Pretty Bird Woman House

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 03:12:00 +0000

Dear Friends,

It is with a tremendously heavy heart that I must announce to you that Pretty Bird Woman House's first director, Georgia Little Shield, whose dedication to getting it off the ground is responsible for the shelter's existence today, died on Tuesday.

If it weren't for Georgia's stubborn dedication to Pretty Bird Woman House, which meant doing a lot of work with crazy Netroots bloggers like me, the shelter would not exist right now. Seriously.

We raised enough money under Georgia's guidance to buy the building housing the shelter today. She was an excellent director, but unfortunately health concerns forced her to retire early.

Never one to sit around knowing she could help her community, Georgia formed a non-profit food pantry and future youth development program on the Cheyenne River Reservation last year, Okiciyap (we help) the Isabel Community. Again, with the help of bloggers, who were inspired by her fierce dedication to her community, we raised enough money to get a trailer that the Tribe had donated into place, skirt it, build a wheelchair ramp, and get a couple of deliveries of food to distribute. Over 100 families were helped within the past couple of months. That is Georgia's legacy to her community.

Georgia's other legacy was her love for her family. A couple of years ago she adopted two of her husband's neices after their mother died. Georgia was very proud of the youngest one Crystal, who lived with them. She was also always talking about her daughter and grandchildren and how much she loved to babysit them. They had also lived with her and her husband Norman for a while.

We mourn the loss of a great community leader, and just a really nice person.

Georgia you have left a tremendous legacy here between the shelter and the food pantry. Your family and friends remember your kindness and wonderful heart.

God bless you. Rest in Peace. You made a big difference in this world.

Funeral services will be held Saturday in Isabel, SD

National Native American Youth HIV/AIDS Council

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:47:00 +0000

Friends and colleagues,

On this 6th annual National Native American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, we are excited to announce that the Native Youth Sexual Health Network is partnering with the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center to create the first National Native American Youth HIV/AIDS Council in the United States!

We are looking for Native youth ages 18 to 25 all across the US to join our Youth Council. Application forms can be downloaded here:
http://www.nativeyouthsexualhealth.com/NNAYHACApplication.pdf

Deadline to apply is April 15th, 2012.

For more information about this day and our new Youth Council, check out "Time to Spring into National Native American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day" on Indian Country Today:
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/03/20/time-to-spring-into-national-native-american-hivaids-awareness-day-103626

Regards,

--
Jessica Danforth (Yee)
Executive Director, The Native Youth Sexual Health Network
Chair, National Indigenous Youth Council on HIV/AIDS
jessica.j.yee@gmail.com
jyee@nativeyouthsexualhealth.com

www.nativeyouthsexualhealth.com
Follow us on Twitter @NYSHN

From the Native Law Resource Center. Please Watch.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 17:08:00 +0000

Ms Foundation Announces Fellowship for Women

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:46:00 +0000

The Ms. Foundation for Women has announced the launch of a new fellowship program designed to develop leaders who are advancing solutions to the critical issues that women face.

The Ms. Foundation Fellowship is a one-year program designed to provide the opportunity for one dynamic leader to leverage the foundation's resources and support while developing promising strategies to shift the cultural and political conditions that enable inequality to thrive.

Applicants must propose a project that addresses injustice against women. The foundation is particularly interested in proactive approaches that demonstrate and inspire the potential for large-scale, structural change in the areas of child care (access to affordable care and improved working conditions for care providers), reproductive health, and child sexual abuse.

Applicants should be an early- to mid-career leader with a promising idea about how to shift the circumstances of a large number of women in the United States, a deep understanding of the overall environment for their work, and a track record of achieving impact.

The fellow will receive financial compensation (approximately $60,000 to $85,000, depending on level of experience) and health benefits, in addition to mentorship and support from Ms. Foundation staff. The fellowship is a full-time, one-year commitment, beginning September 4, 2012, at the Ms. Foundation offices in New York. The recipient's work for the year should include the creation of a publically accessible product such as a book or report, white paper, video, public hearing, presentation, the launch of an initiative or nonprofit organization, or other creative work product. The fellowship may be used for lobbying within pre-negotiated limits and upon compliance with a tracking system for lobbying expenses. The fellow will be eligible to apply for a $50,000 continuation grant on completion of the fellowship.

Visit the Ms. Foundation website for complete program guidelines and application procedures.

Violence Against Women Act up for Reauthorization - ACTION REQUESTED!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:31:00 +0000

December 5, 2011
Please forward widely!

The Violence Against Women Act is due for reauthorization. Our wonderful Senate champions, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), introduced a bipartisan bill, S. 1925, on Wednesday (11/30/11) to reauthorize and improve VAWA! Not only will this bill continue proven effective programs, but it will make key changes to streamline VAWA and make sure that even more people have access to safety, stability and justice. The National Task Force to End Violence Against Women has worked closely with the Senators on the bill and the language clearly represents the voices of survivors.

This is an important step forward for VAWA and we hope to get even more improvements as the bill moves forward! Our wonderful House champions Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) have been working closely with us and will introduce House legislation soon. If you have questions or want to report back about your efforts or results, please email ReauthorizeVAWA@gmail.com.

TAKE ACTION TODAY!

What’s most important now is to get ALL legislators to support VAWA’s reauthorization! As a constituent, it is especially important for you to tell your Members of Congress how important VAWA is to victims and service providers in your community.

1. SEND the following letter to the editor to your local papers:

To The Editor:

Domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking are pervasive issues throughout the United States In fact, these forms of violence affect everyone in [name of local community] in some way. The passage of the original Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994 was a giant step forward for our nation and meant that our federal government formally acknowledged that domestic and sexual violence cause tremendous harm, and therefore put resources into helping victims and responding to these crimes. Our community and millions of individuals are safer and better off as a result.

The time has come to again reauthorize this critical legislation. Evidence shows that VAWA is working. But there is more work to do. On average, each day three people are murdered because of this violence in America and several hundred people are raped or sexually assaulted. Countless children witness this violence. The Violence Against Women Act of 2011 will build on efforts to prevent violence before it begins and teach the next generation that violence is always wrong. We need more resources for all victims of violence. Congress must reauthorize this legislation to address this violence and build healthy communities. I urge [the name(s) of your member(s) of Congress and Senators] to sign on as co-sponsors of this legislation today.

Sincerely,

[Name, Title, Organization, Contact Info]

2. Tweet this: Help Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. Call ur senators TODAY & RT! #vaw #dv #VAWA bit.ly/ReAuthVawa

3. Email your Senators (http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm) and Representatives (https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml ) TODAY with this message:

I am writing to you about the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, in order to encourage Senator/Representative __________ to sign on as a co-sponsor. The Violence Against Women Act has had an enormous impact since it was first reauthorized 17 years ago. Thousands of judges, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, civil legal attorneys, and victim service providers have had access to DOJ-approved training and resources and, as a result, have become significantly more effective in addressing the crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

Research has shown VAWA's effectiveness. A law enforcement training program developed in Maryland by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence and the Johns Hopkins University has developed state of the art protocols for law enforcement officers who answer domestic violence calls. The officers are taught how to collect evidence appropriately, how to establish if there is probable cause to arrest an alleged perpetrator, and how to conduct lethality assessments on the spot to ensure that victims get the services they need for safety. Since this training was rolled out, domestic violence homicides in Maryland have dropped by 41%. A 10 year study conducted in Kentucky found that the issuance of protection orders reduced lethality and serious injury and saved the state $85 million in averted criminal justice, healthcare, and property costs.

Here is a link to a fact sheet that illustrates that VAWA has been instrumental in making victims safer, ensuring Constitutional protections for all parties, and improving the effectiveness of justice system and victim service responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking: http://www.breakthecycle.org/sites/default/files/SafeguardsinVAWANTF(2).docx. There are critics of VAWA who believe that VAWA encourages bad practices by the police and the courts. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact sheet addresses many of those criticisms, so I invite you to read it and share it with your colleagues. Thank you.

Let’s get bipartisan VAWA legislation passed together!! Thank you!

Thanks so Sarah Deer for forwarding this.

Indian Child Welfare Act Violations Prompts ACLU Investigation Into South Dakota Foster Care System

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 01:24:00 +0000

ACLU Seeks Input from American Indian Families With Children in DSS

SIOUX FALLS, SD - The appalling treatment of American Indian children, family, and tribes by the South Dakota Department of Social Services as described in recent NPR News reports has prompted the ACLU of South Dakota to investigate the actions as violations of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).

The NPR News series, "Native Foster Care: Lost Children, Shattered Families," explains how American Indian children represent more than half of all children in foster care, yet account for less than 15 percent of the state's total child population. The report also features interviews from tribal members who recall DSS officials driving onto the reservation, removing children from homes, and preventing contact with family.

The report describes several instances of ICWA violations, as well as blatant disregard of fundamental Constitutional norms and international human rights as affirmed by the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, according to Robert Doody Esq., Executive Director of the ACLU of South Dakota.

"The ACLU is firmly committed to addressing this most recent manifestation of racism and colonization in our state," Doody said. "It is shocking to see politicians and members of the government, who hold themselves out as "pro-family," react in utter contempt and callous disregard to the legitimate grievances of American Indians."

The ACLU of South Dakota wants to hear from American Indians who recently had children removed by DSS in order to ascertain the depth and breadth of the problem. Any American Indian with concerns regarding their experiences with or treatment by DSS should contact the ACLU at (605) 332-2508 or email southdakota@aclu.org.

###

Please direct media inquiries to Taté Walker, ACLU of South Dakota Communications Director: (605) 332-2508, (646) 421-9387 or twalker@aclu.org. For more information about the ACLU of South Dakota, visit www.aclusd.org, or find us on Facebook and Twitter.

International Commission Hearing On Violence Against Native Women in the U.S.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 03:15:00 +0000

Thank you Sarah Deer for posting this on CAVNET
Written by Administrator Thursday, 20 October 2011 09:28
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 19, 2011 email: jwalker@indianlaw.org International Commission Hearing On Violence Against Native Women in the U.S. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The epidemic proportions of violence against Native women in the United States continues to gain global attention. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will hold a hearing on Oct. 25, 2011 at 10:15 a.m. at the General Secretariat Building of the Organizations of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C. The Commission is an autonomous organ of the OAS, created by countries to protect human rights in the Americas. "The right to be safe and live free from violence is a fundamental human right that many in the United States take for granted---but not Native women," said Jana Walker, Director of the Safe Women, Strong Nation project at the Indian Law Resource Center. "This is a human rights crisis that Indian country has been aware of for some time. We are glad that the rest of the world is finally beginning to take notice." The Indian Law Resource Center along with the National Congress of American Indians Task Force on Violence Against Women, Clan Star, Inc., and the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center, Inc. will present testimony. According to U.S. Department of Justice statistics, one out of three Native women will be raped in her lifetime, and three out of four will be physically assaulted. "Indian women also are 2 ½ times more likely to experience violence than other women in the United States and, even more shocking, the vast majority of these violent crimes are committed by non-Indians," said Juana Majel Dixon, First Vice President of the National Congress of American Indians and Co-Chair of the NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women. These shameful statistics are linked to systemic barriers imposed by United States law that prevents Indian nations from ensuring the safety of their citizens and adequately responding to crimes. Unlike local communities or state governments, Indian nations and Alaska Native villages are legally prohibited from prosecuting non-Indians, and tribal courts have greatly restricted sentencing authority for offenders committing acts of sexual and domestic violence that occur within their tribal lands and communities. "Jurisdictional restrictions, scarce resources for services to meet the needs of Native women especially those victimized by violence, and inadequate law enforcement responses all contribute to a flawed and unjust system," said Lucy Simpson, Executive Director, National Indigenous Women's Resource Center. "Few Native women have access to culturally appropriate services and meaningful justice. Even fewer will ever see their abusers prosecuted." "Mothers preparing daughters for what to do when they are raped is an outrageous reality that must end," said Terri Henry, Councilwoman for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Co-chair of the NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women. "There is no question that violence against Native women has reached epidemic proportions." "The only question is when and how the United States will respond to these violations of its obligations under international human rights law." The panel will discuss topics ranging from U.S. law and policy that contributes to the human rights crisis, the jurisdictional challenges between tribes and the federal government in protecting Native women, and what needs to happen to bring the United States into full compliance with international human rights law. The hearing is open to the public and can be viewed online through the Organization of American States' web site. ### Partner Organizations About the National Congress of American Indians (202) 466-7767, email: Katy_Jackman@NCAI.org The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is the oldest and largest national organization of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments. As the collective voice of tribal governments in the United States, NCAI is dedicated to ending the epidemic of violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women. In 2003, NCAI created the NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women to address and coordinate an organized response to national policy issues regarding violence against Indian women. The NCAI Task Force represents a national alliance of Indian nations and tribal organizations dedicated to the mission of enhancing the safety of American Indian and Alaska Native women. About Clan Star, Inc. Contact: Terri Henry (828) 497-5507 Clan Star, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization incorporated under the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in 2001, devoted to improving justice to strengthen the sovereignty of Indigenous women through legal, legislative, and policy initiatives, and, education and awareness. Clan Star provides technical assistance, training, and consultation throughout the United States to Indian tribes and tribal organizations in the development of public policy strategies addressing violence against women. For more information, visit www.clanstar.org. About the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center Contact: Lucy Simpson, Executive Director Email: lsimpson@niwrc.org The National Indigenous Women's Resource Center (NIWRC) is a nonprofit organization that provides technical assistance, policy development, training, materials, and resource information for Indian and Alaska Native women, Native Hawaiians, and Native non-profit organizations addressing safety for Native women. The NIWRC's primary mission is to restore safety for Native women. For more information, visit www.niwrc.org. About the Indian Law Resource Center email: jwalker@indianlaw.org The Indian Law Resource Center is a non-proﬁt law and advocacy organization established and directed by American Indians. The Center is based in Helena, Montana and also has an office in Washington, DC. We provide legal assistance to Indian and Alaska Native nations who are working to protect their lands, resources, human rights, environment, and cultural heritage. Our principal goal is the preservation and well-being of Indian and other Native nations and tribes. For more information, visit www.indianlaw.org.

Strengthening Our Nations: A Gathering for Onkwehón:we Men

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 02:14:00 +0000

Hosted by: Kononkwe Council and Native Youth Sexual Health Network

Friday November 11th, 2011 8am to 5pm

Akwesasne Mohawk Nation Territory, Tsionkwanatiio Cultural Heritage Grounds, Rt 37C

Calling forth discussion in men’s health, cultural teachings and ceremony

A Gathering for Both Men and Women interested in Men’s Wellness

Encouraging Peace between Men and Women

The women of our nations will provide a positive gathering for Onkwehon:we men to support wellness, encourage growth, continue a spiritual way of life, and construct a vision of wholeness for our families and communities.

Knowledgeable Men & Women Speakers will harvest the discussions.

PRESENTERS: Curtis Nelson, Onento:kon Treatment Center: “Men & Addiction”

Teyowisote Thomas Deer, Kanawake Cultural Center: “Traditional Roles of Men”

Beverly Cook, St Regis Mohawk Health Services: “Creation Story”

DJ Danforth, Oneida Nation Wisconsin “Healthy Relationships - Onkwehonwe style!"

Dr Peter Ladd, Tekanikonrawa:kon WHW “Men in Today’s Society”

Harry Snowboy, Jo Jo Francis, Joey David – “Spiritual Health”

& more to be announced!

Registration fee: $50.00

“Register and Enjoy a Wild Game & Garden Feast”

Men’s Sweat Lodge will take place in the evening

Call Louise McDonald at (315) 705-3192 or email iakoiane@yahoo.com

The New National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Inc.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 13:55:00 +0000

From my email, some great news:

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am excited to announce that the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Inc. (NIWRC) is the next National Indian Resource Center Addressing Domestic Violence and Safety for Indian Women. Beginning this month, through a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, the NIWRC will begin providing technical assistance and training, policy development, public education, and materials and resource information for Indian and Alaska Native nations, Native Hawaiians, and Native non-profit organizations addressing safety for Native women. We are excited to help provide national leadership to end violence against Native women through important partnerships with the National Congress of American Indians Task Force on Violence Against Women, the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women, the Domestic Violence Resource Network, numerous Indian nations, national Indian organizations, tribal coalitions, other national organizations addressing violence against women, and Native women’s advocates.

We have a truly outstanding Board of Directors from across the nation to ensure that our work remains true to supporting and upholding Native grassroots advocacy and social change to address violence against Native women. On behalf of our Board of Directors and staff, I look forward to working with you and others as we begin our journey forward as the next National Indian Resource Center. Please let us know how we may be able to support your efforts at enhancing safety of Native women in your communities.

Stay tuned for email blasts with information regarding upcoming activities, including training, webinars, and technical assistance and resource material availability.

Ahéhee',

Lucy Simpson, Esq.

Executive Director

National Indigenous Women's Resource Center, Inc.

lsimpson@niwrc.org

Amnesty International to Testify at Senate Oversight Hearing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:53:00 +0000

Amnesty International USA Press Statement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, July 14, 2011

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA WELCOMES SENATE OVERSIGHT HEARING ON PROTECTING NATIVE AMERICAN AND ALASKA NATIVE WOMEN
----
The U.S. Congress must prioritize ending sexual violence
against Native women, says Amnesty International

Contact: Wende Gozan Brown at 212-633-4247 , wgozan@aiusa.org.

(Washington, D.C.) Today, in advance of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing on protecting Native women, Professor Sarah Deer, Native women’s advocate and member of Amnesty International USA’s Native American and Alaska Native Advisory Council, released the following statement:

“The historical discrimination and ongoing economic, social, and cultural abuses that Indigenous peoples in the United States experience have resulted in shocking levels of violence against Native women. This hearing will bring us one step closer to addressing and rectifying the legacy of abuses perpetrated against Indigenous peoples and ensure our rights are respected.

“Amnesty International is heartened by the passage of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 and the U.S. endorsement of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, both of which are long-overdue steps in the right direction. Still, one in three American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped in her lifetime. Chairman Danial Akaka (D-HI) has demonstrated leadership and commitment to protecting women in our community. Today’s hearing will be a small step to begin healing the wounds of the past and building a safer and stronger future for Indigenous communities.”

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.8 million supporters, activists and volunteers who campaign for universal human rights from more than 150 countries. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.

Mario Savio Memorial Lecture Fund Activist Award

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 02 May 2011 15:59:00 +0000

Nominations Invited for Mario Savio Young Activist Award

Housed at the Tides Foundation, the Mario Savio Memorial Lecture Fund and Young Activist Award is accepting nominations for the annual Mario Savio Young Activist Award. This award honors the late Mario Savio (1942-1996), who came to national prominence as a spokesperson for the Berkeley Free Speech Movement in 1964.

Nominees should be between the ages of 16 and 26; engaged in activism for social change related to peace, human rights, economic or social justice, or freedom of expression; working within the context of an organization, social movement, or larger community effort; and considered by others within that context as an inspirational leader or motivating force. The nominees' work must be based in the United States.

Anyone may nominate a candidate.

The 2011 award carries a cash prize of $6,000, to be divided equally between the prize-winner and his or her organization. The award will be presented at a ceremony in Berkeley, California(travel expenseswill be provided for the awardee).

Complete program guidelines and nomination forms are available at the Mario Savio Memorial Lecture Fund Web site.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 01:27:00 +0000

Well, better late than never.

Here are a couple of things to be aware of.

Tuesday, April 19, Frontline will be airing their investigation into Catholic Church abuses of Native Alaskan children. From the press release:

FRONTLINE reveals a little-known chapter of the Catholic Church sex abuse story: decades of abuse of Native Americans by priests and other church workers in Alaska.

In The Silence, the first of two magazine segments airing Tuesday, April 19, 2011, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS, FRONTLINE producer Tom Curran and reporter Mark Trahant examine the legacy of abuse by a number of men who worked for the Catholic Church along Alaska's far west coast in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They would leave behind a trail of hundreds of claims of abuse, making this one of the hardest hit regions in the country.

Don't miss this one. You can find it at your local PBS website.

Here's a letter from the U.S. Attorney for North Dakota on Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

In 2009, the president declared April Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This April I am answering the president's call to be a partner in raising awareness on the issue of sexual violence.

By: Timothy Q. Purdon, Bismarck
In 2009, the president declared April Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This April I am answering the president's call to be a partner in raising awareness on the issue of sexual violence. I want to focus attention on the issue of sexual violence in North Dakota's tribal communities.
In the time since I was sworn in as North Dakota's United States attorney on Aug. 24, 2010, I have traveled to the reservations to consult with the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold. Joined by others from the U.S. Attorney's Office, I consulted with tribal council members, tribal law enforcement, Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement, tribal social services, tribal court judges and staff, and tribal detention officials.
On March 16, the U.S. Attorney's Office held a Tribal Listening Conference at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck. We invited tribal leaders, as well as federal, state and local leaders, to come together to discuss the important issue of public safety in tribal communities. During all of these consultations, it has become apparent that sexual violence occurs far too often on the reservations in North Dakota.
There is one statistic that stands out for me above all others: A Native American female baby has a 1-in-3 chance of being sexually assaulted in her lifetime.
A statistic like this is not an American Indian problem; it is an American problem. It is not a Standing Rock or a Turtle Mountain problem; it is a North Dakota problem. As terrible as this statistic is on its face, a deeper look reveals another critical concern: Sexual assault remains one of the most under-reported crimes in America.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics states that in 2008, fewer than half of rapes or sexual assaults against women were reported. Many victims will never seek justice for a host of reasons, including fear of not being believed, having to relive a traumatic experience, or fear of retribution, to list a few.
Finally, the effects on victims and society are profound. Many sexual-assault victims suffer severe long-term physical and emotional difficulties.
In discussing these issues of sexual violence in tribal communities with my friends and neighbors who do not routinely visit the reservations, it has become apparent that many non-American Indians living in North Dakota are unaware of the levels of sexual violence on the reservations.
When I speak publicly about these issues, the response is often the same. After my remarks, many members of the audience will approach me individually and say, "I had no idea that this sort of thing was happening in North Dakota. What can I do to help?"
The answers to that question are as varied as the people who ask it, but the common theme is simple: Get involved. North Dakotans can volunteer at a local abused women's shelter, focus their charitable giving toward efforts to address this issue, talk to the members of their house of worship or civic group about getting involved on the reservations, or simply insist that, in their presence, victims of sexual violence will not be blamed or shamed into silence.
Now aware of the grim statistical fate that awaits so many Native women, I find myself reflecting on their 1-in-3 chance of sexual assault when I go to a pow-wow and see a group of three 7-year-old jingle dancers walk out into the sunlight to begin their dance or when I see an extended Native family of grandmother, mother and daughter pumping gas at a convenience store.
Like many of you, I have a mother, a sister and a wife. The three women in my family are not subject to this horrific statistic. The injustice of the fact that Native women are living with this statistic is offensive to me and should be to every American. I am asking for your help in this fight.
----------------------------------------------------------

Purdon, Bismarck, is the U.S. attorney for the District of North Dakota.

Wellbriety Journey for Forgiveness Video

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 19:39:00 +0000

Here's a press release by Lonny Pennycord from White Bison Inc. on the Journey for Forgiveness. It introduces the video, which follows.

In May 2009, the White Bison Inc. did the Journey for Forgiveness starting at the Chemawa Indian Boarding School, which had just celebrated its 130 year history, going through the USA to 25 boarding schools doing ceremonies and giving elders who were survivors of these various schools a chance to speak up about what happened to them while in them, and ended up at Carlisle boarding school, the place where it all began. The Journey then went to the Native Amerian Indian Museum in Washington, DC where the closing ceremony was performed, and a petition was given to President Obama asking for a formal apology for the governments role in the genocidal policies of the Boarding school

$166 Million Settlement Against Jesuit Order that Abused Native American Children

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 14:54:00 +0000

I heard this story on NPR as I was waking up this morning. Huge.

This is an excerpt from the New York Times:

SEATTLE — A Roman Catholic religious order in the Northwest has agreed to pay $166 million to more than 500 victims of sexual abuse, many of whom are American Indians and Alaska Natives who were abused decades ago at Indian boarding schools and in remote villages, lawyers for the plaintiffs said Friday.

The settlement, with the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, known as the Northwest Jesuits, is the largest abuse settlement by far from a Catholic religious order, as opposed to a diocese, and it is one of the largest abuse settlements of any kind by the Catholic Church. The Jesuits are the church’s largest religious order, and their focus is education. The Oregon Province includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.

“There is a huge number of victims, in part because these Native American communities were remote and vulnerable, and in part because of a policy by the Jesuits, even though they deny it, of sending problem priests to these far-off regions,” said Terry McKiernan of Bishopaccountability.org, a victims’ advocacy group that tracks abuse cases.

...snip...

John Allison, a lawyer based in Spokane, Wash., represented many clients who were abused in the late 1960s and early 1970s while they were students at St. Mary’s Mission in Omak, Wash., near the reservation of the Colville Confederated Tribes, one of the largest reservations in the country. The Jesuits ran the St. Mary’s school until the 1970s, when federal policies began to encourage more Indian control. St. Mary’s is now closed, though its building stands beside a new school.

...snip...

One of the plaintiffs, Dorothea Skalicky, was living on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation in northern Idaho in the 1970s when she said she was abused by a Jesuit priest who ran Sacred Heart Church, in Lapwai. Ms. Skalicky, now 42, said that her family lived across from the church for several years, and that she was abused from age 6 to 8.

This should be a message to the perpetrators that they WILL be caught, as well as to the victims to keep on keeping on....justice is actually possible now.

Ending Violence Against Native Women Training Institute March 28-April 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:19:00 +0000

Announcement:

Greetings From Sacred Circle

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you all to participate in our ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST NATIVE WOMEN TRAINING INSTITUTE training, on March 28th - April 1st, 2011 in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Description:
The Ending Violence Against Native Women Training Institute provides a strong foundation for advocates and their allies to work effectively with their own programs and within a coordinated response. The Institute begins with a one day plenary session to build a shared understanding of the dynamics of violence against native women and highlights coordinated community response initiatives. The last 4 days you will attend one of the five workshops offered and closing ceremony.

There are 5 break-out workshops to choose from:
* Role of Batterers' Program Workshop: Batterers' Re-Education Program Facilitation.
* Role of Advocate's Workshop: Advocating for Women who have been Battered/Raped and their Children.
* Sexual Violence in the Lives of Native Women Workshop
* Role of Coordinated Community Response Workshop.
* Increasing the Safety of Native Women: Understanding Law and Public Policy

We are excited to offer the Public Policy track as a new workshop facilitated by Jacque Agtuca.

For registration please go to www.sacred-circle.com and click on the training button. There is a registration form PDF. Print, fill out and fax to 605-341-2472.

If you have any questions regarding the training, feel free to contact
Tara Azure
Program Manager
tara@sacred-circle.com
605-454-0667 c
605-341-2472 fx
877-redroad toll free

Important Meeting in Montana on April 14-16,The Hope Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:16:00 +0000

This conference is on childhood sexual trauma in Indian Country. It's going to be an important event. Wish I could be there. It's going to be at the University of Montana, Missoula.

Here is information from the Hope Conference website

The HOPE CONFERENCE (Healing for Our People Everywhere) was formed in response to the growing need to confront the difficult issues of child sexual trauma, which has plagued families in Indian Country for too many generations.

The organizers and founders of the conference are a consortium of national and community experts, social service professionals, educators, artists, and activists.

The 2nd Annual HOPE Conference is scheduled to take place in Missoula, Montana at the University of Montana Campus & The Holiday Inn Downtown on April 13, 14, and 15, 2011; coinciding with the 20th Annual Kyi-Yo Pow Wow on the University of Montana campus.

Like last year the purpose of this year’s conference is bring together interested individuals, survivors, social service providers, judicial experts, victim’s advocates, social workers, law enforcement authorities, students, boarding school abuse survivors, and others to dialogue & share ideas addressing the silent issue of CHILD SEXUAL TRAUMA and its effect on Native American people & communities.

The 2011 Conference will address this issue by providing attendees with an opportunity to participate in three tracts that will cover the PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE of Child Sexual Trauma in Indian Country.

This year's speakers:

Keynote Speakers

Melissa Merrick (Spirit Lake Victims Assistance Program)

Phillip Whiteman Jr. (Medicine Wheel Model) - Connecting the Spirit of Horse and Human

Lynette Two Bulls (Yellowbird, Inc.) - Healing from Historical Trauma

Presenters

Theda New Breast (Blackfeet) - Native Wellness Institute

Lisa Thompson (Dakota) - Wiconi Wawikiya, Inc.

Dr. Jessica White Plume (Oglala) & Marty Young Bear (Mandan Hidatsa Arikara) - Healing Horse Program

Larry (Dakota) & Darla Thiele (Dakota) – Sunka Wakan Ah Ku Program

Stephanie Charging Eagle (Lakota) – Tasina Ska Consulting

Kathy Little Leaf (Piikani) - Missoula Indian Center

Dr. Annie Belcourt (Blackfeet) - University of Montana

Ken Bear Chief & BonniLee Ball (Tamaki Law Firm/ Independent Paralegal Services)

Linda Logan (Native American Children’s Alliance)

Claire Heath (Divine Choices)

Nicole Ducheneaux - Assistant Public Defender (Office of the State Public Defender)

Danna Jackson - Assistant US Attorney/Tribal Liasion

Eldena Bear Don’t Walk – Bear Don’t Walk Law Firm

Frank de la Paz (Dakota) – First Nations Women’s Alliance

Myrna Kuka (Blackfeet) - MT Dept. of Corrections

Linda Thompson – First Nations Women’s Alliance

There will be lots of great music and other performances. See the website for more details.

The main part of the conference will be April 14 and 15.

Pine Ridge Billboard Project by Aaron Huey

noreply@blogger.com (Neeta Lind) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 22:37:00 +0000

I would like to announce a new project to raise NATIONAL awareness of the poverty on our reservations. My friend Aaron Huey is launching an ambitious billboard campaign using his images of Pine Ridge reservation. Aaron is donating his time and talent to organize this project.

I have been documenting the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for the past six years. Recently I have realized how inappropriate it is for this project to end with another book or a gallery show.

More than any project I have done in my career, the ever-evolving Pine Ridge project gives voice to social injustice and a forgotten history. I want my work to empower the Lakota and other tribes who fight for recognition of the past in order to help give them a chance to move forward.

Your involvement will help raise the visibility of these images by taking them straight to the public to the sides of busses, subway tunnels, and billboards. I want people to think about prisoner of war camps in America on their commute to work. I want the message to be so loud that it cannot be ignored.

^{Illustration by Ernesto Yerena using images by Aaron Huey}

^{Image used to create the illustration above}

Transcript:

[American Indian voice: Rick Two Dogs]

You know, history, when you break it down it means "his story," which is really the story of the dominant culture. And we all know historically that the -- I guess the conquerors are the ones that write the history, you know, and it's really never based on the people that were supposedly conquered.

[Text block]

The last chapter in any successful genocide is the one in which the oppressor can remove their hands and say, "My god, what are these people doing to themselves, they are killing each other, they are killing themselves!"

[Aaron Huey:]

When I first got to Pine Ridge, I didn't really get it. All my first assignments were about poverty and violence and gangs and all those stories skimmed the surface. And now, six years later, now that I know the real story, I realize that mainstream American magazines won't print it.

The real story is the history -- a history of broken treaties, of prisoner of war camps, and massacres. It's too hard to look at. It's too dark. It's too layered and too painful to fit in between shampoo ads and car commercials. This project has reached the limits of print media.

I don't want you to give me money today for a book or a gallery show, where everybody drinks wine and looks at beautiful pictures of suffering. I want to take the images I've made over the past six years on Pine Ridge and put them on billboards. I want to put them in subways. I want to put them on the sides of busses. I want to put them in places where people can't ignore them.

I'm here today asking for your participation in a project that will illuminate a hidden history and empower a community. This is a grassroots information campaign. Your involvement, not just your money, is crucial. We will need help distributing these images in your communities.

Several partners have already joined me in this cause, including Ernesto Yerena, an activist and artist from Los Angeles who created visuals for the Alto Arizona campaign. Ernesto is collaborating with me to create a poster series based on my photographs that transcends these depressing statistics.

This collaborative image is the first of many that we will make in February. Also joining us will be Shephard Fairey, the most prolific street artist working in America, widely known for his ongoing Obey propaganda and Obama's Hope campaign. If anybody can raise an issue to icon status, it's him.

My collaborations with Ernesto and Shephard will go up on walls in cities all across America. We will be working hand in hand with Lakota and other indigenous rights organizations to produce this work, sharing resources through a website I have created at honorthetreaties.org.

Remember, this project is not a charity. It's about turning awareness into action.

MORE BACKGROUND:

In 1890 the Supreme Court ruled upon the longest running court case in US History, the Sioux Nation vs. the United States. The court determined that the terms of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty had been violated when the Sioux were resettled onto P.O.W. camps, and 7 million acres of their land were opened up to prospectors and homesteaders. These camps are now called “reservations”.

The grim statistics on Native Reservations today are the equivalent to that of a 3rd world country, revealing the legacy of colonization and treaty violations. Unemployment on the Reservation fluctuates between 80-90%. Many are homeless, and those with homes are packed into rotting buildings with up to 5 families. More than 90% of the population lives below the federal poverty line. The life expectancy for men is 47 years old - roughly the same as Afghanistan and Somalia.

ACTION: For as little as $10 you can help launch this project.

Your involvement will help raise the visibility of these images by taking them straight to the public—to the sides of busses, subway tunnels, and billboards. I want people to think about prisoner of war camps in America on their commute to work. I want the message to be so loud that it cannot be ignored.

Mock-up of a highway billboard installation:

Mock-up of a wall installation using 24x 26" posters:

Mock-up of a subway platform installation:

CREATIVE PARTNERS: Helping me to turn my photos into powerful illustrations are Ernesto Yerena, an artist and activist who created visuals for the Alto Arizona campaign, and Shepard Fairey, the most prolific street artist in America, known for his street art (OBEY) and the Obama HOPE campaign image. These collaborations with Ernesto and Shepard will go up on buildings and bus stops all over the country. I hope to also involve some of you with distribution of imagery and possibly even in the role of “wheat pasting” in your towns. Shepard’s image will be uploaded in April.

FINANCIAL GOALS + BUDGET: $17,250 will provide funding for a nationwide guerilla poster campaign. $30k, will allow for substantially more visibility, taking the photo essay to subway platforms in NYC and to billboards around South Dakota and Washington DC, where policy makers have the power to make real change on Reservations. Expenses: 35-40% to printing posters and billboards, 40-50% for ad space, 5-10% Shipping and Travel, and 1% for website setup.

OUTLETS FOR ACTION: Through this campaign a website is forming at honorthetreaties.org I hope to build this site up to become a point of reference for those who want to know more about the history and the (broken) treaties of the Sioux and other tribes. There will be direct links to assist grassroots Native non-profits in places like Pine Ridge.
Our first partner is Owe Aku.

PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES to watch my TED talk on this subject, the video is posted below.

Transcript

Raising the NATIONAL awareness in metropolitan areas like New York City and Washington DC will help us influence policy makers to help our American Indian tribes and reservations.

This is an excellent campaign.

AWARENESS WILL BRING ACTION

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE:

Contact info for the SENATE INDIAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
to honor the treaties:

Senator Dorgan

Senator Barrasso

Senator Akaka

Senator Cantwell

Senator Coburn

Senator Crapo

Senator Franken

Senator Inouye

Senator Johanns

Senator Johnson

Senator McCain

Senator Murkowski

Senator Tester

Senator Udall

Cross Posted at Native American Netroots

An ongoing series sponsored by the Native American Netroots team focusing on the current issues faced by American Indian Tribes and current solutions to those issues.

SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Cedwyn for providing the video transcript this morning
TiaRachel for video embed assistance
rfall for helping with new coding issues with DK4 stylesheets

An Important Film Currently Screening

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:24:00 +0000

Big Voice Pictures is screening the film Boys and Men Healing from Childhood Sexual Abuse around the country right now. Go to the end of this post for the trailer. This is an important documentary.

Here's the screening schedule:

March 18-19 Indiana State Conference on Sexual Violence, Indiana

April 11-13 End Violence Against Women International Conference on Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence and Stalking. David Lisak, Mark Crawford and Tony Rogers (featured in the film), along with the Big Voice Pictures' team will be there!

June 29-July 1 Oregon Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Annual Conference

The Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault has arranged for both PBS and Cable Televisionbroadcasts of Boys and Men Healing and our earlier film, The Healing Years, throughout Alaska. Governor Sean Parnell taped a statement about sexual assault which aired before the films.

April 19-21, 201 Wyoming Office of the Attorney General
Division of Victim Services, Sexual Assault Summit X As part of an ongoing partnership between Big Voice Pictures and 1in6, 1in6's executive director Steve LePore will facilitate a two-hour presentation and discussion "Boys and Men Healing, supporting men sexually abused as boys". Following the screening of the film, participants will engage in an interactive discussion about the challenges male survivors face, as portrayed in the film; internal and socialized barriers to accessing effective treatment; influences of race, nationality, class, sexual orientation, immigration status and ability on the impact and response to abuse; information about how to find and assess available resources and guidance about talking supportively with a man about his experiences.

March 24th, Baton Rouge Rape Crisis Center, will screen the film for their Men and Sexual Violence Film Series

Grass Roots outreach to Universities is beginning:

Princeton Community TelevisionTV broadcast Boys and Men Healing after the memorial of Bill Zeller, Princeton student and male survivor, who recently committed suicide and spoke about how being raped as a child effected every aspect of his life. An interview with Mark Crawford from our film, was also broadcast.

Penn State TV, a PBS affiliate will be broadcasting the film in the coming months.

Columbia University and Delaware University will be presenting screenings in April for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Big Voice Pictures also did a film on women and girls healing from childhood sexual abuse, called The Healing Years. If You're interested in the trailer for that film, go to the link.

Are You a Young Social Justice Innovator?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 23:32:00 +0000

From an email from CAVNET:

Grinnell College Announces New Prize Program for Young Social Justice Innovators

Grinnell College, a private liberal arts college located in Grinnell, Iowa, has announced the creation of a $300,000 annual prize to honor individuals under the age of 40 who have demonstrated leadership in their fields and who show creativity, commitment, and extraordinary accomplishment in effecting positive social change. The Grinnell College Young Innovator for Social Justice Prize will carry an award of $100,000, half to the individual and half to an organization committed to the winner's area of social justice. One to three awards will be given each year.

Nominees may be nationals of any country and the program encourages a global and diverse pool of candidates. No affiliation to Grinnell College is required. Nominees should not yet have turned 40 by January 1, 2011, and should have an exceptional record of substantive, innovative contributions within their chosen field that have enabled them to become a force for social justice.

In keeping with the history of Grinnell College, recipients will be individuals who have advanced social issues in ways that embody the values of a liberal arts education and collaborative leadership. Entries are encouraged across a wide range of fields, including science, medicine, the environment, humanities, business, economics, education, law, public policy, social services, religion, and ethics, as well as projects that cross these boundaries. The program will make a special effort to seek nominations of individuals who work in areas that may not have been traditionally viewed as directly connected to social justice, such as the arts and business.

Prize winners must be nominated by a third party.

Visit the Grinnell College Web site for complete program information and the online nomination form.

http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/chaplain/socialjusticeprize

This is a great opportunity, so if you're under 40 and doing something great for your community, ask someone to nominate you!

'Tis the Season

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 05:32:00 +0000

Hello everyone,

When you're shopping this Christmas, you can help women in the shelter. First, there are a number of on-going needs women fleeing their households have. You can see them anytime by looking at the bar on the right side of this page. For a couple of years a nonprofit was supplying some basic items, but it shut down, so now the shelter is back to buying them again.

Also, this year you will note that many online retailers have free shipping. You can take advantage of this to send needed items to the shelter.

Generally, they are as follows:
Childrens' clothes and coats (always in short supply, and cheaper to mail than adult clothes)
Sheets, blankets and towels, but towels especially
Women's clothes, mostly size M to XXL
Women's sanitary items
Shampoo and conditioner, toothbrushes and toothpaste
Sweat pants

Gently used clothes are welcome.

Of course, you can also send monetary donations. We cannot use a ChipIn this year because of staff turnover and confusion about how to get a new PayPal account going. So, you can send checks to this address:
Pretty Bird Woman House
211 N. First St
McLaughlin, SD 57642

If you like to shop online, I encourage you to go to the right side of the page and click on iGive. Participating companies (and there are hundreds) will donate a percentage of your purchase to the shelter. There are also coupons and good deals.

Thank you all !

President Obama's Remarks at White House Tribal Nations Conference (going on now)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 16:57:00 +0000

Whatever your opinion of President Obama is on other issues, his administration has been much more concerned with the situation of American Indians and Alaska Natives than any administration I can think of. He deserves a lot of credit for the number of initiatives that have come out of his administration.

Here is the text of his remarks from a White House press release.

9:39 A.M. EST
     THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Everybody please be seated. Thank you.
Thank you, Fawn, for that wonderful introduction. Thanks to all of you. It is wonderful to be with you here today.
I see a lot of friends, a lot of familiar faces in the house. I want to thank all the tribal leaders who have traveled here for this conference. And I also want to recognize all the wonderful members of Congress who are here, as well as members of my Cabinet, including Secretary Salazar, who is doing terrific work here at Interior on behalf of the First Americans and on behalf of all Americans. So thank you very much, everybody. (Applause.)
Yesterday, I had the chance to meet with several tribal leaders at the White House, continuing a conversation that began long before I was President. And while I’m glad to have the opportunity to speak with you this morning, I’m also very eager to see the results of today’s meeting. I want to hear more from you about how we can strengthen the relationship between our governments, whether in education or health care, or in fighting crime or in creating jobs.
And that’s why we’re here today. That’s a promise I’ve made to you. I remember, more than two years ago, in Montana, I visited the Crow Nation -- one of the many times I met with tribal leaders on the campaign trail. You may know that on that trip, I became an adopted Crow Indian. My Crow name is “One Who Helps People Throughout the Land.” (Applause.) And my wife, when I told her about this, she said, “You should be named ‘One Who Isn’t Picking Up His Shoes and His Socks’.” (Laughter.)
Now -- but I like the first name better. And I want you to know that I’m working very hard to live up to that name.
What I said then was that as President I would make sure that you had a voice in the White House. (Applause.) I said that so long as I held this office, never again would Native Americans be forgotten or ignored. (Applause.) And over the past two years, my administration, working hand in hand with many of you, has strived to keep that promise. And you’ve had strong partners in Kim Teehee, my senior advisor for Native American issues, and Jodi Gillette, in our Intergovernmental Affairs office. You can give them a big round of applause. They do outstanding work. (Applause.)
Last year, we held the largest gathering of tribal leaders in our history. And at that conference -- you remember, most of you were there -- I ordered every Cabinet agency to promote more consultation with the tribal nations. Because I don’t believe that the solutions to any of our problems can be dictated solely from Washington. Real change depends on all of us doing our part.
So over the past year my administration has worked hard to strengthen the relationship between our nations. And together, we have developed a comprehensive strategy to help meet the challenges facing Native American communities.
Our strategy begins with the number one concern for all Americans right now -- and that’s improving the economy and creating jobs. We’ve heard time and again from tribal leaders that one of the keys to unlocking economic growth on reservations is investments in roads and high-speed rail and high-speed Internet and the infrastructure that will better connect your communities to the broader economy. That’s essential for drawing capital and creating jobs on tribal lands. So to help spur the economy, we’ve boosted investment in roads throughout the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Reservation Road Program, and we’ve offered new loans to reach reservations with broadband.
And as part of our plan to revive the economy, we’ve also put billions of dollars into pressing needs like renovating schools. We’re devoting resources to job training -- especially for young people in Indian Country who too often have felt like they don’t have a chance to succeed. And we’re working with you to increase the size of tribal homelands in order to help you develop your economies.
I also want to note that I support legislation to make clear -- in the wake of a recent Supreme Court decision -- that the Secretary of Interior can take land into trust for all federally recognized tribes. (Applause.) That’s something that I discussed yesterday with tribal leaders.

We’re also breaking down bureaucratic barriers that have prevented tribal nations from developing clean energy like wind and solar power. It’s essential not just to your prosperity, but to the prosperity of our whole country. And I’ve proposed increasing lending to tribal businesses by supporting community financial institutions so they can finance more loans. It is essential in order to help businesses expand and hire in areas where it can be hard to find credit.
Another important part of our strategy is health care. We know that Native Americans die of illnesses like diabetes, pneumonia, flu -- even tuberculosis -- at far higher rates than the rest of the population. Make no mistake: These disparities represent an ongoing tragedy. They’re cutting lives short, causing untold pain and hardship for Native American families. And closing these gaps is not just a question of policy, it’s a question of our values -- it’s a test of who we are as a nation.
     Now, last year, at this conference, tribal leaders talked about the need to improve the health care available to Native Americans, and to make quality insurance affordable to all Americans. And just a few months later, I signed health reform legislation into law, which permanently authorizes the Indian Health Care Improvement Act -- permanently. (Applause.) It’s going to make it possible for Indian tribes and tribal organizations to purchase health care for their employees, while making affordable coverage available to everybody, including those who use the Indian Health Service -- that’s most American Indians and native -- Alaska Natives. So it’s going to make a huge difference.
Of course, there are few steps we can take that will make more of a difference for the future of your communities than improving education on tribal lands. We’ve got to improve the education we provide to our children. That’s the cornerstone on which all of our progress will be built. We know that Native Americans are far more likely to drop out of high school and far less likely to go to college. That not only damages the prospects for tribal economies; it’s a heartbreaking waste of human potential. We cannot afford to squander the promise of our young people. Your communities can’t afford it, and our country can’t afford it. And we are going to start doing something about it. (Applause.)
We’re rebuilding schools on tribal lands while helping to ensure that tribes play a bigger role in determining what their children learn. We’re working to empower parents with more and better options for schools for their kids -- as well as with support programs that actually work with Indian parents to give them a real voice in improving education in your communities.
We’re also working to improve the programs available to students at tribal colleges. Students who study at tribal colleges are much less likely to leave college without a degree and the vast majority end up in careers serving their tribal nation. And these schools are not only helping to educate Native Americans; they’re also helping to preserve rich but often endangered languages and traditions. I’d also like to point out last year I signed historic reforms that are increasing student aid and making college loans more affordable. That’s especially important to Native Americans struggling to pay for a college degree. (Applause.)

Now, all these efforts -- improving health care, education, the economy -- ultimately these efforts will not succeed unless all of our communities are safe places to grow up and attend school and open businesses and where people are not living under the constant threat of violence and crime. And that threat remains real, as crime rates in Indian Country are anywhere from twice to 20 times the national average. That’s a sobering statistics -- represents a cloud over the future of your communities.
So the Justice Department, under the leadership of Eric Holder, is working with you to reform the way justice is done on Indian reservations. And I was proud to sign the Tribal Law and Order Act into law, which is going to help tribes combat drug and alcohol abuse, to have more access to criminal databases, and to gain greater authority to prosecute and punish criminals in Indian Country. That’s important. (Applause.)
We’ve also resolved a number of longstanding disputes about the ways that our government has treated -- or in some cases mistreated -- folks in Indian Country, even in recent years. We’ve settled cases where there were allegations of discrimination against Native American farmers and ranchers by the Department of Agriculture. And after a 14-year battle over the accounting of tribal resources in the Cobell case, we reached a bipartisan agreement, which was part of a law I signed just a week ago. We’re very proud of that and I want to thank all the legislators who helped make that happen. (Applause.)
This will put more land in the hands of tribes to manage or otherwise benefit their members. This law also includes money to settle lawsuits over water rights for seven tribes in Arizona, Montana and New Mexico -- and it creates a scholarship fund so more Native Americans can afford to go to college.
These cases serve as a reminder of the importance of not glossing over the past or ignoring the past, even as we work together to forge a brighter future. That’s why, last year, I signed a resolution, passed by both parties in Congress, finally recognizing the sad and painful chapters in our shared history -- a history too often marred by broken promises and grave injustices against the First Americans. It’s a resolution I fully supported -- recognizing that no statement can undo the damage that was done; what it can do is help reaffirm the principles that should guide our future. It’s only by heeding the lessons of our history that we can move forward.
And as you know, in April, we announced that we were reviewing our position on the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. And today I can announce that the United States is lending its support to this declaration. (Applause.)
The aspirations it affirms -- including the respect for the institutions and rich cultures of Native peoples -- are one we must always seek to fulfill. And we’re releasing a more detailed statement about U.S. support for the declaration and our ongoing work in Indian Country. But I want to be clear: What matters far more than words -- what matters far more than any resolution or declaration -– are actions to match those words. And that’s what this conference is about. (Applause.)    That’s what this conference is about. That’s the standard I expect my administration to be held to.
So we’re making progress. We’re moving forward. And what I hope is that we are seeing a turning point in the relationship between our nations. The truth is, for a long time, Native Americans were implicitly told that they had a choice to make. By virtue of the longstanding failure to tackle wrenching problems in Indian Country, it seemed as though you had to either abandon your heritage or accept a lesser lot in life; that there was no way to be a successful part of America and a proud Native American.
But we know this is a false choice. To accept it is to believe that we can’t and won’t do better. And I don’t accept that. I know there is not a single person in this room who accepts that either. We know that, ultimately, this is not just a matter of legislation, not just a matter of policy. It’s a matter of whether we’re going to live up to our basic values. It’s a matter of upholding an ideal that has always defined who we are as Americans. E pluribus unum. Out of many, one.
That’s why we’re here. That’s what we’re called to do. And I’m confident that if we keep up our efforts, that if we continue to work together, that we will live up to the simple motto and we will achieve a brighter future for the First Americans and for all Americans.
So thank you very much. God bless you. Thank you. (Applause.)
END
9:54 A.M. EST

This man is truly a friend.

Department of Interior Press Release

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 03:46:00 +0000

Some good news from the Obama Administration.

Echo Hawk Launches Initiative to Strengthen BIA Law Enforcement

Training on Domestic Violence in Indian Country
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk announced today
that he has directed the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Michael S. Black, and the BIA’s
Deputy Bureau Director for Justice Services, Darren A. Cruzan, to increase the training of BIA
and tribal law enforcement officers to aid them as they respond to domestic violence incidents in the tribal communities they serve.

“Violent crime in Indian Country is twice the national average and more than 20 times the
national average on some reservations,” Echo Hawk said. “Our records show the majority of
calls that Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal police respond to are related to domestic violence.

While our first duty is to prevent crime, I am directing the BIA’s Office of Justice Services to better train its officers to address domestic violence issues.” The U.S. Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M., in conjunction with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and its Office of State and Local Training and Rural Policing Institute, will dedicate four Domestic Violence Train-the-Trainer Instructor Training Programs to BIA and tribal law enforcement officers.

The training will enhance the officers’ skills to help them work more effectively with victims suffering from the physical and emotional effects of domestic violence. The four programs will provide 96 domestic violence subject matter experts to teach the officer trainees in:

Dynamics of Domestic Violence
Documentation and collection of evidence
Report Writing dynamics
Victim Impact statements
-Continued-BIA Law Enforcement – Page 2
Referral to Domestic Violence Shelter or Services
Referral to Victim Services
Referral to Victim Witness Advocate
Case Report
Testimony in Tribal/Federal Court

The Train-the-Trainer program also will provide subject matter instructors at the local level to promote and enhance the officers’ skills with continuous in-service training. In addition, instructors are encouraged to provide community educational opportunities and participate with local domestic violence and sexual assault victims programs. Through treaties, intergovernmental agreements, statutory laws and case law, the United States has special duties to aid the federally recognized tribes in the provision of law enforcement services.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs has responsibility for helping the Secretary of the Interior to fulfill his trust responsibilities to tribal and individual trust beneficiaries and promoting selfdetermination and self-governance for the nation’s 565 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. The Assistant Secretary oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), which administers one of two federal school systems.

The Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs is responsible for managing the BIA’s day-to-day operations through four offices – Indian Services, Justice Services, Trust Services and Field Operations – which administer or fund tribally based infrastructure, law enforcement, social services, tribal governance, natural and energy resources and trust management programs for the federally recognized tribes through 12 regional offices and 85 agencies.

The BIA Office of Justice Services is responsible for managing the Bureau’s law enforcement, corrections and tribal courts programs, either directly in tribal communities or by funding tribally administered programs through contract and grants.

Date: December10, 2010
Contact: Nedra Darling
202-219-4152

'Tis the Season

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 02:26:00 +0000

McLaughlin, SD 57642

If you like to shop online, I encourage you to go to the right side of the page and click on iGive. Participating companies (and there are hundreds) will donate a percentage of your purchase to the shelter. There are also coupons and good deals.

The Massacre For Which Thanksgiving Is Named (Pt.2)

noreply@blogger.com (Winter Rabbit) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 21:11:00 +0000

and out of that heightened violence came the massacre for which Thanksgiving is named.

Crossposted at Native American Netroots

Thanksgiving Day Celebrates A Massacre

William B. Newell, a Penobscot Indian and former chairman of the Anthropology department at the University of Connecticut, says that the first official Thanksgiving Day celebrated the massacre of 700 Indian men, women and children during one of their religious ceremonies. "Thanksgiving Day" was first proclaimed by the Governor of the then Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637 to commemorate the massacre of 700 men, women and children who were celebrating their annual Green Corn Dance...Thanksgiving Day to the, "in their own house", Newell stated.

- small snip –

-----The very next day the governor declared a Thanksgiving Day.....For the next 100 years, every Thanksgiving Day ordained by a Governor was in honor of the bloody victory, thanking God that the battle had been won."

Without having the book or being able to see it online, the proclamation appears, according to Richard Drinnon, to have come from William Bradford. "'Thanksgiving Day'" was first proclaimed by the Governor of the then Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637," as from Newell, which was John Winthrop.

But "William Bradford became the governor of Plymouth after the first governor died in 1621."

And in "1631, John Winthrop (1588-1649) became the first elected official in America—governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony."

They were both Puritans, they both probably said it.

Facing West: The Metaphysics of Indian Hating & Empire Building

The original Thanksgiving was marked by prayer and thanks for the untimely deaths of most of the Wampanoag Tribe due to smallpox contracted from earlier European visitors. Thus when the Pilgrims arrived they found the fields already cleared and planted, and they called them their own.

- snip -

He was inspired to issue a proclamation: “This day forth shall be a day of celebration and thanksgiving for subduing the Pequots.” The authentic Thanksgiving Day was born.

The following source cites Drinnon in the next paragraph, so I assume the following came from Drinnon as well.

Source

Jump 129 years to 1621, year of the supposed "first Thanksgiving." There is not much documentation of that event, but surviving Indians do not trust the myth. Natives were already dying like flies thanks to European-borne diseases. The Pequot tribe reportedly numbered 8,000 when the Pilgrims arrived, but disease had reduced their population to 1,500 by 1637, when the first, officially proclaimed, all-Pilgrim "Thanksgiving" took place. At that feast, the whites of New England celebrated their massacre of the Pequots. "This day forth shall be a day of celebration and thanksgiving for subduing the Pequots," read Massachusetts Bay Governor John Winthrop's proclamation. Few Pequots survived.

The first Official Thanksgiving was gratitude for genocide in 1637, and in 1676 – 1677 “a day was set apart for public thanksgiving,” because nearly all of them were exterminated by then.

http://www.dinsdoc.com/lauber-1-5.htm

3 See Sylvester, op. cit., ii, p. 457, for expedients adopted by Massachusetts to obtain money to defend the frontiers. Yet the number killed and sold, along with those who escaped, practically destroyed the warring Indians. According to the Massachusetts Records of 1676-1677 a day was set apart for public thanksgiving, because, among other things of moment, “there now scarce remains a name or family of them (the Indians) but are either slain, captivated or fled.”

http://rwor.org/a/firstvol/883/thank.htm

In their victory, the settlers launched an all-out genocide against the remaining Native people. The Massachusetts government offered 20 shillings bounty for every Indian scalp, and 40 shillings for every prisoner who could be sold into slavery. Soldiers were allowed to enslave any Indian woman or child under 14 they could capture. The "Praying Indians" who had converted to Christianity and fought on the side of the European troops were accused of shooting into the treetops during battles with "hostiles." They were enslaved or killed. Other "peaceful" Indians of Dartmouth and Dover were invited to negotiate or seek refuge at trading posts – and were sold onto slave ships.

- snip -

After King Philip's War, there were almost no Indians left free in the northern British colonies. A colonist wrote from Manhattan's New York colony: "There is now but few Indians upon the island and those few no ways hurtful. It is to be admired how strangely they have decreased by the hand of God, since the English first settled in these parts." In Massachusetts, the colonists declared a "day of public thanksgiving" in 1676, saying, "there now scarce remains a name or family of them [the Indians] but are either slain, captivated or fled."

Fifty-five years after the original Thanksgiving Day, the Puritans had destroyed the generous Wampanoag and all other neighboring tribes. The Wampanoag chief King Philip was beheaded. His head was stuck on a pole in Plymouth, where the skull still hung on display 24 years later.

Furthermore, the continuing historical context of the Massacre for which Thanksgiving is named was in the context of “slave-producing wars in New England.”

The war consisted of two battles: the Mistick Fight, and the Swamp Fight. In the first of these two events, but seven captives were taken.1 In the second, the Swamp Fight, about one hundred and eighty captives were taken.2 Two of the sachems taken in the Swamp Fight were spared, on promise that they guide the English to the retreat of Sassacus. The other men captives, some twenty or thirty in number, were put to death.3 The remaining captives, consisting of about eighty women and children, were divided. Some were given to the soldiers, whether gratis or for pay does not appear. Thirty were given to the Narraganset who were allies of the English, forty-eight were sent to Massachusetts and the remainder were assigned to Connecticut.4

During the years 1675 and 1676, one finds mention of the sale of Indians in Plymouth in groups of about a hundred,2 fifty-seven,3 three,4 one hundred and sixty,5 ten,6 and one.7 From June 25, 1675 to September 23, 1676, the records show the sale by the Plymouth colonial authorities of one hundred and eighty-eight Indians.8

In the Massachusetts Bay colony a similar disposal of captives was accomplished. On one occasion about two hundred were transported and sold.9 There is extant a paper written by Daniel Gookin in 1676, one item of which is as follows: “a list of the Indian children that came in with John of Packachooge.” The list shows twenty-one boys and eleven girls distributed throughout the colony.10

Hence, the continuing historical context of the Massacre for which Thanksgiving is named: "In Massachusetts, the colonists declared a 'day of public thanksgiving' in 1676, saying, "there now scarce remains a name or family of them [the Indians] but are either slain, captivated or fled."

A cold question arises about whether "the sale of Indians in Plymouth" was at least silently appreciated by the colony. Did they? Were they glad "the Indians" were almost exterminated? They never actually said they were far as I know.

Source

It all began when Philip (called Metacom by his own people), the leader of the Wampanoag Indians, led attacks against English towns in the colony of Plymouth. The war spread quickly, pitting a loose confederation of southeastern Algonquians against a coalition of English colonists. While it raged, colonial armies pursued enemy Indians through the swamps and woods of New England, and Indians attacked English farms and towns from Narragansett Bay to the Connecticut River Valley. Both sides, in fact, had pursued the war seemingly without restraint, killing women and children, torturing captives, and mutilating the dead. The fighting ended after Philip was shot, quartered, and beheaded in August 1676.

How many were glad Saddam Hussein was hung? How many would be glad if all the perpetrators of 9-11 were shot? One last question, how many realize that then and now, colonialism always brings more violence as "a colonizing European nation was asserting political jurisdiction."

Puritans, Indians, and Manifest Destiny. p.75 - 76

...But tribal rivalries and wars were relatively infrequent prior to Puritan settlement (compared to the number of wars in Europe)...Neither would have increased if it were not that a colonizing European nation was asserting political jurisdiction, in the name of God, over indigenous New England societies...When thus threatened with the usurpation of their own rights, as native tribes had been threatened years before by them, Puritans came to the defense of a system of government that was similar, in important ways, to the native governments that they had always defined as savage and uncivilized...

Some have lost careers over stating the obvious: the US brings it upon itself.

Howard Zinn. A People's History Of The United States. p. 682.

We are not hated because we practice democracy, value freedom, or uphold human rights. We are hated because our government denies these things to people in Third World countries whose resources are coveted by our multinational corporations. That hatred we have sown has come back to haunt us in the form of terrorism.

(Paraphrasing)
"And in secret places in our minds, in places we don't talk about, we can't handle the truth."

That is true now, and it was true then. Genocide and slavery "saved lives," just the lives the dominant culture wanted to live. And for that, the dominant culture (a mind set) is grateful.

http://www.republicoflakotah.com/2009/cooking-the-history-books-the-thanksgiving-massacre/

William Bradford, in his famous History of the Plymouth Plantation, celebrated the Pequot massacre:

“Those that scraped the fire were slaine with the sword; some hewed to peeces, others rune throw with their rapiers, so as they were quickly dispatchte, and very few escapted. It was conceived they thus destroyed about 400 at this time. It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fyer, and the streams of blood quenching the same, and horrible was the stincke and sente there of, but the victory seemed a sweete sacrifice, and they gave the prayers thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them, thus to inclose their enemise in their hands, and give them so speedy a victory over so proud and insulting an enimie.”

"William Bradford, the author of Of Plymouth Plantation (c. 1630, c. 1646), has been hailed as the father of American history."- He sure as hell is.

Correction:

The timeline itself along with basic knowledge of the Pilgrim's and Puritan's religious beliefs exposes the fact that historically speaking, Thanksgiving was literally about gratitude for genocide.

The Massacre For Which Thanksgiving Is Named (Update)

My User Name is of the Wampanoag King, Pometacom
(6+ / 0-)

Recommended by:
Sean Robertson, capelza, i like bbq, Winter Rabbit, mamamedusa, brentbent

Son of Massasoit, brother of the murdered Wamsutta, best friend of Tispaquin, the Black Sachem of Nemasket. All but Massasoit were murdered by the Pilgrims. Wamsutta was murdered in prison (without explanation), Pometacom (King Phillip was shot and beheaded, and his wife and children were sold into slavery to Barbados, Tispaquin was promised that if he surrendered his life and his family's life would be spared. When he did surrender, he was beheaded and his wife and children were sold into slavery to Barbados.

I was born and grew up a few miles from Plymouth, Mass. These are the historical facts we were deliberately not told when going to school. It's not so much that our teachers lied to us, they had been lied to, and they were just repeating the lies without even knowing they were lies.

In 2000, I finally wrote a poem to deal with my anger of how much I had been lied to as a young kid growing up in the home of the Wampanoag. It is here:

http://www.glooskapandthefrog.org/Pometacom.htm

Below is the story of Tispaquin, the Black Sachem:
http://www.friendsofsebago.org/tispaquin1.jpg
http://www.friendsofsebago.org/tispaquin2.jpg

For those not wanting to click through, here is the poem:

Pometacom

By Douglas Watts

I was born on soil soaked with blood

Where the head of King Philip was ground in the mud

By the Pilgrims of Plymouth, and their first born sons.

They put his head on a spike and let it rot in the sun.

Shackled his children and family.

Shipped them to Barbados and sold them into slavery.

Now they taught me in grade school

About the first Thanksgiving

How Massasoit and Squanto kept the Pilgrims living.

But the teachers never told us what happened next.

How the head of King Philip was chopped off at the neck.

The teachers never told us what happened next.

How the head of Pometacom was sawed off at the neck.

The teachers never told us what the Pilgrims did

To Massasoit’s second son.

They put his head on a spike and let it rot in the sun.

The teachers never told us what they did

To kids who swam in the same brooks as me.

They put their legs in iron chains and sold them into slavery.

My name is Douglas Watts.

by Pometacom on Thu Nov 19, 2009 at 10:00:02 PM PST

Growing Up Indian

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:36:00 +0000

Just wanted to point you to a series in the Argus Leader called Growing Up Indian which portrays life on the reservations, often from the point of view of the youth, who contributed their own videos and photos.

Go to the link to participate in a series of live chats this week with reporter Steve Young about his experiences and involvement in the project, and share your opinions.

Here are some of the photos.