Sharing Our Stories of Survival: Native Women Surviving Violence (2 page)

Throughout this text, special reminders are shared by the sisters who are eloquent in their sharing of survival through their poetry: Petra L. Solimon-Yeager, Jayci Malone, Sally Brunk, Eileen Hudon, Lea Carr, Kochuten (Quinault) writer, Tracie Meyer, Juanita Pahdopony, Amanda D. Faircloth, Frances Monroe, Kim Shuck, Coya Hope White Hat-Artichoker, MariJo Moore, Joy Harjo, Nila NorthSun, Diane E. Benson, Venus St. Martin, Mary Black Bonnet, Sharon Lynn Reyna, Kim Querdibitty, and Judi Armbruster. These poems cover the whole spectrum of issues affecting tribal women in our communities.

Our struggle continues beyond this text, to protect our rights as tribal women to our sacredness and our sovereignty. It is my hope that this textbook will be read and taught in the spirit that it was written—with survivors at the center of the analysis. The effort to end violence against tribal women is a rich, multifaceted social change movement. The authors and poets highlighted in this text have provided a moving and profound foundation for discussion, academic inquiry, and activism. Tribal women need and deserve this book. It is long overdue.

Tillie Black Bear, Sicangu Lakota
Founder and Director, White Buffalo Calf Woman Society, Inc.

Preface

T
he nature of violent crime against women is a well-established discipline in many respects. There are several hundred books and at least five scholarly journals dedicated to the topic. However, the nature of violence against particular groups of women is still an emerging field. Recently, several books have been published that analyze issues of violence within the context of a particular race and/or geographic origin. For example, Margaret Abraham published
Speaking the Unspeakable: Marital Violence among South Asian Immigrants in the United States
in 2000. In 1998, Charlotte Pierce-Baker published
Surviving the Silence: Black Women’s Stories of Rape.
These and other books have made a significant contribution to the field of antiviolence literature by giving voice to marginalized women in American society. In 2005, Andrea Smith (Cherokee) published
Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide
—a groundbreaking book focusing on the historical and contemporary issues surrounding the rape of Native women. It is our hope that this textbook will build upon and continue the scholarship established by this seminal work.

Sharing Our Stories of Survival: Native Women Surviving Violence
is the result of a unique opportunity that arose from federal funding under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. In 2002, the Tribal Law and Policy Institute (see
www.tlpi.org
), a Native-owned-and-operated nonprofit organization, entered into the first of a series of cooperative agreements with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women to develop a college curriculum on violence against Native women. This grant was part of a larger effort by the Justice Department to enhance training and technical assistance for tribal grantees. The textbook grew out of an online class first taught by Sarah Deer in fall 2003 through UCLA Extension.

Sharing Our Stories of Survival: Native Women Surviving Violence
is the third book in the Tribal Legal Studies Series. The first two books—
Introduction to Tribal Legal Studies
and
Tribal Criminal Law and Procedure
—were published in 2004. Additional books in the Tribal Legal Studies Series are being developed.

This book is designed as an introductory textbook to the sociolegal issues that arise in the context of violence against Native women. A course on this topic might be taught in any number of disciplines: for example, social work, psychology, history, legal studies, nursing, or medicine. While there is a focus on legal issues in some of the text, we’ve tried to provide discussion of a wide variety of issues and topics that touch many disciplines. The reader may encounter any number of new concepts or vocabulary words; wherever possible, we have attempted to provide glossary definitions for these words.

Writing about violence and victims is never easy, but we have been fortunate to work with a series of writers and poets who are both knowledgeable about and sensitive to this topic. Many of the authors are survivors of violence, have worked directly with victimized women, or have close friends or family members who have experienced violence.

Much of the material in this book is very raw and exposed. We intentionally have not edited out any material that may be provocative and/or upsetting. Part of the reason we have chosen to reveal this sometimes dark material is to highlight the emergency level of the problem facing Native women in the United States. Statistics indicate that Native women are more likely than any other racial or gender group to be the victims of violent attacks. Some studies indicate that at least one in three women will be raped during their lifetimes.

Another reason for retaining the original tone and tenor of the writings is to allow each voice and each author to speak truth. The nature of the truth is sometimes unappealing or unattractive, but the telling of truth is a beautiful act of self-love. We choose to acknowledge and honor the authors for surviving the acts of violence. Native women too often suffer in silence. This silence resonates throughout Indian Country, from the lack of appropriate responses from law enforcement and judicial systems to the deafening silence faced by some women—even from their own families.

Tribal justice systems play a central role in responding to and intervening in criminal acts against women. This book, in addition to giving voice to those who have experienced violence, also provides information on tribal justice systems and their responses. Chapters on tribal jurisdiction, practicing in tribal courts, and the role of tribal probation and parole are included because the issues provide a critical link to safety. No book can cover every aspect of this complex topic. There are undoubtedly some areas that we were unable to include. We hope that this volume will be the inspiration for others, and that the areas we missed will be included in one of these future volumes.

Karren Baird-Olson and Carol Ward define “survival” as “the process of handling life with various degrees of constructive adaptation; to live with some dignity, to do more than just exist, to attempt to live a balanced life.”
¹
More than anything, we hope this book will serve as a testament to survival. Each story and poem included within this anthology represents hundreds and thousands of women who may never have had a chance to have their stories told.

Jerry Gardner, Cherokee, Series Editor
December 2006

Acknowledgments

Many Tribal Law and Policy Institute staff members and consultants assisted with the development of this book, including Arlene Downwind-White (Red Lake Band of Chippewa), April Clairmont (Lakota/HoChunk), Heather Valdez Singleton, Lou Sgroi, Diane Payne, Mona Evan (Tlingit/Haida/Yupik/Inupiat), Lavern Yanito Dennison (Navajo), and Terrilena Dodson (Navajo). We also wish to thank Erik Stegman (Nakota), who has been an intern in our office for the past two years, and Patricia Sekaquaptewa (Hopi) for her ongoing support of our work.

This book would not have been possible without the many contributing writers and poets—especially the survivors of violence—who have generously told their stories. We would also like to acknowledge the Advisory Board. Poet and actor Diane E. Benson (Tlingit) provided invaluable advice in soliciting and selecting poetry for this book. We are grateful for her artistic and cultural insight in the preparation of the final manuscript. Thanks also to George Boeck for his copy-editing skills and David Sekaquaptewa (Hopi) for his graphic skills.

Sarah Deer thanks her parents, Jan and Montie Deer; her grandparents, Isaac “Kelso” and Wanda Lee Deer; her husband, Neal Axton; and her Indian law mentor, Robert Odawi Porter. Also a special thank you to Jerry Gardner for his vision of Tribal Legal Studies textbooks.

Bonnie Clairmont thanks her friend and colleague, Sarah Deer, for giving her the opportunity to contribute to this book. Bonnie thanks her partner of thirty-five years, Jim Clairmont, for his steadfast support and for representing the true hallmark of a Lakota man. She thanks her mother, Elizabeth Deere, for teaching her the value of standing up for what you believe in and speaking your truth at all costs. She thanks her son, Lakota, for growing up to be the fine young family man that he is, respected by Indian people, young and old; and her daughter, April Rainbow, for growing up to be the principled, activist-minded young woman that she has become. She thanks the many women and advocates who have chosen to tell their truths in this book and in their communities on behalf of murdered, missing women and women who cannot speak out due to the fear of further violence.

Carrie Martell thanks Sarah Deer for giving her the opportunity to work together on issues of violence against Native women. Carrie also thanks the writers for sharing their stories, which help the rest of us to survive and serve to educate society about the violence Native women face. She would also like to acknowledge DeAnna Rivera and the Tribal Learning Community and Educational Exchange (TLCEE) program at UCLA for supporting the Violence Against Native Women online course, and her family for their love.

There are many people who have aided in the production and completion of this work. Of special note is the contribution of the Tribal Unit at the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW, U.S. Department of Justice), including Lorraine Edmo, Kimberly Woodard, Kathy Howkumi, and Lauren Nassikas. The leadership of the former director of OVW, Diane M. Stuart, and the current acting director of OVW, Mary Beth Buchanan, have been instrumental in the development and publication of this book.

Further information and resources concerning this textbook and the Tribal Legal Studies Series are available on the Tribal Court Clearinghouse website (
www.tlpi.org
) and on the Tribal Legal Studies website (
www.triballegalstudies.org
).

Notes

1
  Karren Baird-Olson and Carol Ward, “Recovery and Resistance: The Renewal of Traditional Spirituality among American Indian Women,”
American Indian Culture & Research Journal
24, no. 4 (2000): 7.

Eagle’s Wings

Give me eagle wings
Great Spirit
Take me away from this hurt
Take me away from pain

Pray for me
That I will survive another day
That my child will not see
That the bruises will heal
That no one will ask questions
That no one will hear
Pray for me

Give me eagle wings

To soar above and beyond
My situation
Give me strength
Give me power
Give me courage
Help me heal

Give me eagle wings

Petra L. Solimon (Laguna/Zuni)

I

INTRODUCTION TO VIOLENCE AGAINST NATIVE WOMEN

Native Women

Is it the hardships we face, or the hardships we survive?
Is it the bruises we don’t allow or the bruises we sometimes hide?
Is it the men we put up with, or the red road most choose to ignore?
Is it the reservations we’re confined to, or the fear of what is behind the other door?

It has to be something in our blood
Or something in our song
It has to be something in our soul
That makes Native Women strong

Is it the sound of the drum, or the grace of our step?
Is it the wisdom of our elders or the traditions we have kept?
Is it the closeness of our families knowing we will never be turned away?
Is it the excitement of pulling into a pow-wow on a hot summers day?

It has to be something in our blood
Or something in our song
It has to be something in our soul
That makes Native Women strong

I’ll tell you what it is and I hope you will all agree.
It’s the sound I hear at pow-wow’s and the beauty
I see at grand entry
It’s the feel of leather when I wear moccasins on my feet
It’s the jokes that I tell and the highness of my cheeks
It’s the taste of hull corn soup, wild rice and fry bread
It’s knowing on the “rez” I’ll never go unfed