Sharing Our Stories of Survival: Native Women Surviving Violence Read Free

Editor
December 2006

    Acknowledgments
    Many Tribal Law and Policy Institute staff members and consultants assisted with the development of this book, including Arlene Downwind-White (Red Lake Band of Chippewa), April Clairmont (Lakota/HoChunk), Heather Valdez Singleton, Lou Sgroi, Diane Payne, Mona Evan (Tlingit/Haida/Yupik/Inupiat), Lavern Yanito Dennison (Navajo), and Terrilena Dodson (Navajo). We also wish to thank Erik Stegman (Nakota), who has been an intern in our office for the past two years, and Patricia Sekaquaptewa (Hopi) for her ongoing support of our work.
    This book would not have been possible without the many contributing writers and poets—especially the survivors of violence—who have generously told their stories. We would also like to acknowledge the Advisory Board. Poet and actor Diane E. Benson (Tlingit) provided invaluable advice in soliciting and selecting poetry for this book. We are grateful for her artistic and cultural insight in the preparation of the final manuscript. Thanks also to George Boeck for his copy-editing skills and David Sekaquaptewa (Hopi) for his graphic skills.
    Sarah Deer thanks her parents, Jan and Montie Deer; her grandparents, Isaac “Kelso” and Wanda Lee Deer; her husband, Neal Axton; and her Indian law mentor, Robert Odawi Porter. Also a special thank you to Jerry Gardner for his vision of Tribal Legal Studies textbooks.
    Bonnie Clairmont thanks her friend and colleague, Sarah Deer, for giving her the opportunity to contribute to this book. Bonnie thanks her partner of thirty-five years, Jim Clairmont, for his steadfast support and for representing the true hallmark of a Lakota man. She thanks her mother, Elizabeth Deere, for teaching her the value of standing up for what you believe in and speaking your truth at all costs. She thanks her son, Lakota, for growing up to be the fine young family man that he is, respected by Indian people, young and old; and her daughter, April Rainbow, for growing up to be the principled, activist-minded young woman that she has become. She thanks the many women and advocates who have chosen to tell their truths in this book and in their communities on behalf of murdered, missing women and women who cannot speak out due to the fear of further violence.
    Carrie Martell thanks Sarah Deer for giving her the opportunity to work together on issues of violence against Native women. Carrie also thanks the writers for sharing their stories, which help the rest of us to survive and serve to educate society about the violence Native women face. She would also like to acknowledge DeAnna Rivera and the Tribal Learning Community and Educational Exchange (TLCEE) program at UCLA for supporting the Violence Against Native Women online course, and her family for their love.
    There are many people who have aided in the production and completion of this work. Of special note is the contribution of the Tribal Unit at the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW, U.S. Department of Justice), including Lorraine Edmo, Kimberly Woodard, Kathy Howkumi, and Lauren Nassikas. The leadership of the former director of OVW, Diane M. Stuart, and the current acting director of OVW, Mary Beth Buchanan, have been instrumental in the development and publication of this book.
    Further information and resources concerning this textbook and the Tribal Legal Studies Series are available on the Tribal Court Clearinghouse website ( www.tlpi.org ) and on the Tribal Legal Studies website ( www.triballegalstudies.org ).

    Notes
    1   Karren Baird-Olson and Carol Ward, “Recovery and Resistance: The Renewal of Traditional Spirituality among American Indian Women,” American Indian Culture & Research Journal 24, no. 4 (2000): 7.

Eagle’s Wings
    Give me eagle wings
Great Spirit
Take me away from this hurt
Take me away from pain
     
    Pray for me
That I will survive another day
That my child will not see
That the bruises will heal
That no one will ask questions
That no one will