Sharing Our Stories of Survival: Native Women Surviving Violence

TRIBAL LEGAL STUDIES SERIES

SERIES EDITOR:
Jerry Gardner (Cherokee), Tribal Law & Policy Institute

This series began as a collaborative initiative with the UCLA Native Nations Law and Policy Center and four tribal colleges. It is designed to promote education and community empowerment through the development of resources for and about tribal justice systems. This project was supported by Grant No. 2003-WT-BX-K001, Grant No. 2004-WT-AX-K045, and Grant No. 2006-MU-AX-K028, awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.

American Indian tribal court systems deal with a wide range of difficult criminal and civil justice problems on a daily basis. Culturally-based legal training is one of Indian country’s most pressing needs, as tribes assume responsibility for a growing number of government functions, such as child welfare and environmental control, and tribal courts continue to expand as the primary sources of law enforcement and dispute resolution for tribal communities. This book series is designed to develop legal and technical resources for tribal justice course offerings and materials so that they reflect community thought, philosophy, traditions, and norms, and serve to strengthen tribal government and leadership.

BOOKS IN THE SERIES

1. Introduction to Tribal Legal Studies
   (2004), by Justin B. Richland and Sarah Deer
   
2. Tribal Criminal Law and
   Procedure
   (2004), by Carrie E. Garrow and Sarah Deer
   
3. Sharing Our Stories of Survival: Native Women Surviving Violence
   (2007), edited by Sarah Deer, Bonnie Clairmont, Carrie A. Martell, and Maureen L. White Eagle
   

ADVISORY BOARD - VOLUME III

Eileen Hudon (Anishinabe), Advocate
Genne James (Navajo), Advocate
Tina Olson (Yaqui), Mending the Sacred Hoop TA Project
Mary Pearson (Musckogee Creek), Tribal Court Judge
Beryl Rock (Chippewa), Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Rose Mary Shaw (Osage), Osage Nation Counseling Center
Rebecca St. George (Anishinabe), Mending the Sacred Hoop/Advocate
Tammy M. Young (Tlingit), Alaska Native Women’s Coalition

ALTAMIRA PRESS
A division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
www.altamirapress.com

Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom

Copyright © 2008 by Tribal Law and Policy Institute

All rights reserved
. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sharing our stories of survival: native women surviving violence / edited by Sarah Deer, Bonnie Clairmont, and Carrie A. Martell.... (et al.)

p. cm.—(Tribal legal studies series)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

9780759113640

I. Indian women—North America—Social conditions. 2. Indian women—Violence against—North America. 3. Indians, Treatment of—North America. 1. Deer, Sarah, 1972- 11. Clairmont, Bonnie, 1950- 111. Martell, Carrie A., 1978-

E99.W8S43 2008

305.48’969208997073—dc22

2007018798

Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

This book is dedicated to the millions of Native women who’ve been harmed by violence, including those who have passed to the spirit world along with their stories.

Table of Contents

Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Foreword
Preface
Eagle’s Wings
I - INTRODUCTION TO VIOLENCE AGAINST NATIVE WOMEN

Native Women
Chapter 1 - Beloved Women: Life Givers, Caretakers, Teachers of Future Generations
Chapter 2 - Sexual Violence: An Introduction to the Social and Legal Issues for Native Women
Chapter 3 - Domestic Violence: An Introduction to the Social and Legal Issues for Native Women
Chapter 4 - Special Issues Facing Alaska Native Women Survivors of Violence
Chapter 5 - Overview of Issues Facing Native Women Who Are Survivors of Violence in Urban Communities

II - STORIES OF SURVIVAL

Chapter 6 - From a Woman Who Experienced Violence
Chapter 7 - Walking in the Darkness, Then Finding the Light
Chapter 8 - Violence across the Lifecycle
Chapter 9 - Prisoner W-20170/Other
Chapter 10 - Living in Fear

III - ADVOCACY

Chapter 11 - Introduction to Advocacy for Native Women Who Have Been Raped
Chapter 12 - The Role of Advocates in the Tribal Legal System: Context Is Everything
Chapter 13 - Overview of Sexual Violence Perpetrated by Purported Indian Medicine Men

IV - TRIBAL LEGAL SYSTEMS

Chapter 14 - Jurisdiction and Violence Against Native Women
Chapter 15 - Representing Native American Victims in Protection Order Hearings
Chapter 16 - Using Full Faith and Credit to Protect Native American Survivors of Domestic Violence, Stalking, and Sexual Assault
Chapter 17 - Divorce, Child Custody, and Support Issues in Tribal Courts
Chapter 18 - The Indian Child Welfare Act and Violence Against Women
Chapter 19 - The Role of Probation in Providing Safety for Native Women

Glossary
Index
About the Advisory Board
About the Contributors
About the Editors

Foreword

V
iolence against tribal women has developed as a result of several factors, including colonization and Christianization, which are poignantly addressed in the chapters of this book. Tribal women have traveled a hard road toward rescuing their sacredness and sovereignty, which were usurped by the influence of European contact. For many years, our communities internalized the dominant culture’s belief that women are subordinate to men. Ultimately, however, tribal women have never lost their sacredness or sovereignty. This text reflects tribal women’s belief that we are sacred and sovereign, which includes our right to our property and personhood.

Restoring tribal women to our rightful place as safe and sovereign beings requires efforts at the tribal, state, and federal levels. Education and consciousness-raising is the critical link between survivors’ voices and social change movements. This textbook is an important addition to materials and curricula developed by organizations such as Sacred Circle, Mending the Sacred Hoop, and Clan Star. By providing an academic context, this book can serve to bring new voices into the fold.

In Part I, “Introduction to Violence Against Native Women,” authors Jacqueline R. Agtuca, Charlene A. LaPointe, Victoria Ybanez, Eleanor Ned-Sunnyboy, Rose L. Clark, and Carrie Johnson share the herstorical analysis that violence against tribal women is now widespread throughout all tribes of Turtle Island. The poetry of pain and feelings interspersed within these teachings reflect the awakening of tribal women to proclaim their sacredness and sovereignty.

Part II, “Stories of Survival,” provides models of hope for victims/survivors of violence. These stories illustrate how violence has escalated in family systems, communities, and society, and how it erodes the sovereignty and sacredness of tribal women. This section confirms how violence is learned and how society has long supported the belief that violence against women is a “family” matter and not a crime. In traditional tribal societies, the woman holds a place of authority in her home and only has to place her husband’s personal belongings outside her dwelling, and he quickly learns that he no longer has a place in her home. Storytellers like Lisa Frank, Diane E. Benson, Stormy Ogden, Karlene, and the anonymous writer depict how violence against tribal women often plays itself out today with no support for the victim/survivor except sometimes from friends and families. Karlene and Coya White Hat-Artichoker share stories that are often only told to intimate trusted friends. In traditional tribal societies two-spirited sisters/brothers were not an anomaly. Their stories need to be told and heard by everyone.

Part III is titled “Advocacy,” and advocacy is the key to addressing the obstacles faced by tribal women who are dealing with the pain of the violence against them and its effects on their personal well-being. Advocates who have experienced the ramifications of domestic and/or sexual violence in their own lives have a special passion for assisting others in their healing. It has been through the creation of such organizations as the White Buffalo Calf Woman Society, Inc. (1977), the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (1978), and the South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence (1978) that advocacy has developed a voice in tribal communities and in Indian Country. Leaders such as Karen Artichoker had the tenacity to help with the first passage of the Violence Against Women Act in 1995. Advocates continued to take on leadership roles and have been joined by tribal women working in the legal system to alert the tribes to the call of women whose stories of survival permeate this text. These tribal women from the legal system, in collaboration with tribal women working in the trenches and behind shelter doors, have brought to the forefront the information that violence against tribal women is a crime in Indian Country. The movement to end domestic violence in Indian Country has only recently been expanded to include sexual violence. We must ensure that our efforts encompass both forms of violence. Tribal advocates throughout Turtle Island brought these plights to tribal leadership and have worked with our male counterparts in the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act of 2005, in particular to advocate for an increase in resources for tribal governments.

In Part IV, “Tribal Legal Systems,” the writers show how advocacy for tribal women experiencing violence must continue in restoring tribal women to their rightful place in tribal societies, by retaining all their rights to sovereignty and their sacredness as women. Domestic and sexual violence is more than a physical assault but fits within a larger pattern of dominance, power, and control. Federal, state, and tribal laws should be crafted very carefully so that they do not undermine our sacredness and sovereignty as women. B. J. Jones, Kelly Gaines Stoner, Danielle G. Van Ess, Sarah Deer, Hallie Bongar White, James G. White, Sarah Michèle Martin, and George Twiss provide readers with a comprehensive insight into the impact that legal systems have made in addressing violence faced by tribal women.