VAWA Sovereignty Initiative Update:
SCOTUS Victory: Affirmation of the Muskogee (Creek) Nation’s Reservation
(McGirt v. Oklahoma)

As an organization dedicated to ending violence against Native women, the NIWRC continues to support the removal and renaming of statues, monuments, and imagery that glorify colonization, genocide, and conquest.

Violence against Native women was normalized by acts of war against Indian Nations and federal programs to assimilate Indigenous peoples.

The forcibly removal of Indian children from their homes to federal institutions referred to as “boarding schools,” the prosecution and incarceration of Native women for refusing to marry according to state laws, and the forced sterilization of Native women funded under federal programs are just a few examples of the government infrastructure supporting cultural genocide.

These federal programs and the Code of Indian Offenses reflected a dehumanization of Native women by the American public—its cultural icons such as Christopher Columbus.

While cultural symbols honoring historical figures, who committed genocide through the power of the US government are coming down across the nation, other symbols continue to stand.

Today we are joined by Rose Quilt to discuss this public reckoning with the truth of United States history.

Violence against women is not traditional. Indigenous cultures hold women as sacred – yet today, Native women are the most victimized group within the US. For years, Native women have opened their hearts and doors to other women and their children in need to protect them from violence. On this episode of Speaking Our Truth, we will talk about the sacredness of women and how we can reclaim the integrity and rights of women in our lives, work and communities.

Music: Ta'Kaiya Blaney singing Womens Warrior song May 5, 2019
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeNJnItj5rs)
at Opening ceremony for The North American Dialogue on Biocultural Diversity, Redpath Museum (McGill University Campus)

In Indian country, there has long been a housing crisis due to the lasting effects of colonization. This issue continues today, as there is a great need for safe, affordable housing for American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian victims of violence. On this episode of Speaking Our Truth, we will talk with the author of a report created by a working group focused on this specific issue, what the findings are, and where we go from here.

Music: "Blackbird by The Beatles sung in Mi'kmaq" | Artist: Emma Stevens
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99-LoEkAA3w)
Songwriter: Paul McCartney
Translation: Katani Julian and Albert "Golydada"Julian

Native women face some of the highest rates of domestic violence in the nation. Each October, advocates from tribal programs and shelters and Native organizations across the country come together to raise awareness of domestic violence during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. On this episode of Speaking Our Truth, we will talk about the origins of Domestic Violence Awareness Month and how everyone can join in the efforts to support victims and survivors of violence throughout the year.

Music: "Come And Get Your Love" | Album: off of "Wovoka" by Redbone (1973) | Artist: Redbone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA4rSO-h9Io) | (https://redbone-music.lnk.to/subscribeYD)

In this podcast, Unci Tillie shares her inspirational story of grassroots organizing in the late 70s to form the South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV).

Unci Tillie Black Bear‘s interview highlights the vital role and relationship of Native women to the national organizing efforts to establish DVAM.

Issues of Violence Against Native Women with Jordan Marie Daniels.

Music: "Stadium Pow Wow" | Album: We Are The Halluci Nation (2016) | Artist: A Tribe Called Red (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAEmjW9J3_o) | (http://smarturl.it/ATCRHalluciNation)

Blood and Land Memory: Land Acknowledgment and Honoring Indigenous Peoples.

Music: "Song For The Morning Star" | Album: Dawn's Mirage (2015) | Artist: R. Carlos Nakai (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHdOSMpZ1_w) | http://www.canyonrecords.com/shop/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=CR-7210)

A look into the early life of Tillie Black Bear.

Music: "Honoring Song for Tillie" | Artist: Lester Thomas "Derrick" Kills The Enemy (April 9, 1957 - December 10, 2019)

Supreme Court VAWA Sovereignty Initiative Update: McGirt v. Oklahoma and the Standing Rock Sioux NIWRC amicus briefs.

Music: "Why" | Album: ILLUMINATIVES (2018) | Artist: Supaman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiVU-W9VT7Q)