanding of the unique aspects of being a Native American Veteran.
Standard clinical approaches often fail to address the holistic needs of Native American Veterans, leaving many to suffer in silence. The typical approach to care often includes a cocktail of prescription medication combined with talk therapy. This approach is not effective for most Veterans, and Native American Veterans, in particular, are often unwilling to engage with it.
Our warriors are also experiencing a disconnect between their service to the nation and their reintegration into communities that are themselves under-resourced and overwhelmed.
We are missing the boat on many fronts to include earlier engagement for and with the Native American Veterans as they prepare to transition from active duty to civilian life. The transition period itself presents many challenges, and the massive bureaucracy that is the VA can be intimidating, not helpful, and hard to navigate, which in turn makes a lot of Native AmericanVeterans unwilling to engage.
This is not what we want and not what our warriors need. In order for any Veteran to optimize the benefits and services to which they are entitled, they have to at minimum be enrolled in the VA Healthcare system.
This is not just a healthcare issue—it’s a community crisis that demands an immediate, coordinated response from tribal leaders, government agencies and Veteran service organizations.
Closing the Data Gap: Building a Clearer Picture of Native American Veterans’ Needs
Part of the problem stems from the fragmented nature of how data is collected on and about Native American Veterans. As of today, there is no one source of truth that we can go to learn about the various issues Native American Veterans and their families are facing. There are reports, but they are sporadic and not coordinated among key stakeholder agencies such as Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Indian Health Service (IHS), Census, etc.
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), considered a unified voice for Indian country, passed a resolution on November 1, 2024 calling for a Comprehensive Annual Report on Native American Veteran Data. This resolution stemmed from work that the VA’s Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs, aka the VA Tribal Advisory Committee, has done in providing recommendations directly to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs’ office.
With this report, we hope we can begin to see a clearer picture of the progress, or lack thereof, when it comes to our Native American Veterans and their families.
This also establishes a more solid base of relevant and updated information that we can use to make data-informed decisions on the myriad of issues facing our warriors.
These are how advocates and leaders across Indian country are moving to assess the situation as it is currently and move forward with a solutions-focused approach to improving all areas that need improvement and bolstering the things that are going well.
A Call to Action: How You Can Help
Native American Veterans face unique challenges due to fragmented data collection, missed opportunities for early transition support, and a critical lack of culturally responsive healing spaces that honor their Indigenous identity and experience. Unfortunately, there are not many agencies, organizations, and tribal leaders who are spotlighting these issues in a way that is bringing about positive change. Awareness and education of the seriousness of these issues is an area where we need to start.
Our Native American Veterans have served proudly and honorably since the inception of this nation. We have fought and died in every clime and place. Now it’s time for us to stand for them in this time of crisis.
Mitakuye Oyasin, we are all related.