For indigenous peoples protecting their cultures from climate change impacts, oppressions can intersect. Already marginalized, exploited and subject to cultural imperialism, indigenous communities can experience systematic violence when refusing to assimilate to the dominant culture. As indigenous nations attempt to adapt to climate change impacts in ways that maintain their cultures intact, their political powerlessness can exacerbate their oppressed status as relates to their psychological, economic and social well-being. Moreover, as noted in Indigenous Peoples, Climate Change and the Government-to-Government Relationship, multiple oppressions have the compound effect of lessening the capacity of a group to respond effectively to the challenges they face.