#60sScoop survivor turned community leader Nakuset honoured in Montreal

Becoming Nakuset

As a small child, Nakuset was taken from her home in Thompson, Manitoba and adopted into a Jewish family in Montreal. She was part of the Sixties Scoop, a generation of Indigenous children who were forcibly removed from their families and communities throughout Canada, and adopted into settler homes.

Told through personal archives, Nakuset details the abuse and confusion she suffered as a child and chronicles how, along with the help of her Bubby (Jewish grandmother), she was able to reclaim her identity and become a powerful advocate for her people. WATCH

 HONORED👇

 

MORE: Truth and Reconciliation in action: docs that highlight the experiences of Indigenous people in Canada

Indigenous communities lead efforts to trace the history of residential schools

Sept. 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Expert worries that future drop in gov't funding could derail inquiries into the past

September 27 SOURCE

Acimowin Opaspiw Society is investigating children who went missing while attending the Blue Quills residential school, at Saddle Lake, Alta., between the years 1898 and 1931. (Musée Héritage Museum)

WARNING: This story contains distressing details

Leah Redcrow never went to residential school but that doesn't mean she escaped its long reach.

Three generations of her family were sent to the Blue Quills residential school in Saddle Lake, a Cree First Nation located 170 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

Her grandfather survived the institution, but 10 of his siblings did not.

One of those siblings, a seven-year-old girl named Eva, has no burial record.

"She's not even listed as deceased," says Redcrow, executive director of the Acimowin Opaspiw Society, a group investigating the school's history.

Redcrow only learned of Eva's existence during her research. "We don't know where her body is," she says. Like countless other children, Eva simply never came home, vanishing from the historical record.

Correcting that record was a key recommendation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report when it was released in December 2015.

Such inquiries are now happening across the country, led by Indigenous nations, groups and organizations trying to untangle the dark mysteries left in the wake of Canada's residential school system while providing some clarity and closure for survivors, families and affected communities.

Paying for the work

Sept. 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, designated in 2021 to recognize the tragic legacy of residential schools. At that time, the commission had documented 4,117 deaths of Indigenous children at residential schools but the actual number could surpass all estimates.

The rate of deaths among children in residential schools was far higher than that of the general school-aged population, and parents were rarely informed about their child's illness, death or burial.

"No one took care to count how many died or to record where they were buried," reads the TRC's final report, summing up the need for and challenges of the ongoing inquiries.

But the first obstacle to that work is the cost.

In 2009, one year after the TRC was established, the commission asked for $1.5 million to perform research work similar to what is now being done. The federal government denied the request.

More than a decade later, in June 2021, the federal government launched a major funding program for groups to perform research. The program, which received criticism for the slow pace at which money has gone out the door, has been funded through the first quarter of 2025.

As of Sept. 25, 150 applications had been received, with 117 approved for a total of $160 million, according to a statement from Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.

Of those not approved, three projects were deemed ineligible, two not recommended for funding, three applications were withdrawn, and one application was redirected to another funding program. The remainder are still under assessment.

• Search for unmarked graves at Blue Quills residential school finds 19 sites that could be unmarked plots

• Access to residential school records an ongoing challenge, people tell unmarked burials gathering

Several provinces have also provided similar funding, including Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

The Alberta government announced its program in 2021. The $8-million fund was created to provide grants to Indigenous communities and groups conducting research into deaths at residential school sites. Funding was capped at $150,000 for proposals from individual groups, with no cap for joint submissions.

According to a spokesperson for Indigenous Relations, the province approved grants from 43 different Indigenous communities or organizations, paying out all $8 million in the 2021/2022 fiscal year.

Survivors are 'tough negotiators'

Redcrow's grandfather, Stanley Redcrow, went on to lead a sit-in at Blue Quills Residential School, forcing the federal government to the negotiating table and ultimately transferring the school to First Nations' control in 1971.

Perhaps drawing on that hard-nosed heritage, Leah Redcrow, alongside survivors with the Acimowin Opaspiw Society, negotiated with the federal government to move from its initial offer of $300,000 to an eventual $1.1 million.

"They're tough negotiators," Redcrow says of the survivors, with a laugh. "They kept rejecting and rejecting and rejecting."

Archaeologist Kisha Supernant uses ground-penetrating radar in her work. Supernant has been consulting with Indigenous communities on how the technology can best be applied to search for unmarked graves. (Submitted by Kisha Supernant)

Asked about those negotiations, a spokesperson for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada said in a statement that "the Acimowin Opaspiw Society and the departmental program officer responsible for the file clarified the proposal's objectives, activities and budget and they were able to agree on a funding amount that supported those activities and objectives."

After writing a preliminary report detailing progress, particularly with church records, the group received additional money. The almost-$6.4 million allocated to the society over four years is the most of any Alberta group, and the fourth-highest nationally.

The funding is crucial because costs for groups doing historical research are considerable — and over multiple years, things start to get pricey.

There are wages for staff, such as a project manager and investigators, document translation and office expenses. There are costs associated with the work of commemoration, community engagement or interviews with elders, sometimes including travel expenses.

And then there's the specialized work, like the ground-penetrating radar (GPR) used to detect anomalies consistent with unmarked graves.

Radar searches often misunderstood

The use of GPR has resulted in headline-grabbing finds that fixed the national gaze on the human toll of residential schools, even if they only served to confirm what was already known.

The May 2021 news of 215 potential unmarked graves at the Kamloops Indian Residential School on Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation made international news, marking something of a turning point in the use of the technology at former residential school sites.

"I do think the announcement from Tk'emlúps resonated nationally and internationally in a way that we had never seen before," says Kisha Supernant, director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology at the University of Alberta.

"Even when other kinds of related issues have been raised — even after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission or the whole chapter on the missing children — we hadn't seen this kind of resonance and the response of non-Indigenous people, especially in Canada."

While other organizations do GPR in this context, Supernant has become one of its most prominent practitioners in Canada. She says that she and her team have done work at 12 former school sites, held over 20 engagement sessions with interested communities, and had more than 50 nations and other groups reach out about residential school searches.

Leah Redcrow is executive director of the Acimowin Opaspiw Society. (Francois Joly/Radio-Canada)

Supernant says GPR has to be used in concert with other information, like archival research or oral histories, in order to identify possible unmarked graves of children. The many discovery announcements that followed Tk'emlúps — including at Cowesses, Star Blanket Cree, Blue Quills and elsewhere — and the ensuring swirl of news coverage contributed to false expectations of what GPR can do. As Supernant notes, there were often years of work behind those announcements.

The significance of those discoveries are often mischaracterized.

It has long been known that the residential school system, which ended in 1997 after more than a century, resulted in significant numbers of deaths and disappeared children. The oral histories of Indigenous communities affected by residential schools are rife with stories of children who were taken and never returned home. Records from schools or parishes, while often spotty, also bear testament to these disappearances and deaths.

"We don't need to find them to know children died in the thousands. We have extensive records of that," Supernant says. "What we're trying to do is find specific locations and provide additional information for communities who want to investigate further."

Initiatives led by survivors, communities

What's crucial, according to those involved in this work, is that the communities are in control, determining what work needs to be done and how best to do it.

Governments have provided funding within a fairly broad set of parameters, but local groups have been left to determine their path forward, often with survivors leading the way.

"My big worry at this point is that people will stop paying attention," says Supernant. "And once that attention is no longer paid, what will happen to the funding? What will happen to the supports?"

In St. Albert, Alta., a city on the northwest edge of Edmonton, the St. Albert-Sturgeon County Métis Local are part of a collaborative inquiry with multiple First Nations and Innu groups affected by the Youville residential school.

Archie Arcand, president of the local, says the work is important and overdue for communities.

It's also an opportunity to help others better understand what the residential school system has wrought in human terms.

Arcand recalls a story he was told.

"In this particular instance, they'd go by boat along the river. There was an RCMP [member] in the boat and the person from the residential school. They'd stop at a community, isolated community, and they'd pick up kids. No choice, gotta come," he says. "I put myself in the place of those people and say, holy moly. How would you react?"

He adds: "You can understand why there's so much trauma."

---

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide support for survivors and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour service at 1-866-925-4419.

Mental health counselling and crisis support is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat.

little kids... ah the horror they suffer

 

Because She's Adopted Official Trailer

Because She’s Adopted: Film reveals vulnerable story of Kelowna woman #60s Scoop

A documentary about a Cree adoptee is being screened at Kelowna Film Studios on Oct. 1. SOURCE

Revelations from an excavation near a former residential school

• 9-25-23
• News

Warning: This video contains distressing details | The Pine Creek First Nation in western Manitoba is one of the first in Canada to excavate a site near a former residential school.  CBC’s Wawmeesh Hamilton explores how the community is paving the way for others as it faces the tough revelations that come with searching for answers.

RCMP officer Dean Lerat honoured for his DNA efforts to trace history and reunite families

 News

Dean Lerat has created extensive family trees in the Treaty 4 area of Saskatchewan. He usually helps families who are Sixties Scoop and residential school survivors connect to family — so far helping over 15 families. Rachael Lerat reached out for help and later learned two acquaintances would be revealed as brothers.

LINK: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2266236483874

Native America Calling: Stó:lō Nation in British Columbia says it has found nearly 160 child deaths at four facilities

 

September 26, 2023

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

A First Nation in British Columbia says it has found nearly 160 child deaths at four facilities in the province.

As Dan Karpenchuk reports, most of the deaths occurred at a hospital.

The probe by the Stó:lō Nation in British Columbia focused on unmarked graves and missing children, going back to the 1860’s.

But representatives of the First Nation and its research and resource management center say the work is only beginning.

So far, obstacles have been the lack of access to information from Ottawa as well as religious institutions that were linked to residential schools.

The research, using ground penetrating radar, archives, and field work, was into three residential schools, cemeteries, and a First Nation hospital.

Most of the children died of diseases such as tuberculosis. Some from accidents.

Amber Kostuchenko is a researcher and the project manager.

“One child died because they were jumped on by another student. Another child was reported to have hit their head against the bed under unknown circumstances. And another was reported to have broken their spine while jumping rope.”

St. Mary’s Indian Residential School

The institutions included the St. Mary’s Indian Residential School, the Coqualeetza Industrial Institute, and the Coqualeetza Hospital – all three in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley.  And the fourth was the All Hallows School in Yale, BC.

Kostuchencko says her team is still gathering information and has only accessed about half of the 70,000 documents they need.

One of the lead researchers also says interviews with survivors suggested many atrocities committed against children, including sexual assaults, starvation, and secret burials.

Some survivors allege that the St Mary’s school was a place of punishment and starvation – and later when it moved to a second location, a place of pedophilia.

ALASKA missing persons report go back to 1960 #MMIP

 

September 27, 2023 National Native News

Cases in new AK missing persons report go back to 1960

A first-of-its-kind report on missing persons in Alaska, which maps out hundreds of cases going back to 1960, has been released by state's Department of Public Safety and the Anchorage Police Department, as Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports.

The State Department of Public Safety and the Anchorage Police Department collaborated to collect this data.

Austin McDaniel, a spokesman for the Public Safety Department, says the report maps out hundreds of cases going back to 1960.

“We think this is a good first effort, and we’re definitely interested in adding additional data points.”

McDaniel says the work, which is an outgrowth of Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-AK)’s People First Initiative, will be updated every quarter and can be found online.

In the last quarter, from April to June, 200 Alaska Native or American Indian people went missing in the state. Most of those have been found, except for 25.

The database has an important new feature.

It categorizes the circumstances surrounding the disappearances, identifying those which are suspicious.

As director of the Data for Indigenous Justice group, Charlene Apok welcomes the new report and says it’s what advocates for missing Indigenous people have been asking for – for years.

She worked on an earlier attempt to track their numbers.

“Sadly, I think what this really illustrates is a systemic issue of violence that’s being perpetrated in our community in the state of Alaska. And that should raise flags and alarms, and really start igniting justice.”

Apok hopes the database will continue to improve and provide more information about those missing, including their hometowns and Native cultural identities, so they become more than just points of data, but reminders of loved ones, lost to their families.

my screenshot from the new report👆

 

 **Maybe this TV show helped?👇👇

only one season, sadly

 

Yesterday I watched the last two episodes of Alaska Daily who had made a similar map and report... Devastating to watch... Trace

ntsáhákees | nahat’á | iiná | sih hasin | Diné Action Plan

Nygren asks state child welfare experts to adopt traditional Navajo teachings

Who Are the Navajo People? - WorldAtlas  worldatlas.com

By Navajo Times | Sep 21, 2023 | News |

WINDOW ROCK – Child welfare services provided to by Arizona, New Mexico and Utah may soon be improved through the adoption of traditional Navajo teachings and knowledge if incorporated into their programs.

Officials with these states’ child welfare agencies were in Window Rock recently to discuss ways to expand the capacity of their existing partnership with the Navajo Nation.

The meeting sought ways to strengthen agreements between the Navajo Nation Division of Social Services and states to enhance services for Navajo children and families.

“My administration wants to encourage collaboration between child welfare agencies and to use the Diné Action Plan to help combat the challenges our Diné families and children face,” President Buu Nygren told state officials.

The Diné Action Plan is considered a living document that expresses Diné teachings. It was adopted by the 24th Navajo Nation Council in 2021. The plan was introduced in April 2018 as a blueprint to improve the quality of life throughout the Navajo Nation.

“Unfortunately, we are seeing inter-generational cycles that occur when a child is removed from his or her home,” said Thomas Cody, executive director of the Navajo Division of Social Services. “The increase of substance use, decrease of healthy parenting, and a decrease in teachings at home causes a decrease in spiritual connection.”

According to Cody, some Navajo services aid and provide services that focus on alleviating those generational challenges and traumas.

“Unfortunately, more is needed to combat these issues. This is why these collaborative partnerships are so important,” Cody said.

Although the Nation has the resources to treat those in need, it needed a plan to reflect Navajo values and principles of ntsáhákees (thinking), nahat’á, (planning), iiná (action) and sih hasin (reflection) that Navajos are familiar with through their traditional teaching.

The DAP was the result. It was designed to address public safety, violence, substance use disorder, suicide and missing and murdered Diné relatives on the Navajo Nation, said Cody.

According to the DAP, which references traditional Navajo teachings, in contemporary society Navajos face the “monsters” of the modern world.

“These include substance abuse, suicide and the various forms of violence that has come onto our people. With substance abuse, our people are attacked by the monster of addiction and lose their lives to chemicals that draw them into a trap of irresistible cravings where they are poisoned and die.

“With suicide, our Diné face the evil of hopelessness which results in the taking of one’s own life,” Cody said. “With violence, there are monsters of frustration and pain causing them to lash out on others. Finally, there are monsters outside Navajoland and within (which) take our people away from our families.”

The DAP states that the teachings of the Navajo deities, known to Navajos as the Holy People, “are embedded in our culture and traditions and the teachings provide us with the tools we need to defeat our modern monsters. The teachings have been given to us by our Diyin Dine’é (the Holy People).”

According to Navajo teachings, the seven monsters that have preyed upon the Navajo people from time immemorial are laziness, sleepiness, jealousy, hunger, poverty, lice and old age.

The DAP was established to maintain spiritual connection as the foundational component to self-identify and to our culture, said the president.

Nygren said the Diné Action Plan should be part of each state’s mental health programs because most Navajos would be familiar and comfortable with its concepts, and that would lead to better outcomes.

He said there is a need for a state-tribal cooperative approach because so many Navajos live off the Navajo Nation and use mental health care provided through neighboring state services.

“Mental health and wellness are so important, especially for our young people and elders,” he said. “By working together with our state partners, we can help ensure Navajos have access to culturally appropriate services no matter where they live.”

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted longstanding mental health challenges on the Navajo Nation. These include high rates of depression, substance abuse and suicide.
Isolation during lockdowns exacerbated these issues for many Navajos.

The agreements will aim to address barriers of lack of transportation, shortage of Navajo-speaking providers, and the high cost of care.

Specific programs being discussed include the development of a mobile crisis unit, school-based telehealth services and funding for traditional healing.

Windsor City Hall to light up orange #TRC #OrangeShirtDay

 

Shoes left at Assumption Church on July 9, 2021 (Photo courtesy of the University of Windsor)

Windsor City Hall to light up orange for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

 

"Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a challenging time for so many," said Mayor Drew Dilkens. "It provides the opportunity for all of us to honour First Nations, Inuit, and Metis survivors, their families and communities." 

Orange Shirt Day honours the story of Phyllis (Jack) Webstad, a residential school survivor, who wore a bright orange shirt on her first day of school. The shirt was a gift from her grandmother. It was taken from the six-year-old but became a symbol of remembrance for all Indigenous children who were forced to attend the schools where Indigenous language and culture were repressed, and many suffered abuse.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a call to action for all levels of government, institutions and Canadians to consider how the Indigenous were and continue to be treated in Canada. It came out of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which chronicled the experiences of residential school survivors.

READ: https://londonnewstoday.ca/windsor/news/2023/09/20/windsor-city-hall-to-light-up-orange-for-national-day-for-truth-and-reconciliation

A final journey home from Carlisle

 

WARNING: This story contains disturbing details about residential and boarding schools. If you are feeling triggered, here is a resource list for trauma responses from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition in the U.S. In Canada, the National Indian Residential School Crisis Hotline can be reached at 1-866-925-4419.

Charles Fox
Special to ICT

READ HERE : https://ictnews.org/news/a-final-journey-home-from-carlisle

Chairperson Lonna Street, left, Spirit Lake Tribe, and Tamara St. John, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate historian and a South Dakota state representative, stand in the Indian Cemetery at the former site of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School late in the evening of Sept. 17, 2023. Work in the cemetery disinterring the graves of Amos LaFromboise and Edward Upright had gone on for approximately 11 hours on a rainy day. (Photo by Charles Fox for ICT)

 

Related stories:
—Tribes strike historic deal with Army over repatriations
—Another Carlisle grave is misidentified

Ask your relatives: Interested in sharing your Indian boarding school experience?

 “I know that this process will be long and difficult. I know that this process will be painful. It won’t undo the heartbreak and loss we feel. But only by acknowledging the past can we work toward a future that we’re all proud to embrace.”   — Secretary Deb Haaland

NABS Receives Grant From DOI to Create Permanent Collection of Stories from Survivors of Federal Indian Boarding Schools

Dear Relatives,
 
We are honored to share that NABS received a grant from the Department of the Interior (DOI) to conduct video interviews with Indian boarding school survivors across the United States to create a permanent oral history collection. This effort is part of the DOI’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative.
 
NABS sees this Oral History Project as a historic opportunity to highlight the voices of Indian boarding school survivors and the harmful effects of U.S. Indian Boarding School Policy. Through this project, NABS will support the storytelling and healing of survivors which has never been done before in U.S. history. Since NABS was established, we have created spaces where survivors have felt safe to share their experiences. We have sat with them, learned with them, and have been moved by their courage. They are our family.
 
We look forward to working with our relatives across Indian Country in the U.S., empowering them as they share their stories. Our commitment includes offering our love and support throughout this process.

tix̌ix̌dubut (take care of yourself),
 
Tsicyaltsa,
Deborah Parker (Tulalip Tribes)
NABS Chief Executive Officer

Interested in sharing your Indian boarding school experience? LINK

Interview Sign-Up

Interested in receiving updates on the Oral History Project?

Receive Future Updates

You can help today. The truth about the U.S. Indian boarding schools has largely been written out of the history books. The social, emotional, spiritual, and cultural devastation from boarding school experiences are passed down to Native American individuals, families, communities, and Tribal Nations today. The time for healing these intergenerational traumas is now. Help us work towards truth, justice, and healing.

Resources:

• Secretarial Memo launching the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative
• Secretary Haaland op-ed(link is external): My grandparents were stolen from their families as children. We must learn about this history.
• Department of the Interior and National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition Memorandum of Understanding
• Department of the Interior Releases Investigative Report, Outlines Next Steps in Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative

PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION with all your relatives... it's vital we make this history... Trace

 

StrongHearts Native Helpline: Six Years of Evolution

Transition To Remote Work Opens New Doors

(EAGAN, Minn., September 26, 2023) – It’s been more than six years since StrongHearts Native Helpline opened its phone lines to offer victim advocacy and support for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN). To say they’ve come a long way is an understatement—especially in the wake of a pandemic.

“We came out of a pandemic true to form as resilient Native people,” said Lori Jump, (Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa/ Anishinaabe) CEO, StrongHearts Native Helpline.

“Not only did we survive as an organization, we thrived while facing adversity. Our commitment didn’t waiver, and our determination to succeed was undeniable.”

Jump refers to established benchmarks to expand hours of operation from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. to 24/7, to increase access by adding text and online chat advocacy, and to enhance advocate training by adding components to address sexual violence and human trafficking.

 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives

“The additional training components speak to the crisis of our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) and how they intersect with domestic and sexual violence,” Jump explained. “We collaborated with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Blue Campaign to develop culturally sensitive training to support victims of human trafficking.”

Unfortunately, people in most need of food and shelter are often preyed upon by predators who target the poorest communities in the country. They know where they find people desperate for work and take advantage of them under false pretenses by offering job opportunities or even love, support, and companionship. 

Increased Staff and Advocates

As StrongHearts became more widely known, staff and advocates anticipated growth in the number of contacts:

●     In the first nine months, StrongHearts started with two advocates who answered a few hundred calls.

●     The following year, the number of calls more than doubled.

●     In 2019, StrongHearts increased its advertising and marketing efforts to spread awareness that help was available, resulting in several thousand more contacts.

●     In 2020 and 2021, when the pandemic necessitated spatial distancing, StrongHearts responded by offering remote advocate positions. Again, contacts grew by several thousand.

●     In 2022, contacts exceeded the “all-time” number in the previous five years with advocates answering more than 40,000 contacts.

Over the course of six years, StrongHearts hired 39 front-line advocates and 11 administrators and support staff.

 

Adaptation To Remote Work

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, StrongHearts had to improvise and adapt to social distancing by utilizing and offering remote work to advocates and staff. Though this was never intended to be a permanent remedy, StrongHearts discovered that by providing at-home positions, more Native people could apply in different states nationwide. 

“StrongHearts was created for Native Americans by Native Americans,” said Jump.

“By transitioning to remote work, we opened new doors for Native people to apply for jobs with StrongHearts. Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, with a branch office in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, we now employ advocates in 15 different states.”

Michigan Office

Welcomed by the State of Michigan, StrongHearts opened the Michigan office in Sault Ste. Marie.  The State reached out to StrongHearts, wanting to support eradicating violence against Native Americans by providing after-hour services to Michigan Tribes.

Jump explained, “We know that abuse doesn’t happen between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The opportunity for victim-survivors to call their respective Tribes and to connect with a StrongHearts advocate after hours can be lifesaving.”

Michigan’s pilot program allowed participating Tribes to “opt-in” and offer support and advocacy by tapping into StrongHearts phone lines after regular business hours. Tribal members could have direct access to a StrongHearts advocate and receive peer support, emotional support, crisis intervention, and safety planning, as well as referring them to Native-centered service providers and resources.

“Advocates help by listening and supporting survivors through some very dark hours when navigating intimate partner violence,” Jump explained. “This added layer of protection helps to bridge the gap between victim-survivors and Tribal member service providers and resources.”

 

 

Real-Time Data

In just six years, StrongHearts data has identified victim survivor demographics, types and prevalence of abuse, barriers to justice, and discovered crisis-level disparities.  Thus far, data suggests there is an incredibly high risk for domestic violence and sexual violence in all age groups and across the lifespan:

●     Ages range from 13-73+ years. However, most contacts are between the ages of 20-39 years. 

●     Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse are more often reported than financial or digital abuse.

●     The top five barriers to service include access to services, mental health services, other reasons, finances, and transportation.

●     Crisis level disparities. For Native American survivors, there are 56 shelters and 257 Native-centered service providers. For non-Natives, there are 1,544 shelters and 3,643 service providers.

 

When Native people suffer some of the highest rates of violence among 574 federally recognized Tribal nations, it is appalling that there are only 313 culturally appropriate shelters and service providers. The disparities in services are catastrophic.  

National Statistics

A study conducted by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in 2010 and published in 2016 concluded:

●     97% of Native women and 90% of Native men experience violence at the hands of interracial (non-Native) perpetrators.

●     35% of Native women and 33% of Native men experience violence by intraracial (Native) perpetrators.

●     More than 4 in 5 Native Americans have experienced violence in their lifetime.

●     56% of women have experienced sexual violence.

●     28% of men have experienced sexual violence.

●     In some counties, rates of homicide are 10x more than the national average.

●     Homicide is the leading cause of death for Native women, with more than 3 in 4 being killed by intimate partners.

 

Lori Jump, CEO, StrongHearts Native Helpline. | Courtesy: StrongHearts Native Helpline

“Indigenous people have been plagued by five centuries of historical trauma that has accumulated throughout American History. As a culturally appropriate helpline for Native Americans by Native Americans, StrongHearts advocates understand the significance of being Native-centered, trauma-informed, and empowerment-based,” concluded Jump.

“In our seventh year of operation, we are just beginning to address the need for cultural healing.  We seek to eradicate violence, restore safety, and preserve sovereignty for all Tribal nations, but on a personal level.  Every step we take toward healing is a step we take to ensure the safety and sovereignty of our children.”

Serving all individuals who reach out for their services regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or any other factor protected by local, state, or federal law, StrongHearts advocates are available 24/7 to provide support and advocacy, make referrals to Native centered service providers and connect our relatives to regionally available resources. Call or text 1-844-762-8483 or chat online at strongheartshelpline.org

Source:  André B. Rosay, "Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men," June 1, 2016, nij.ojp.gov

TOP PHOTO: Exponential growth in the number of contacts demonstrates the need for culturally-appropriate support and advocacy. | Courtesy: StrongHearts Native Helpline.