Public Policy

Written by Brianna Theobald. Coercive sterilization of Indigenous women at Crow Agency, and the activism of Indigenous women, has a longer history than scholars have recognized. In the late 1920s and 1930s, Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail, the first Crow registered nurse, and other Crow women charged hospital personnel with violations of their reproductive rights, including cases of coercive ster­ilization.

On May 3, 2019, President Trump became the first President to formally recognize Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives Day.

Tribal Sovereignty and Native Women's Sovereignty brochure.
Download or purchase printed copies here.

This sample proclamation aims to assist Tribal leaders and advocates in their efforts to proclaim October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month across Tribal Nations, Alaska Native villages, and Indian and Native Hawaiian communities. We encourage you to download and customize this template as needed.

This sample proclamation aims to assist Tribal leaders and advocates in their efforts to proclaim April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month across Tribal Nations, Alaska Native villages, and Indian and Native Hawaiian communities. We encourage you to download and customize this template as needed.

VAWA 2005 requires the DOJ, HHS, and DOI to engage in formal consultation with Indian tribes on an annual basis to address concerns that impact the safety of Indian women at the broadest level. Participation in this nation-to-nation consultation is critically important for tribal leaders to dialogue with government officials about solutions and strategies to address issues related to violence against Native women.

During the period of 1979 through 1992, homicide was the third-leading cause of death of Indian females aged 15 to 34, and 75 percent were killed by family members or acquaintances. In 2005, the movement for safety of Native women resulted in the inclusion of the “Safety for Indian Women” title within the Violence Against Women Act. A study released by the U.S. Department of Justice has found that in some tribal communities, American Indian women face murder rates that are more than 10 times the national average.

Introduction
The social, political, and cultural instability during the colonial era and American Revolution involved ongoing warfare, shifting allegiances among Indigenous and European nations, enslavement, and relocation of Indigenous people. Indigenous women and girls were particularly impacted “…as females during wartime, colonial expansion, and slavery… [are] especially vulnerable to the sexual violence that so often accompanied conquest…” (Miles, 2008).

VAWA 2005 requires DOJ, HHS, and DOI to consult with Indian tribes on an annual basis. This interaction on a nation-to-nation basis has allowed tribal governments and the United States to discuss matters that at the broadest level impact the safety of Indian women, and to propose strategies to address these issues. We hope that our Tribal Coalitions will join this webinar to review outstanding or emerging issues so that together we can address the most serious roadblocks to the safety of Native women.