Community Announcement Supplied and approved by an external entity; not impartial, fact-checked journalism.
Traditional Lifeways Key To Culturally Appropriate Advocacy
Photo: Courtesy of StrongHearts Native Helpline
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(EAGAN, Minn., December 14, 2022) – Historical Trauma, Reviving Culture and Finding Justice
StrongHearts Native Helpline is working to uplift the voices of survivors by recognizing the strength and resilience of Indigenous peoples. We acknowledge that domestic and sexual violence has lived in our communities for far too long and that victim survivors are often denied justice.
“Our history was never written through the eyes of our people who narrowly survived the forces of colonization and assimilation,” said CEO Lori Jump. “In the eyes of elders, we can see historical trauma without them speaking a word. We know that domestic and sexual violence was used as a means to control us and to control each other. We must dispel the belief that we were born this way by teaching our children about our real history.”
For example, in 1791, William Bartram (American naturalist) wrote about the Creek and Cherokee nations: “An Indian never attempts, nay, he cannot use towards a woman amongst them any indelicacy or indecency, either in action or language. I never saw or heard of an instance of an Indian beating his wife or other female, or reproving them in anger or harsh language.”
Domestic and sexual violence is not a traditional practice. We must strive to revive our culture and acknowledge that our values are historically based in humanity, love, respect and honor. We must also uplift the voices of victim survivors and seek justice in our courts to hold perpetrators responsible for their crimes.
Inadequate Resources
Part of StrongHearts’ mission to restore power to Native Americans impacted by domestic and sexual violence, includes the development of a unique, culturally specific database that incorporates Native-centered resources on top of those resources utilized by mainstream advocates. As such, we know that there simply are not enough resources available to our relatives.
For instance, there are 576 federally recognized tribal nations and only 250 native centered resources identified and listed in the StrongHearts database. When it comes to safe shelter, the situation is even more dire, with less than 60 culturally appropriate shelters nationwide. Given the epidemic level rates of violence our relatives experience, this is nothingless than tragic.
More funding is necessary at not only the federal level, but also the state level. The federal government must do better to meet their trust responsibilities and states must do better to meet the needs of all residents in their states – especially those populations plagued by violence.
Culturally Appropriate Advocacy
At StrongHearts, all of our advocates are citizens of tribal nations and have been trained to understand Native cultures and traditions, the unique barriers to justice and the need for accessible Native-centered service providers.
Culturally appropriate means StrongHearts advocates understand the significance of being Native-centered, trauma informed and empowerment based.
- Native centered means that our advocates understand the core values of Indigenous peoples.
- Trauma informed means our advocates recognize domestic and sexual violence as a symptom of colonization and assimilation.
- Empowerment based means that our advocates recognize the importance of giving power back to our people; trust that they know what is best for them and to help them to find the resources they want and need.
Core Values and Guiding Principles
It is an essential component of StrongHearts advocacy that we adhere to core values and guiding principles that were set forth by our ancestors. That we must honor their teachings in our advocacy and in doing so, we adhere to seven principles: culture, balance, interrelatedness, humility, bravery, resiliency and trust.
- Culture: Indigenous culture is at the heart of our existence. We connect with all Tribal Nations and honor their diversity.
- Balance: Our culture is rooted in traditional lifeways inclusive of the mind, body, and spirit and to promote a healthy balance..
- Interrelatedness: We honor our connection to our relatives, ancestors, and Mother Earth. We strive to overcome oppression and endeavor to promote healing.
Humility: We learn equally from Native teachings including the lessons learned in non-traditional ways. We value the strength of our people, validate their lived experiences and work to create an empathetic and mutual understanding.
- Bravery: We face the unique challenges of Native people and call upon the strength and bravery of our ancestors to meet those challenges with mental and moral courage.
- Resilience: Centered on the resiliency of Indigenous survivors and their ability to adapt in the face of adversity, we seek to promote a healing journey in our quest for social justice.
- Trust: We honor our people and endeavor to create an environment where truth and honesty are valued while building trust among and for our people.
Culturally appropriate support and advocacy means that StrongHearts advocates embrace the resilience of our people and the strength found in restoring our traditional lifeways. For safe, confidential and anonymous support and advocacy, StrongHearts Native Helpline’s advocates are available 24/7. Call or text 1-844-7NATIVE or visit our strongheartshelpline.org to chat online.
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Additional Information from StrongHearts
States Take Action To Codify Abortion Rights
A political act aimed to restrict women’s rights, the Supreme Court of the United States (June 2022) overturned Roe v Wade (1973) leaving the onus of access to abortion on individual states. Since then, six states have taken measures to codify reproductive rights while other states ramp up efforts to abolish or otherwise restrict access to abortion.
“The Supreme Court threw out nearly 50 years of precedent in favor of politicizing the body sovereignty of women and girls,” said Lori Jump, chief executive officer, StrongHearts Native Helpline. “By asking states to regulate abortion, they are taking away the rights of women to decide what happens to their body. Six states have reaffirmed reproduction rights, but until all other states follow suit, women are in a perilous position.”
Six States Uphold Women’s Right To Choose
To date, there have been six ballot measures addressing abortion in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont where voters upheld abortion rights.1
On Aug. 2, voters (58.97 percent) refused to amend the Kansas Constitution to declare that nothing in the state constitution creates a right to abortion or funding for an abortion and to affirm the state’s ability to pass laws regarding abortion. Instead, voters upheld legal precedent in Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt (2019) that the Kansas Bill of Rights provides a right to abortion.
On Nov. 8, five more states took action to uphold reproductive rights of women:
- In California, Proposition 1, Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment – voters (65.75 percent) supported amending the state constitution to prohibit the state from interfering with or denying an individual’s reproductive freedom, which is defined to right to an abortion and contraceptives.
- In Kentucky, Constitutional Amendment 2, No Right to Abortion in Constitution Amendment voters (52.37 percent) opposed amending the Kentucky Constitution to state that nothing in the state constitution creates a right to abortion or requires government funding for abortion.
- In Michigan, Proposal 3, Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, voters (56.65 percent) supported a state constitutional right to reproductive freedom, including “the right to make decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy, prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, miscarriage management, and infertility care.”
- In Montana, LR-131, Medical Care Requirements for Born-Alive Infants Measure voters (52.55 percent) opposed measures to state that infants born alive at any stage of development are legal persons; require medical care and to establish a $50,000 fine and/or 20 years in prison for violating said law.
- In Vermont, Proposal 5, Right to Personal Reproductive Autonomy Amendment was overwhelmingly supported by voters (76.74 percent) to amend the Vermont Constitution to add language protecting the right to personal reproductive autonomy and prohibiting government infringement unless justified by a compelling state interest.
“Although voters have upheld women’s rights in these states, the majority of them passed by a thin margin,” said Jump. “Our work is not done.”
Pending Initiatives, Amendments and Referendums
Currently, there are dozens of pending initiatives, amendments and referendums. In Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada and Oklahoma there were nine proposals that did not make the 2022 ballot. In New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, there are four proposals slated for 2023. And, in Florida, Iowa, Nevada, Oklahoma and South Dakota there are seven proposals slated for 2024. (See links sourced below) .
“It’s unfathomable that in this day and age, women and girls must be cognizant of legislation rooted in misogyny and historic oppression,” said Jump. “The criminalization of abortion is an abuse of governmental power to deny body sovereignty. It is a cruel reminder of what Native people have endured for centuries.”
Historic Violence and Oppression
In Indian Country, Native woman and girls suffer the highest rates of stalking, rape, and femicide in the nation. Yet, Indian Health Services has historically prohibited and continues to deny access to abortions in Tribal communities. Without planned parenthood clinics, Native women and girls are at a higher risk of being penalized for seeking abortions in unsafe conditions. Rape victims are often shamed and blamed, and now could face jail time for seeking an abortion.
The History Behind the SCOTUS Decision
According to Leslie J. Reagan, professor of history and law at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and author of When Abortion Was a Crime3 and Dangerous Pregnancies4, historical record5 describes early abortion—as “restoring the menses,” a woman’s period. It was a normal practice in colonial America well into the 19th century. Abortions were illegal only after “quickening,” a term referring to when pregnant women could feel the fetus moving – said to occur between four and six months of pregnancy.
Professor Reagan6, explained that Justice Samuel Alito was egregiously wrong when he used English criminal law from the 17th century to overturn Roe v Wade. He conveniently dismissed the distinction between ending a pregnancy before or after quickening wherein early America, abortion before “quickening” was legal under common law and widely accepted in practice.
Instead, Alito’s draft majority opinion7 uses 17th century Jurist, Sir Matthew Hale who “described abortion of a quick child who died in the womb as a ‘great crime’ and a ‘great misprision.’ See M. Hale, Pleas of the Crown-1736 which also defended and laid the foundation for the marital rape exemption. Hale8 wrote:
“For the husband cannot be guilty of a rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto her husband which she cannot retract.”
This provisions for marital rape may sound antiquated, but it was legal in many U.S. states up through the 1990s.
“Justice Alito and a handful of Supreme Court Justices upended abortion rights leaving women to defend themselves against a 17th century misogynist who didn’t believe marital rape was a crime,” said Jump. “It is our sacred duty as women to stand up for ourselves, for our daughters and granddaughters and to guarantee safety and body sovereignty for future generations.”
StrongHearts Native Helpline is a safe confidential and anonymous culturally-appropriate domestic and sexual violence helpline for Native Americans and Alaska Natives. Advocates are available 24/7. Call or text 1-844-762-8483 or chat online at strongheartshelpline.org.
BALLOT PROPOSALS
2022 (did not make the ballot)
- Arizona Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative (2022)
- Colorado Abortion Ban Initiative (2022)
- Florida Abortion Ban After Detectable Heartbeat Initiative (2022)
- Maryland Authorizing Health Practitioners to Perform Abortions Referendum (2022)
- Maryland Right to Reproductive Liberty Amendment (2022)
- Massachusetts No Right to Public Funding for Abortion Initiative (2022)
- Nevada Parental Notification for Minor’s Abortion Initiative (2022)
- Oklahoma Establish Rights of Unborn Persons Amendment (2022)
- Oklahoma No Right to Abortion in Constitution Amendment (2022)
2023
- New York Equal Protection of Law Amendment (2023)
- Pennsylvania No State Constitutional Right to Abortion Amendment (2023)
- Washington 15-Week Abortion Ban Initiative (2023)
- Washington Age of Consent to Receive Certain Health Services and Abortion Initiative (2023)
2024
- Florida Right to Life of Preborn Individual Initiative (2024)
- Iowa No Right to Abortion in Constitution Amendment (2024)
- Nevada Parental Consent for Child’s Healthcare Decisions and Medical Records Access Initiative (2024)
- Nevada Parental Notification of Abortion Initiative (2024)
- Oklahoma State Question 825, Reproductive Rights Initiative (2024)
- Oklahoma State Question 828, Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative (2024)
- South Dakota Right to Abortion Amendment (2024)
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