Native American Women DO Breastfeed by Camie Jae Goldhammer

Native American women DO breastfeed. This is something we don’t talk about often. It seems that when discussing the breastfeeding rates of Native women (as well as other communities of color) the focus tends to be on how we don’t breastfeed. My entire first post was devoted to this topic. We focus on disparities and inequities and disease and death. Those things are extremely important. They must be talked about and talked about often.

As important as these conversations are, I wonder if constantly talking about the deficits of Native mothers is creating much more harm than good. There are a few things I know without a doubt, Native mothers are some of the strongest, most devoted mothers on earth and ALL mothers want nothing but the best for their children.

When I attend community events my most favorite moments are when an elder comes up to me and whispers “I breastfed my son until he was 5 years old,” as if she is telling me something that she has never told anyone before. I hear stories like this all the time. Stories that show us time and time again that Native women do- in fact breastfeed and have always breastfed.

A Snoqualmie grandmother shared her breastfeeding story with me. She stated, “I have lain down and gave birth to 6 children. I breastfed for 16 continuous years, and let me tell you, I have made many many mistakes as a mother but I have never regretted one second I spent nourishing my children- mind, body and spirit.”

A Tlingit woman shared beautiful memories of her mother and aunties. She said that when she and her cousins were little they would all stay together when their mothers were picking berries, drying salmon or doing some other type of work. One of the sisters always stayed back with the kids and would nurse the children that were still breastfeeding. She had distinct memories of her little brothers being nursed by her aunties.

A Yakima mother of 4 grown children told me her breastfeeding journey. She had all 4 of her children by the age of 19. For a bulk of the time she was breastfeeding she was nursing at least 2 children. She said that she had so much milk that her arms could not comfortably lie at her side. The nurses at the hospital in Yakima heard about “this Indian women on the rez” who made a lot of milk. She states one day a nurse showed up at her house with a pump that she operated with her foot. They told her that the babies in the NICU needed her milk and asked if she would pump milk for them. She agreed. The nurses would come by regularly and pick up her milk and bring it back to the sickest of babies. She did this for years.

“I fed them all,” she said.

“What do you mean you fed them all?” I asked.

“I mean I fed them all,” she answered.

There are so many stories like this. Are you Native and do you breastfeed? Do you have a breastfeeding story/memory to share? If so, tell us about it!

#IMNATIVEANDBREASTFEED

Camie Jae Goldhammer, MSW, CLE, IBCLC, (Sisseton-Wahpeton) is the founder and chair of the Native American Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington, a member of the Native American Women’s Dialogue on Infant Mortality, and a founding member of the Collaborative for Breastfeeding Action and Justice. Her work focuses on the effects of historical and complex traumas on American Indian/Alaska Native families, inequity in breastfeeding support, breastfeeding justice, and food/tribal sovereignty through breastfeeding.