How Migration, Resources, and Ethnicity Shaped Female Fertility

在世界范围内，目前有数百万人因内战、经济冲突、宗教迫害和自然灾害等不利条件而流离失所。美国如何应对这类危机既是一个重大的人道主义问题，也是21世纪的一个政策问题。在胁迫下的移民有多重后果，往往是相互作用的。其中一些是显而易见的，比如经济和文化的破坏；其他的，比如长期的生物效应，随着时间的推移会更加微妙地显现出来。这个项目的首要研究目标是了解其中一个长期影响，即移民对女性生育能力的影响。迁移到一个新的地区可能会直接影响生育能力，因为长途迁移的生理成本，但也会间接影响生育能力，因为繁殖的成本和收益发生了变化。这是关注移民福利的政策制定者感兴趣的一个尚未得到充分研究的问题；寻求理解人类经验与人类生物学之间联系的学者；还有移民自己，他们在艰难的条件下寻求建立新的生活。该研究将由Mary Towner博士（俄克拉荷马州立大学）和Kermyt Anderson博士（俄克拉荷马州大学）进行。这个问题需要纵向数据，所以他们将使用俄克拉何马州印第安人可用的历史人口统计数据。在1828年至1887年间，成千上万有着不同文化历史的美国印第安人在美国政府的迁移政策下迁移到印第安人领地（今天的俄克拉荷马州）。众所周知，它们造成了巨大的经济和社会代价，包括资源损失和高发病率和死亡率。然而，人们对女性生育能力是如何受到影响知之甚少。这个项目的总体研究目标是了解移民的影响，获得资源，和种族在历史上俄克拉何马州的美国印第安妇女生育变异。种族囊括了不同的文化传统、社会规范和人口历史。当移徙使不同种族的人聚集在一起时，族裔群体之间的生育率差异可能特别严重，因为族裔群体获得资源的机会不同。为了实现该项目的目标，研究人员将采用三种方法：1)从1910年美国联邦人口普查中抽取俄克拉何马州妇女的横截面样本；2)从历史记录中重建的女性纵向数据库；3)跨文化民族志来收集俄克拉何马州部落的信息。总之，这些互补的数据和分析水平将对来自三个具体研究问题的预测产生影响。研究问题1：俄克拉何马州早期生育能力的变化程度是怎样的？它在女性中是如何形成的？研究问题2：移民和重新安置对生育率的长期影响是什么？研究问题3：文化史如何在人口水平上塑造生育率？该项目的研究结果将为研究生育、移民和种族问题的学者和政策制定者以及对美洲印第安人人口特别感兴趣的学者和政策制定者提供信息。该项目还将通过支持研究生培训和为本科生（包括美国印第安人学生）提供参与STEM研究的机会，从而造福社会。

Worldwide, millions of people are currently displaced by adverse conditions such as civil war, economic strife, religious persecution, and natural disasters. How the United States responds to such crises is both a major humanitarian concern and a policy concern for the 21st century. Migration under duress has multiple, often interacting, consequences. Some, such as economic and cultural disruption are evident; others, such as long-term biological effects, unfold more subtly over time. The overarching research goal of this project is to understand one of those long-term effects, the impact of migration on female fertility. Moving to a new region might impact fertility directly given the physiological costs of long distance movement, but also indirectly, as the costs and benefits of reproduction change. This is an understudied question that is of interest to policy makers concerned with migrant welfare; scholars who seek to understand the connections between human experience and human biology; and the migrants themselves as they seek to establish new lives under difficult conditions. The research will be conducted by Dr. Mary Towner (Oklahoma State University) and Dr. Kermyt Anderson (University of Oklahoma). The problem requires longitudinal data, so they will use historical demographic data that are available for American Indians in Oklahoma. Between 1828 and 1887, tens of thousands of American Indians with diverse cultural histories migrated to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) under United States government removal policies. It is well-known that they incurred significant economic and social costs, including loss of resources and high morbidity and mortality. Little is known, though, about how female fertility was affected. The overarching research goal of this project is to understand the impact of migration, access to resources, and ethnicity on fertility variation across American Indian women in historical Oklahoma. Ethnicity captures diverse cultural traditions, social norms, and population history. Fertility contrasts between ethnic groups may be particularly acute when migration brings people of different ethnicities together and as ethnic groups experience differential access to resources. To meet the project goal, the researchers will use a three-leveled methodological approach: 1) a cross-sectional sample of Oklahoma women drawn from the 1910 United States Federal Census, 2) a longitudinal database of women, reconstructed from historical records, and 3) cross-cultural ethnographies to assemble information on Oklahoma tribes. Together, these complementary levels of data and analysis will be brought to bear on predictions stemming from three specific research questions. Research Question 1: What was the extent of fertility variation in early Oklahoma and how was it patterned across women? Research Question 2: What was the long-term impact of migration and relocation on fertility? Research Question 3: How did cultural history shape fertility at the population level? The findings of this project will be informative to both scholars and policy-makers working on questions of fertility, migration, and ethnicity, as well as those with a particular interest in American Indian populations. The project will also benefit society by supporting graduate student training and providing undergraduates--including American Indian students--an opportunity to engage in STEM research.