'Tis the Season

A few people have been wondering what they can do for the shelter around the holidays.



Here are a few ideas.
1. Contribute to the general fund (ChipIn at right). The shelter always needs money for expenses that aren't covered by grants (everything is tax deductible). If you have to get a gift for someone who already has everything, consider donating in that person's name. That kind of gift is truly meaningful.

2. Contribute to the gift card fund for the shelter staff. Women's shelters are always underfunded and the staff underpaid. There is no money for bonuses ever, so if you'd like to see the staff get a few extra prezzies this year, contribute here. I will go buy Visa gift cards from the local bank, so they can use them anywhere they please.

3. Buy some towels. Right now the shelter is having a towel and wash cloth shortage because it lets women coming and going take their towels with them. Anna's Linens online seems to have really good prices.

Other general items that are always needed are:

Twin and queen size sheets and blankets, toothbrushes and toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, women's hygiene items, diapers of all sizes, baby wipes, first aid kit items, and analgesics such as ibuprofen and aspirin.

Address:
Pretty Bird Woman House
211 First Ave W.
McLaughlin, SD 57642



4. FREE things you can do. The economy sucks, I know, and I for one am one of the people out of work (don't feel sorry for me, I just handed in a dissertation, so I'm hopeful for the future). There are 2 things you can do that I would call passive giving.

* Sign up foriGive. If you do this, whenever you shop at what seems to now be most online stores, the store will donate a percentage of your purchase to the shelter. Everybody has to shop for the holidays, so if you shop online, this is the way to go. Since last year we've raised over $300 in this kind of passive giving, just with 60 people on the list. Imagine of we had 300 people on it?

* If you download this GoodSearch bar and use it when you do a search, they will donate 2 cents for each search. That adds up, especially if there are a lot of people doing the searches. Since last year, we've raised $118 onGoodSearch.



Passive giving, I like it!

5. Buy Christmas presents for women and children who will be at the shelter. I've been talking to the shelter director about this, but one of the staff just quit so right now she's having a hard time keeping her head above water.

It's likely that the women and children who are occupying the house right now won't be there at Christmas, so we can't tell exactly who will be there, but here are some good ideas from another shelter director.

Don't forget socks, underwear and sweats!

As a shelter director, I can tell you this - the women & kids who are there right now, will probably not be there by Christmas

I always tell generous donors to send gifts that you and your family members would like to receive for a Christmas present.

So, if you are an adult woman, you might want a nice robe or pajamas, slippers or perfume or a long distance calling card or a beautiful warm neck scarf with matching hat & gloves for the winter, a watch, or a clock radio or a nice new hair dryer or straightener or culring iron, diaries, journals, wallets, backpacks, picture frames, photo albums.

The majority of children in shelter are between the ages of 2 and 12 with all ages sprinkled in, so legos and action figures are good for boys, coloring books, word puzzles books, games, decks of cards, dolls/barbies of all cultures, leapster learning toys, anything Disney, Bratz, Dora & Diego, SpongeBob.

Don't forget about the batteries if you purchase a gift that requires batteries, please send them with the gift!

For the tweens & teens, hand held games, travel games, music by Jonas Brothers, Hannah Montana, Cheetah Girls, sleeping bags, blankets, backpacks, belts, hand bags, cosmetics, hair accessories, small suitcases on wheels, disposable cameras are so cheap these days!

Gift cards are always great for all - food, clothing, gas cards, phone cards, shoes.

Keep the candles for yourself - it is not usually safe to burn candles in a shelter home but the temptation is so great if you have one!

When thinking shelter, remember storage is at a premium so think smaller, more portable gifts.

The Pretty Bird Woman House operates at capacity nearly all the time. One of their staff just quit (too much stress), and they are quite over their heads right now with the work load. Thanks to YOU this shelter exists. Without you, the women on the Standing Rock Reservation wouldn't have any place to go if they are victims of domestic violence. You are amazing.

Article on Daschle Appointment from Medical News Today

Goevernment health care for Native Americans has been terrible, at best. I've heard stories about the poor care that make my blood boil. But things may be looking up under an Obama Administration, with Tom Daschle as head of HHS.

American Indian tribal leaders are anticipating that former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) could make significant improvements to Indian Health Services to address funding shortages, health disparities and access to care if he is confirmed as HHS secretary, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports (Bremner, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 11/21). Daschle has reportedly accepted an offer from President-elect Barack Obama to become the new HHS secretary, according to Democratic officials.(Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 11/20).

...snip...

In the last fiscal year, IHS received $4.3 billion in funding, which tribal leaders say was less than half of what the agency needed to fully fund its health programs. Leaders said that funding for specialty health care services, such as cancer treatment and hospital care, is usually depleted three months before the end of the budget year. James Melbourne, director of the Fort Peck Tribal Health Department in Montana, said, "When the money runs out, you ration health care, people die" (Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 11/21).
© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

People die? Why aren't we up in arms about this national disgrace? And don't think that rape kits aren't included in this rationing - not all IHS facilities even have them, or the staff trained to do them.

See the full Medical News article here

The article from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader is here.

Conference Announcement

Battered Women, Abused Children, and Child Custody, A National Crisis VI: SOLUTIONS

The Sixth Annual Battered Mothers Custody Conference
January 9th, 10th, & 11th, 2009
(Friday evening, 6 p.m. - Sunday afternoon)
Albany, New York

Co-Sponsored by
National Family Court Watch Project
Coalition for Family Justice
NOW NYS
LoveFraud.Com
~Presenters~
ACTRESS and AUTHOR ANGELA SHELTON
Reclaiming the Sword ~ Transitioning from Pain and Suffering into Joy and Happiness

WENDY MURPHY, Esq. "And Justice for Some"

LUNDY BANCROFT On Organizing and Activism

JENNIFER COLLINS
An American Family Goes Underground in the Netherlands ~ and Returns to Tell Their Story

TOBY KLEINMAN, Esq.
So you believe your child may be abused. . .What do you do now

BARRY GOLDSTEIN, Esq.
Panel on the upcoming book, "Domestic Violence, Child Custody, and Abuse:
Legal and Policy Issues"

GARLAND WALLER, Producer
Why the Mainstream Media Have Failed to Cover a National Scandal

BEN ATHERTON-ZEMAN, Actor and Activist Performing "Voices of Men"
\
THE COURAGEOUS KIDS SPEAK OUT

Workshops on SOLUTIONS by
Liane J. Leedom, M.D., Author
Renee Beeker & Paul Holdorf, Esq., Nat'l Family Court Watch Project
Ursula Williams, Turning Point DV Services
Tovah Kasdin, Esq., Jewish Women International
Karen Anderson, California Protective Parents Association
Barry Goldstein, Esq. & Ben Atherton-Zeman
Irene Weiser, Stop Family Violence
Anne Grant, Journalist
Massachusetts Mothers for Justice
Donna Anderson ~ Lovefraud.com
Dara Carlin, M.A.
Marcia Pappas, President, NOW NYS
Christina Dalpiaz, Author
Joan Peterson, BSW, MPA
Karen Henninger

CONFERENCE HOTEL
Holiday Inn Turf
205 Wolf Road, Albany, NY
(five minutes away from Albany International Airport- free shuttle provided)
Call: 1-800-HOLIDAY or 518-458-7250
Special rate of $99/night
Ask for Battered Mothers Custody Conference block
Reserve early!

E-mail mhannah413@aol. com ; 518-210-2487

For additional details and to register online, go to
www.batteredmotherscustodyconference.org

Don't Miss This

Bill Moyer's Journal, which runs on PBS, had a great report on Broken Justice in Indian Country this weekend. It was based on a great series in the Denver Post (which you can find in the links on the right side of this page).

Here's the link to the show. You can watch the video or download the podcast.

Watch and Listen to Bill Moyers Journal Here.

NEEDED: TOWELS

Hi everyone,

If you're coming here looking for things to donate around the holidays, check out the right side of this blog for a complete list of ongoing donation needs for the shelter.

HOWEVER, since women are constantly coming and going, right now there is an urgent need for towels. So if you're cleaning out your linen closet, or looking for something to buy, think TOWELS.

Word has it that Linens 'N Things is going out of business and has cheap towels now.....We've also had a Yahoo Groups member order them from Annas Linens.

Once again, thank you for all your support. This means the world to the women on the Standing Rock Reservation.

P.S. Thank you to the owner of Poor Impulse Control blog for posting this request.

The New Furnace Has Been Installed!

Good news, everyone. The new furnace that YOU bought for Pretty Bird Woman House was installed today.

The women will now be assured of being WARM this winter.

On behalf on the shelter staff and the women on the reservation, THANK YOU!! It's already cold and snowy in South Dakota, so this comes just in time.


(not the actual furnace)

Free Teleconference TODAY

Another great email:

The Victim Rights Law Center and Southwest Center for Law and Policy are hosting a free teleconference on Civil Legal Remedies For Native Sexual Assault Survivors.

This toll-free teleconference will be held 3:00 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday November 12, 2008.

Tribal courts can utilize creative civil remedies against both Indian
and non-Indian perpetators of sexual assault. This teleconference will
also discuss the wide array of civil legal needs faced by Native sexual
survivors.

To register for this free teleconference, please visit www.swclap.org

Getting Back to the Issues at Hand.....

I received this notice in my email today. It looks like a good opportunity:

Partners for Women’s Equality (PWE) is an international, nonprofit organization that works to empower women and improve grassroots organizations that work to improve conditions for women in their community.

MAKE 2009 THE YEAR OF YOUR SELF-DEVELOPMENT!

PWE’s new program, Bridge to Change for Indigenous Women, is designed to develop and/or enhance the skills of Indigenous women throughout the world, particularly those women working on the issue of violence against women and children in their communities. See www.partnersforwome nsequality. org for full information on the program

APPLY NOW. If you are a Native woman, an Aboriginal woman, a First Nation woman, or a member/descendent of an Indigenous tribe, you may be eligible for this FREE, unique, international skill development program. You need to have worked to reduce violence in your community for the past three years and commit to continue to do so for the next three years. You must be fluent in English and at least 21 years old.

See www.partnersforwome nsequality. org for complete requirements.

Application is attached. Apply no later than December 20, 2008.


ABOUT BRIDGE TO CHANGE: Once selected, participants from around the world will attend a week long retreat (skill development training) in March of 2009 in Minnesota USA . Each participant will be assigned a trained personal mentor/coach who will work with them after they return to their community, throughout 2009, one or two additional gatherings will occur during 2009 for the participants. Travel stipends are available.


The application, program requirements and description are available on www.partnersforwomensequality. org.


Maureen White Eagle
Executive Director
Partners for Women’s Equality
maureen@partnersforwomensequality.org
www.partnersforwomensequality.org
651-686-5492

Letter Sent to Biden Family on November 3

I promised everyone who donated to the furnace fund that I would send a package to the Biden family with a letter about the furnace fund and your condolence wishes before the Presidential campaign was over.

As you know, that was delayed because my own mother died of cancer just as the fundraiser was ending.

But I kept my promise. On November 3 I faxed the following letter along with your condolence messages to the Senator's three offices.

Senator Joseph Biden
201 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Biden,

I am writing to you on behalf of the members of the Daily Kos community who wanted to express their condolences for the recent death of your mother-in-law, Bonny Jacobs.

We were looking for a way to pay tribute to her, and decided that since you are the author of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) it would be fitting to support a women’s shelter in her memory.

Last year, members of the netroots got together to buy a new home for the Pretty Bird Woman House, a women’s shelter on the South Dakota side of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Thanks to VAWA funds, it is now fully functioning.

During the course of this year, it became apparent that the house was in desperate need of a new furnace. Because so many members of our community were anxious to commemorate Mrs. Jacobs, we were quickly able to raise enough money for one. Because of their respect for your family, this winter battered women on the reservation will have a warm place to stay.

Attached is a list of all of the donors to the furnace project and their email addresses, along with messages of condolence to your family.

We would also like to extend our best wishes for your future White House occupancy, which we know would make Mrs. Jacobs very proud.

(I knew Obama would win when I wrote the letter)

Now, in hindsight I know that his offices were probably deluged with campaign-related faxes, but all three offices (D.C. and two district) got the package, so we'll wait for a response, which I'll post here. In any case, I kept my promise to you all.

YES.WE.DID

...Elect the first African American President.

...Get our country back.

...Vote for better policies.

...Restore our standing in the world.

...Get a cabinet-level representative of Native American interests.

CONGRATULATIONS TO US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See What I Mean?

The other day I posted a Get Out and Vote entry, warning that there is a history of Native American votes being suppressed.

Right now a diarist on the Daily Kos is reporting that Apache votes are being suppressed by Republicans in Arizona because their driver's licenses have PO Box numbers. Classic.

Here is the text of the article. DON'T SIT DOWN AND TAKE THIS NONSENSE!!

Native Americans in Whiteriver, Arizona, are being denied the right to vote because their drivers licenses have post office boxes.

Republican challengers are forcing the Apaches to accept provisional ballots because they say they need a physical address on their IDs.

They are also turning these voters away, not telling them how to do the verification to make their provisional ballot good.

Update: Getting more information form the scene: Problem apparently limited to people who have moved recently.

EricAZ's diary :: ::
We are working with the Navajo County officials in Holbrook and state Democratic lawyers in Phoenix, but could use help and advice.

Thanks.

Sorry for the short diary. Will update with more information.

Here is the text of one of the comments from that diary. It's not from an American Indian but you'll see how stubborn you need to be to vote in some places in Arizona today.

PHX:
I got a hassled because My two forms of id,
(drivers and fingerprint clearance card) did not match my current address, even though i handed the poll worker my sample ballot with my address clearly on it. I also was on the roll, and it seemed she didn't see my name until I pointed it out. She said i couldn't vote because i didn't have any matching address on an iD and said, "sorry" as she pointed to the listed rules. I said it not been a problem at my previous PHX address and that I wasn't going anywhere. I pulled a piece of mail out from my bank with the current address also on it as I became visibly angry, and started to dig my heels in , saying it wasn't going down like this.
She relented when I pulled out my cell phone, checking me off.
It was clear I was legit, I was on the roll right in front of my eyes, and I had Az. drivers license and a fingerprint clearance card and my sample ballot with my current address and name perfectly matching the voter roll. Only when I started to raise a stink did she relent.
How many others don't fight for their right and meekly walk away.
Cnn voter lines are dead ending and my local election board lines diconnected me. I shit you not.'
This is creepy.
I still fucking voted for Obama today.

Don't forget folks. Native Vote was organized to protect your rights. Use their resources. If you feel you are being prevented from voting or that a voting machine is switching a vote to the Republican candidate (I say this because oddly enough it never seems to get switched to the Democratic candidate)CALL 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

FYI - Very few people from Arizona read this blog, but if you're from AZ and having a problem HERE is the link to the Arizona Secretary of State's Office, which gives other forms of ID you can show too. Just insist.

If you're from the Dakotas, go a few posts down to see links to those SOS offices and the voting requirements.

This election will make history.

INSIST THAT YOUR VOTE BE COUNTED!!!

1-866-OUR-VOTE!!!!

This could be the most important election in American history. Make sure you vote, and if somebody gives you a hard time about voting, make sure your report it by calling 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

The National Congress of American Indians has been leading an election protection effort to make sure every vote cast by a Native American counts.

Here are some excerpts from an article in the Missoulian on those efforts:

The National Congress of American Indians is leading a national “election protection” measure to ensure every Native vote counts next Tuesday, with efforts ranging from phone-a-lawyer initiatives to polling place translators.

“We've joined forces with a larger coalition, like the ACLU, the NAACP and other minority groups, Latinos, Hispanics and Asians,” said Jacqueline Johnson, NCAI executive director, on Thursday. “We've been able to put together a 1-866-OUR-VOTE hotline for anybody in the country to be able to call.

“What we've been able to do with NCAI is make sure - that at the end of the line for people who are calling from Indian Country - is that they actually be able to talk with somebody who has knowledge about Indian Country issues. It will be a Native attorney or someone who works for a tribe.”

Organizers with the NCAI Native Vote Initiative have been working with tribes in 20 states to ensure Native voters aren't intimidated, a problem in previous elections.
...snip...
As a voting bloc, Natives tend to vote for Democratic candidates. Efforts to register and protect Native voters have intensified in recent days, especially since recent polls suggest some states that traditionally vote Republican could be tipped in favor of Democrats. Those states include Montana, North Dakota, Colorado and Nevada.

According to the article, lawsuits over voter suppression were filed in Alaska, Montana, and Arizona, and the organization is actively monitoring elections in New Mexico, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Again, if you have difficulty getting access to the polls, or with electronic voting machines you can call, 1-866-OUR-VOTE, to report problems. If you go to the Election Protection website you can get information on how to report problems via your cell phone by using Twitter.

Here is more information on voting in the Dakotas from Native Vote

NORTH DAKOTA

North Dakota does not have voter registration requirements.
Registration Deadline:
Poll Judge: Please contact your Secretary of State office
Poll Watch: Please contact your Secretary of State office

SOUTH DAKOTA

You must:
Be a citizen of the United States
Reside in South Dakota
Be 18 years old by the next election
Not be under a sentence of imprisonment for a felony conviction
Not have been adjudged mentally incompetent by a court
Registration Deadline: Received 15 days before the election
Date of Primary for General Election: Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Primary Registration Deadline: Monday May 19, 2008 (15 days prior)
Registration Deadline:
Poll Judge: Please contact your Secretary of State office
Poll Watch: Please contact your Secretary of State office
State election Website
Secretary of State: Chris Nelson
SOS Website

Native Vote has information on voting in all 50 states.

There is a history of suppression of Native American votes in this country. Stand up and insist that your vote be counted!