What Can We Do About Domestic Violence NOW?

Whether or not the final reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act allows tribes to prosecute non-Indians who harm Native women, the question still remains of what we are doing, can do and will do to prevent these crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice.

No matter how you look at the statistics, a lot of rape, battering, stalking, child abuse and elder abuse cases already fall under the jurisdiction of tribal authorities, but aren't adequately prevented or prosecuted. The problems are legion. Tribal systems are overburdened, underfunded and often understaffed; the tribal jail system is "unbelievably broken" (according to a comment about a 2008 BIA study); victims and family members are often unwilling to involve police or press charges; drug or alcohol use may impact the reliability of testimony; and when criminals move to other reservations, their arrest records rarely follow them.  Like eating a whale, these obstacles seem overwhelming, but can be reduced one bite at a time.

Congress can:
Fully fund the Tribal Law and Order Act, federal prosecutor's offices and existing public health programs, as well as create new funds for tribes to increase staffing, facilities, training, services and education.

Tribal governments can:
Make addressing domestic violence a priority by encouraging collaboration among tribal departments, seek and allocate funding for service providers and programs, actively participate in education and outreach, and ban non-Native offenders from tribal lands.

Tribal law enforcement can:
Stock adequate rape kits, seek funding to beef up staffing and training, collaborate with federal law enforcement and other tribal police to share best practices and resources, and work with health care providers and tribal or state service providers to deliver victim services, and share data with other tribes.

Tribal courts can:
Implement alternative sentences such as restitution for offenders, document cases so repeat offenders are identified and prosecuted accordingly, share data with other tribes and exercise the enhanced sentencing under TLOA.

Healthcare workers can:
Learn how to identify and screen victims of domestic violence, carefully document and report cases, develop a referral network of service providers, and provide resource materials for patients.

Families and friends can:
Learn about available resources, contact your tribal and federal government representatives to insist on change, organize safety and prevention programs, and support victims in leaving dangerous situations, prosecuting their attacker and in the healing process.

Victims can:
Share experiences with other victims in the community, help each other to find the strength to stop the abuse and to heal, and to raise a voice in protest against a culture that allows these crimes.

More Resources:
National Domestic Violence Hotline
Mending the Sacred Hoop
Tribal grant programs to prevent violence against women
Love is Respect: teen dating violence site
Men's Resource Center for Change
Guide to raising awareness in Indian Country


Do you have more ideas? We want to hear them!! Lamar Associates has started a new group, called SafeRez on LinkedIn and we welcome everyone who wants to change our communities for the better. Come and join the conversation!

Take Action on VAWA

The 112th Congress failed to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, in part because of its new protections for Native women, which apparently was a sticking point for House Republicans. A new version of the bill, which preserves the protections for Native women, will be voted on in the Senate as early as next week. The National Congress of American Indians have a number of ways you can support the bill.

You can:
Join a National Call TODAY, 3-4 pm EST by calling (877) 856-2376 | Conference ID: 95462308
Call or email your Senators to express your support of the bill: (202) 224-3121 (Capitol switchboard)
**Don't forget to ask them to sponsor the bill if they aren't already!
Participate in the "We need VAWA because...." campaign on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter by using the hashtag #VAWA or #NCAI1944
Join a State of VAWA Twitter chat February 11 at 2 pm EST

The High Price of Not Planning For Disaster

In times of diminishing funding and strapped budgets, it may seem like good sense to postpone training. But when it comes to disaster preparedness, any money you invest now will pay off in the long run. Weather extremes may cause the next disaster on your reservation, pueblo or rancheria. Perhaps the disaster will be human-caused, or won't even be on your tribal land, but at a nearby power plant, international border or transportation route. It may affect your people, property and even your power and communications infrastructure. Identifying these risks now will help your tribe focus on how to address them successfully, should worst come to worst.

The expert Native trainers presenting our two-day course in February understand the challenges that tribal governments and organizations face, because we have lived in and served Indian Country our whole lives. We appreciate that you may be running operations on a shoestring, so we'll help you strategize how to work with all kinds of different partners to establish mutual aid agreements, develop preparedness grants or share resources. We have worked with American Indian and Alaska Natives from all over the country at the tribal and federal level, so we understand the intricacies of jurisdiction and due authority in every state.

If you are considering signing up for our Emergency Management and Public Safety for Tribal Officals course, but are hesitating because of the price, consider what some tribes struggled with last year, just from getting hit by Mother Nature:

• Flooding cost the pueblo of Santa Clara more than $11.2 million dollars
• Flooding from a single storm caused damage to structures throughout the Coleville Reservation
• Several eastern tribes sustained outages, flooding and damage to homes and property during Superstorm Sandy   
• A single wildfire on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation cost more than $3 million to fight; the tribe also spent $89,000 to fight a second fire
• The Crow Reservation spent $300,000 to fight two wildfires
• The Montana wildfires consumed homes, cattle and natural resources, including critical rangeland
• Drought dealt a crushing blow to the Pine Ridge Reservation as well as pueblos and reservations from California to Oklahoma; estimated losses to crops and livestock due to drought was $426 million in Oklahoma alone

The cost of disasters is often hard to calculate for years after the event, because sustained damage to the environment, watersheds, sacred sites and cultural institutions may take years to mitigate.  As Governor Walter Dasheno of Santa Clara Pueblo testified in 2011 to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs:

Never again in our lifetime will we see our traditional and treasured homeland and spiritual sanctuary, the Santa Clara Canyon, as we have known it. It will take generations for our community and lands to recover from the devastation of this fire. But this is our only homeland; it is the place we have been entrusted with since time immemorial. While we intend to devote the resources we can to the healing of our land and the protection of our community we do not have the resources to do it alone.

We're not going to stop the weather, but we can help you ensure that your tribe, pueblo or rancheria has the resources and the partners it needs to face the future with confidence, no matter what comes.

Partnerships for Public Safety

Graph courtesy the state of Colorado.

"It takes a community to make a community safe." The Bishop Paiute Tribe is not the only tribe to adopt this philosophy of community policing, because it doesn't just sound good-- it works. Community oriented policing is an efficient and effective approach to reducing crime, drug use, domestic violence and other societal problems. The key is using effective communication among community members to identify and to respond to the community's needs.

How does that work for Emergency Management Planning? To begin with, tribes need to expand their concept of community to include local and county governments and agencies as well as state and federal partners.

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) recommends federal legislation to improve collaboration between tribes and states and to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act so tribes can make direct requests to the President in case of disasters or emergencies. The amendment (like much critical legislation for Indian Country) did not make it through the last Congress, but could be passed by this one. Whether Congress takes additional steps to include tribes in a national public safety communications network or facilitate strong partnerships between tribes or states remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, it's up to each tribe to negotiate arrangements with their broader community, which often take the form of Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs). As the chart above shows, it takes a high degree of leadership, planning and collaboration to achieve sustainable and responsive emergency management systems.  At our upcoming Emergency Management and Public Safety for Tribal Officials training, the expert native trainers at Indian Country Training will offer participants critical hands-on training for crafting an MOU that will involve a broader community in keeping your tribal community safe. We look forward to seeing you in Albuquerque on February 26-27!

Talking About the Weather

The numbers are in for 2012, and there is no arguing that it was a hot year for those of us in the lower 48. The shifting weather patterns are not just bringing hot days, although people in Oklahoma suffered through two of the hottest days in recorded history. Several states suffered devastating drought conditions, which brought wildfires to some tribes (in Montana, South Dakota, Washington and Arizona, for example) and caused widespread suffering for people and animals alike. Other events included massive outbreaks of tornados, a multi-state derecho, and of course, superstorm Sandy. 

Everyone knows you can talk about the weather all you want and it won't change a thing, but we're facing some serious weather, and by all indications, it's just going to get worse. What we can do is hope for the best and plan for the worst. Tribal officials from council members to department heads will all benefit from our upcoming training on Emergency Management and Public Safety for Tribal Officials. Native communities in the US are expected to be hit hardest by changing conditions, and it's up to us to be ready. In this two-day session, we will not only talk about proposed changes to the way tribes can get disaster relief, but help officials plan how to keep infrastructure intact and people safe, no matter what. To learn how better emergency management can protect your tribe's assets and heritage, read this moving testimony from the governor of Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico, recently devastated by the Las Conchas fire.

Feb 2013: Emergency Management and Public Safety For Tribal Officials Training

Many tribes these days are coming to grips with the fact that the damage a natural disaster can bring to a community doesn't stop when the emergency is over. Our Native trainers, and our partners at Risk and Rewards Management Group, have decades of experience with planning for disasters, establishing mutual aid agreements and mitigating the impact of a fire, drought, tornado, hurricane or winter storm on a tribal community.

The training will be held in Albuquerque, NM February 26-27, 2013.

Click here to learn more about this training opportunity.  Click here to register.

Native Women May Be Excluded From VAWA Reauthorization

Rumors are swirling in DC about what's stalling the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. The House bill, which stripped protections for Native women victimized by non-Native men, among other groups, must be reconciled with a more inclusive Senate version. Indian Country Today Media Network was able to get some confirmation that the GOP is blocking the reauthorization solely to prevent the inclusion of protections for Native women. Representative Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma and a member of the Chickasaw nation, argues that Tribes deserve local jurisdiction and that tribes need effective police power and protection in their own territory. The National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women also clarifies some of the facts about Title IX, Safety For Indian Women.

If you want Native women to have protection from domestic violence—no matter who commits it— contact Congressman Eric Cantor, who is leading the negotiations to draft new legislation before Congress breaks for the holidays.

Minnesota Tribes Battling Flood of Heroin

Read the whole story at Indian Country Today Media Network. The news from the Minnesota tribes is grim, but there are solutions to be found in education and community coalitions that battle this problem, starting with preventing and treating prescription painkiller addiction.  Besides destroying the user's life and health, heroin use results in increased crime, HIV and hepatitis infections, and children living in filthy and dangerous environments. Tribes are working with county, state and federal officials to turn this around, but they also need help from all concerned community members, from caregivers to teachers and from health care workers to law enforcement officers and Tribal courts.