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Mary Big Bull-Lewis is taking a creative approach to returning ownership of the land and its stories to Native people.
...
“This is a way of reaching more than just a single group of people — it can be a community education,” she says. “There’s not as many of us here on the homelands, but we need to change that conversation about talking about us in the past. We haven’t gone anywhere.”
“We haven’t gone anywhere.”
All around her, Big Bull-Lewis sees similar stories of a Native history covered up by settler transfiguration. Her hometown itself, Wenatchee, takes its namesake from the Wenatchi people, tweaking only a few letters. Yet it’s not unusual for non-Native locals to have never heard of the Wenatchi people at all. Therein lies the problem: Their stories aren’t told.
To survive, previous generations often denied the emotional hurt they suffered and refused to acknowledge the pain caused by the extreme oppression of Native Americans.
Fred Jacko has chosen not to incorporate his Native American upbringing and culture into the lives of his own children.
“My children will have the choice when they’re adults,” he says.
His decision is in stark contrast to his job as the Culture and Historic Preservation Office Manager for the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi,
which has its offices on the Pine Creek Indian Reservation in Athens.
But, he says, it’s necessary to stop the cycle of historical trauma that
continues to have lasting impacts on his generation and generations
before him.
A multitude of atrocities done to Native Americans that began in the
early 1800s at the hands of government officials who enacted legislation
that took away their land, their rights to live their lives as a free
people, their culture, heritage, and in too many instances their family
structure has caused lasting trauma.
A former foster child who is a part of the 2020 U.S class action
lawsuit against former fashion mogul Peter Nygard is coming forward
publicly for the first time.
Identified in the court document up to this point only as “Jane Doe
No. 44,” Nadine Moostoos tells APTN Investigates that despite a
traumatic childhood, she is beginning her healing journey after coming
to terms with her past.
Moostoos spent most of her childhood in foster care after she was
apprehended at 18 months of age with her brother and taken into foster
care.
“I got scooped because my mom was a chronic alcoholic and somebody
had called CFS,” she said. “She went on a binge and then they came and
picked me and my brother up.”
At age 11, she was sent to live at Seven Oaks Youth Centre in
Winnipeg after she said she was abused in her previous foster homes.
“I was mute. I wasn’t talking. I wouldn’t talk because of the abuse,” she said. “I couldn’t talk. It was so internalized.”
Nadine Moostoos at 12 years old. Submitted photo.
Two years later, she was sent to Marymound, a school for troubled
girls where she turned to her peers and the street for support.
“I would just run to the streets,” she said. “A lot of those girls I
was in jail with, out on the street with, carried through addiction with
and some aren’t even here anymore.”
According to the allegations in a U.S. class action lawsuit filed in 2020, Moostoos met Peter Nygard when she was 14 years old.
The allegations in the complaint (as statements of claim are called
in the American justice system) have not been proven in court. But they
are disturbing.
“Nygard coerced Jane Doe No. 44 to perform oral sex on him in his
car, while parked behind the Nygard Companies’ (sic) warehouse,” the
court documents state. “Nygard would become very aggressive during Jane
Doe 44’s sexual encounters with him.”
The documents also state that Nygard made Moostoos promises.
“Nygard would pay Jane Doe No. 44 after each occasion in U.S.
currency and would continue to promise her that he could take her to
California.”
Moostoos said she believed she had a modelling opportunity and told her mother, who offered to take photographs of her.
Moostoos said she called the Nygard headquarters to follow up.
Nadine Moostoos was 14 when her mother took this photo. Submitted photo.
“I ended up phoning there and I didn’t know what to say,” she said. “
I was so young and I didn’t have anyone speaking for me so I didn’t
follow through with it, which I am thankful for. “
Moostoos filed a complaint with the Winnipeg police in 2020 and she
said she believes there may be other Indigenous women with stories like
hers in Canada but they are not likely to come forward.
“It’s highly unlikely. It took me a lot of balls and a lot of courage
to do that, coming from the streets,” she said. “I did it because it
needed to be done. And I knew I was not the only one.”
Crystal Brown is the Community Justice Development Coordinator for the Southern Chiefs Organization.
“It takes a lot for someone to speak up and specifically for
Indigenous women whose voices have been continually silenced throughout
history,” said Crystal Brown, who is the Community Justice Development
Coordinator for the Southern Chiefs Organization.
She said the Indigenous alleged victims of Nygard are especially vulnerable because of their past traumas.
“To disconnect from your family creates trauma such as violence,
various abuses, mental health issues and it should be addressed through
our culture, through our ceremonies and our language,” she said, adding
that the impact of colonization continues to reverberate throughout
Canada.
Moostoos said she worked in the survival sex trade for decades and is just now facing the trauma of her past.
“I left that life when I got pregnant with my son,” she said. “I quit
the lifestyle. I got pregnant and that little boy changed my life. I
call him my gift from God that is what his name means.”
Moostoos added the stigma attached to Indigenous women and girls is very real but she urged other women to come forward.
“The more people that come forward the more of a chance that you’ll get to heal,” she said. “That’s the start of healing.”
“Nobody wants to face their demons, face their past, face the abuses
or social injustices that are predatory like sexual assault, rape and
stuff like that,” she said. “I was just a little girl. I never got a
chance to be a little girl.”
Nygard’s lawyers Jay Prober and Brian Greenspan have not responded to interview requests.
The 79-year-old was arrested in December last year in Winnipeg under
the Extradition Act. An extradition hearing is set for Nov. 15 to 19 at
the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench. Nygard was denied bail and an
appeal to that decision was turned down in spring 2020.
Nygard remains in custody at the Headingly Correctional Centre west of Winnipeg.
The Hope for Wellness Help Line is available to all Indigenous
people across Canada who need immediate crisis intervention. Services
are available in Cree, Ojibwe, Inuktitut, English and French. Call
1-855-242-3310 (toll-free).
In the middle of Canadian government’s inquiry, #MMIW and #MMIWG tweets
produced 55,400 unique users and 156.1 million impressions. Now,
according to a Union Metrics Twitter Snapshot Report, #MMIW tweets can
generate several hundred thousand impressions every 4 hours. Most of
these tweets use the hashtag to call attention to their own missing
loved one, to blanket local and regional networks with time-sensitive
information; to share information about police and FBI response to
family’s requests for help; or to respond to both specific MMIW cases
and general MMIW education and awareness campaigns (e.g., Drag the Red and #NotInvisible). In short, the hashtag is mobilizing advocacy across Indian Country.
The new BIA partnership with DOJ’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) went live with its new data collection strategies in late February 2019.
Centuries of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples
Native American cultures, languages, lands and lives were all systematically and forcibly taken through colonization.
Our ancestors endured genocide and assimilation for more than five
centuries. Today, there is ample evidence that genocide still occurs
through the inhumane conditions on reservations, the jurisdictional
issues that prevent the prosecution of non-Native perpetrators on tribal
lands and ignoring the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)
crisis.
The Connection to Domestic and Sexual Violence
Domestic violence isn’t a Native American tradition; it is a symptom of colonization that continues to this day.
Through
colonization, Native women were devalued by non-Native people. They
were degraded, they were attacked and raped. Acts that still continue
today. Tribal communities still experience high rates of rape and sexual
assault, largely committed by non-Native perpetrators. Native women are
sexualized in the media--in costumes, in Native American imagery and
caricatures, and in movies. Native women and men still struggle from the
effects of colonization, marginalization and assimilation and our
shared trauma. Over half of Native women, in particular, have been physically abused by an intimate partner.
StrongHearts
Native Helpline understands the issues of MMIW are related to domestic,
dating and sexual violence. We understand that missing and murdered
victims can be children, elders, Two-Spirit, men and those with
disabilities. This crisis affects all of our relatives. Survivors
deserve justice.
Research shows that women are more likely to be killed by an intimate partner (husband, boyfriend, same-sex partner, or ex) than by anyone else. Over 84% of Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime. Nationally, across all racial and ethnic groups, approximately two out of five female murder victims are killed by an intimate partner. Homicide is a leading cause of death for American Indian and Alaska Native women. Many
killings linked to domestic violence occur right after recent breakups
or during separations. Leaving an abusive relationship is the most
dangerous time for a victim of domestic violence.
Complicated
legal systems, jurisdictional confusion, and lack of resources also
leave many Native victims of violence and their families without support
or justice. Whether the violence is coming from inside the home, or
from strangers living near Tribal communities or in urban centers,
meaningful action must be taken to prevent more Native women from going
missing or being murdered.
Prevention
One way to address these issues is through culturally-appropriate domestic and sexual violence advocacy. We
need services that approach healing from an indigenous perspective –
where victims feel understood and where their unique needs as Native
people can be met.
Created
by and built to serve Tribal communities across the United States,
StrongHearts Native Helpline is here to answer that call. It is a
culturally-appropriate, anonymous, confidential and free service
dedicated to serving Native American and Alaska Native survivors and
concerned family members and friends affected by domestic, dating and
sexual violence.
Advocates are available 24/7 by texting or calling 1-844-7NATIVE (762-8483) or via online chat at strongheartshelpline.org.
Advocates can provide lifesaving tools and immediate support to enable
survivors to find safety and live lives free of abuse. StrongHearts
Native Helpline is a project of the National Indigenous Women’s Resource
Center and the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
MMIW Resources
As
a helpline dedicated to Native Americans and Alaska Natives impacted by
domestic, dating and sexual violence, StrongHearts honors our relatives
and communities impacted by MMIW and those working to end this crisis.
Don Lemon Wasn’t Having Any Of Rick Santorum’s Comments About Native History on CNN
“Did he actually think it was a good idea for him to come on television and whitewash the whitewash that he whitewashed?”
By Kavish Harjai | 5/4/2021
CNN anchor Don Lemon discusses his reaction to Rick Santorum's May 3, 2021, appearance on "Cuomo Prime Time." | CNN
CNN
anchor Don Lemon apologized to viewers after former Republican lawmaker
Rick Santorum discussed his recent controversial comments about the
nation’s founding on Chris Cuomo’s show. Lemon called the appearance
“horrible and insulting.”
“Europeans
did not found this country,” Lemon said after Cuomo interviewed
Santorum on Wednesday night. “It was here. The Native Americans had this
country before the Europeans came.”
Santorum,
a Republican politician and CNN commentator, made historically
inaccurate and racist comments during a speech in April to Young
America’s Foundation, a conservative youth group. During his speech,
Santorum said he doesn’t “know of any country in the world that was
settled predominantly by people who are coming to practice their faith.”
“They
came here mostly from Europe and they set up a country that was based
on Judeo-Christian principles,” the former U.S. senator and Republican
presidential candidate continued during the speech. He went on to say
that European colonizers “birthed a nation from nothing,” and that even
though Native Americans already inhabited the land,“there isn’t much
Native American culture in American culture.”
On May 3, during “Cuomo Prime Time,” the CNN anchor pressed Santorum about his comments.
“This seemed like you were trying to erase diversity in the interest of some white Christian right,” Cuomo said.
Santorum attempted to correct his statements but offered no apology.
"Just to be clear, what I was not saying is that Native American culture — I misspoke,” Santorum said, stumbling over his words.
Santorum
said he was trying to articulate that U.S. founding documents,
including the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, were
“created anew.”
“I
was not trying to dismiss Native Americans,” Santorum said to Cuomo.
“The way we treated Native Americans was horrific. It goes against
everything I ever fought for.”
The Native American Journalists Association put out a statement
following Rick Santorum’s initial speech, calling on CNN “to immediately
dismiss” him. It also urged its members to “avoid working” with CNN and
implored advertisers to stop supporting the network.
Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians, echoed NAJA’s calls for Santorum’s dismissal and enumerated the reasons that Santorum’s comments were factually incorrect.
"What
European colonizers found in the Americas were thousands of complex,
sophisticated, and sovereign Tribal Nations, each with millennia of
distinct cultural, spiritual and technological development,” Sharp wrote
in a piece for Native News Online.
The
contributions of Native Americans are plenty and consequential, Sharp
wrote. They cultivated plants, like cotton, rubber, and tobacco, and
developed the concept of environmentalism.
"No
idea is more fundamentally Native American and more explicitly spread
by Native American peoples,” Sharp wrote. “There would be no National
Park system without Native American influence.”
'Rutherford Falls' is a Native American show: by, with and about us. But its humor is universal.
In
over a century of filmmaking, most on-screen portrayals of indigenous
people have been racist at best. That's changing, and this is but one
example.
People used to say the TV series Northern Exposure was a first. THIS NEW SHOW IS a thousands times BETTER - Trace
“Hollywood has focused much more so on our history which can often be quite tragic.”
Tonight on Face to Face, Cree actor Michael Greyeyes says he feels like the new show Rutherford Falls deprograms non-Indigenous viewers by showing the joyful side of Indigenous life. pic.twitter.com/hQLt2sRzsf
'Keep families together': Moving beyond racist notions of neglect in child welfare
APTN News
Together they looked at how Indigenous parents are assessed by child ... “There's a lot of variation, in terms of how the rules — how the laws are even ...
... of the premises behind the creation of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978, which gave tribal governments exclusive jurisdiction over Native ...
WASHINGTON – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Bryan Newland ... Tribal payments and direct service for Tribal Government, SocialServices, Public ... o $30 million for law enforcement and detentions funding.
More than 800 items make up the Witness Blanket – everything from locks of hair to baby shoes to dolls.
It's one of two exhibits opening at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights that explores the experiences of residential school survivors. | @bhobs22https://t.co/VBSFRXgDmw
Children would never choose to be adopted. It was not our fault. It
happened. As adults we have to be strong to go into reunion. There are
no rules – none. You just go back and meet relatives. You do risk
losing your adoptive parents. It’s like climbing a mountain on a
tightrope. It hurts me to think about this but I have to…
American, what have you done? You really attempted to
destroy Indian Country, didn’t you? You attempted to eliminate every
Indian, right? If you couldn’t murder us all, you invented an adoption
project to deal with us – to end our tribal heritage as small children,
to assimilate us.
This was posted in 2013 on my LARA blog:
I am not myself. I feel like I am transforming again, maybe like a
part of me is dissolving, disappearing, no longer necessary. I rarely
feel like this and I don’t like it. I can’t control it. It won’t pass.
This time is different. Really different. It’s like a dark
foreboding cloud. Like I felt two days before 9-11. It’s hard to put
into words. It’s bigger than I have words for.
I am not sure if this is/was triggered because I lost my friend Rocio
very recently or how so many others (friends and family) have been
dealing with major health issues, like my brother Danny who just had
surgery and is going to start treatment soon. There is not a day that
goes by that I don’t think about Veronica Brown who was placed with
strangers in an adoption that her father did not agree to – and he
fought hard for his daughter but lost. This little girl didn’t deserve
this upheaval – Ronnie was abandoned by her birthmother at birth and
essentially sold to strangers. Her father lost her in court after
court. How does this happen in America?
Very hard things are happening right how. Not just to me but to my circle of friends.
Yesterday I spoke with my close friend who lost her job with her
tribe. She’s an adoptee like me. She wants to be closer to her
birthmother. This is so important for adoptees to do this hard work and
to go full circle and be in reunion. Her job loss was pure politics,
the dysfunction we know that exists is our tribal world. This friend
also had an autoimmune disease that is now in remission, completely.
This is a miracle. A deeply spiritual transformation happened
to her. Despite the loss of her excellent job with her tribe, and with
much work and prayer, she just received a fantastic job offer with a
university. She won’t have to move. She will be able to stay in
reunion with her mother. She witnessed how bad things can happen to
you, even a serious illness, and yet Great Spirit is often clearing the
way for a bigger job and better health.
I do believe in miracles. I believe in hard work. Prayer works. I
know that we work for Great Spirit. I am simply a channel for work that
needs to be done. It’s not about ego or about me at all.
You see I want all adoptees to know they can return to their
families. They can work for their tribes, too. They can get to know
their birth parents as people. We can eventually blend in with all the
relatives – but it takes time and effort. Doing this will not be easy.
I do know this!
What America did to adoptees like me and my friend caused enormous
pain and upheaval. America removed children from our Indian families as
part of a plan. It was meant to destroy our connection to our tribes
and families. The result of a closed adoption was to alienate us from
each other. American Indians are unique and culturally rich and
diverse. Adoptees who are raised away from this culture must be allowed
to step back in the circle and relearn what we missed growing up in
non-Indian families.
2013 is when I wrote this... and it is still true... TLH
Veronica, we adult adoptees are thinking of you today and every day. We will be here when you need us. Your journey in the adopted life has begun, nothing can revoke that now, the damage cannot be undone. Be courageous, you have what no adoptee before you has had; a strong group of adult adoptees who know your story, who are behind you and will always be so.
Did you know?
lakota.cc/16I9p4D
Did you know?
New York’s 4o-year battle for OBC access ended when on January 15 2020, OBCs were opened to all New York adoptees upon request without restriction. In only three days, over 3,600 adoptees filed for their record of birth. The bill that unsealed records was passed 196-12.
Help in available!
1-844-7NATIVE (click photo)
click to listen
Listening to The Other Side of Adoption with Trace A DeMeyer by Fire Talk Production https://t.co/6SGuMcotmn
click to read and listen about Trace, Diane, Julie and Suzie
Happy Visitors!
Canada's Residential Schools
The religious organizations that operated the schools — the Anglican Church of Canada, Presbyterian Church in Canada, United Church of Canada, Jesuits of English Canada and some Catholic groups — in 2015 expressed regret for the “well-documented” abuses. The Catholic Church has never offered an official apology, something that Trudeau and others have repeatedly called for.
ADOPTION TRUTH
As the single largest unregulated industry in the United States, adoption is viewed as a benevolent action that results in the formation of “forever families.” The truth is that it is a very lucrative business with a known sales pitch. With profits last estimated at over $1.44 billion dollars a year, mothers who consider adoption for their babies need to be very aware that all of this promotion clouds the facts and only though independent research can they get an accurate account of what life might be like for both them and their child after signing the adoption paperwork.
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