If you're here for the first time, be sure to read the article below this one called "PRETTY BIRD WOMAN HOUSE RISES FROM THE ASHES"
(Kossack contingent with Georgia: Rob, Betsy, Georgia, Peg)
On Thursday night, Amnesty International held a wonderful event at the Museum of the American Indian in Manhattan. It's purpose was to present their report "Maze of Injustice," which brought the problem of sexual violence against Native American women to our attention, and to raise funds for the Pretty Bird Woman House. It was a wonderful evening. The museum is gorgeous, and should be a stop in any tourist's New York itinerary.
First of all, I want to say that the staff of Amnesty International were probably the most gracious, dedicated, and friendliest group of people I have ever seen at an organization. My hats off to them all. In fact, later on in the evening, Amnesty's media director called Georgia because one of the battered women they had interviewed in North Dakota was in need of emergency shelter and called her friend at Amnesty first. Georgia knew exactly where to send her, but it was also further proof of the 24 hour nature of this kind of work.
The museum director introduced a panel headed by Larry Cox, the director of Amnesty International. Kerry Kennedy and her young daughter joined him on the dais along with Winona Flying Earth, the head of the Board of Directors of a shelter called Bridges Against Domestic Violence, and Georgia Little Shield, the intrepid director of Pretty Bird Woman House. Winona and Georgia received a standing ovation from a standing-room only audience of about 300 people, which touched them deeply. Later on, Georgia explained to me that "Indian women have been taught that they're nothing." That standing ovation is something she will probably remember for the rest of her life.
(Georgia and Winona get a standing ovation)
Kerry Kennedy introduced the report, and talked about how she and her 10 brothers and sisters took cross country trips every summer and always stopped at Indian reservations. She also saluted Rose Styron for recommending that Kerry intern at Amnesty International, since it began her two-decade-long relationship with the organization.
(Panel with Larry Cox, Kerry Kennedy's daughter, Kerry Kennedy, Winona Flying Earth, and Georgia Littleshield).
(Winona chatting with a group of women after the panel)
After a slide show that presented the report's findings, Winona and Georgia gave eloquent and moving descriptions of the problems of sexual abuse and domestic violence that an astoundingly high number of Indian women suffer on a daily basis, adding that the problem of domestic violence is now in its seventh generation. They also noted the importance of developing compassion. In the process of relating her part of the story, Georgia got choked up when she noted that it has even affected her own daughter. In answering some of the questions, both women alluded to the fact that the anger and low self esteem behind much of the domestic violence problem is rooted in the boarding schools that all Indians were forced to attend until the 1960s. In addition to the purposeful destruction of their culture, the children suffered extreme physical and sexual abuse at many of these institutions, and this has affected every generation since then.
I actually ended up being an audience plant. Nobody directly mentioned the shelter during the panel discussion, so I asked Georgia to explain its current situation. She obliged by telling the story of how they lost their building and giving out the website's address. In her closing remarks, Kerry Kennedy then told the audience that the shelter needs $70,000 and asked everyone to remember the shelter when they are doing their holiday giving. I want to emphasize how unusual it is that Amnesty staff and supporters would be asking for money for a program other than their own. This is a reflection of just how much the plight of the women on the reservation has touched everyone involved with the issue.
(Standing Room Only crowd)
OK, so if you're now wondering how much money this pulled in, all I can say is that I'm not sure. Numerous people offered assistance, including the American Indian house across the street from the museum and another group whose name I didn't catch. Law students from Fordham University, all of them outraged by the impunity issue, were talking about a conference/fundraiser (please contact me if you're reading this as a law student because I've got a great conference you can put together on this).
As anyone who has obsessively been monitoring the ChipIn meter knows, we saw an uptick in donations after the event. Several people also joined our Yahoo Group.
I'd say it was a very successful evening, even though no one big sponsor stepped up right away. So, lets keep going. We're working on getting the house, plus long term viability via material donations and grants for additional advocates.
This project has also gone viral, so all of you who are reading this haven't come here just from the Daily Kos. I suspect a lot of you are here directly or indirectly through some incredible posts I've see at various Live Journal sites, so welcome! And keep on passing the word and encouraging people to put the ChipIn widget on their blogs. It's definitely working!
I also spent the next afternoon with Georgia and Winona. Georgia talked to me for hours about the intergenerational nature of domestic violence in her family and on the reservation and what she had done to pull herself and her family out of that cycle.
(taking a much-needed break in Times Square)
I will write more on this in another entry, but generally Georgia's point was that she had nowhere to go as a child suffering what was an incredible level of abuse by her white father. Among other things, besides beating Georgia, this man overworked her brother on their ranch to such a degree that he had a heart attack at the age of 9, and a few years later even stabbed him. Georgia wants to make sure that no other women and children on the reservation are ever in a position of having nowhere to go if they are victimized by domestic violence or rape. I have never met such a determined person in my life.
If you don't know anything about the boarding schools the women alluded to in their presentations, here are 2 very short videos about the boarding schools. You get a very good idea about what happened to people there.
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