Sharing Our Stories of Survival: Native Women Surviving Violence (39 page)

Many women deal with the court system on their own. Ideally, they should be able to move through the system and be treated respectfully and effectively without an advocate, but we know this is not how the court often operates. That is why training and education is so important, especially for clerks of the court. They are often the “gatekeepers” for the system. Their response to women can very often determine whether or not a woman will continue to use the court or give up on the prosecution or protection order case.

Laws, Policy, and Jurisdiction

Tribal jurisdictions vary across the nation, and often women end up dealing with multiple jurisdictions: tribal, state, and federal. Knowledge of the formal and informal operations of these systems is important. Legal advocacy includes familiarity with existing codes, policy, procedure, and protocol within the criminal justice system. Many times, documentation of policies is either nonexistent or inadequate. It is then the job of advocates to write or revise the code, policy, procedure, or protocol. Find out what the process is for implementing a code or policy. This task does not have to be as difficult as it sounds.

The first step, as in almost all aspects of advocacy, is to create a relationship with people in the system. Visit informally. Have coffee or lunch. The purpose is to create a relationship that serves as the foundation for the more difficult work ahead. Build trust and rapport by learning about one another’s work routine, responsibilities, and environment. What are their concerns and struggles? How can advocates support their work? Advocates should emphasize common goals and concerns, but maintain their stance as the biased supporters of women who are battered.

I was a pretty inexperienced advocate, but had a lot of energy and commitment. I’d gone to court with a woman to get a protection order, saw the judge sign it even. But after 3 days it still hadn’t been served. I was righteously steamed! Marched over to law enforcement. To make a long story short, the cops hadn’t even seen the protection order yet. Marched to the clerk of courts office where I was informed that the form was on the bottom of a pile. They were short-staffed, had no policy prioritizing dv stuff . . . and they were out of paper . . . ! So I brought them paper. Learned to call first, make no assumptions about other people’s work and ask how I can help them get their work done . . . Big waste of time and energy . . . and worse, the woman needing protection could have been hurt because we weren’t talking to each other and priorities were messed up.

—(oral account shared by author)

Legal advocates will not actually have legal standing in court unless the tribal code or a judge allows it. As advocates, it’s our job to “act as if,” not wait for permission to challenge policy or write a needed code. As community members and relatives, we have the responsibility and right to respectfully work on behalf of women, ourselves, and the community. Just as tribes have the right to exercise their sovereignty in the creation of codes addressing violence against women, advocates have the right to exercise their sovereignty as individuals.

Lack of criminal jurisdiction over non-Natives is a huge gap in the sovereignty of tribes and the protection of Native women (see chapter 14). However, federal law allows tribes to detain non-Native offenders until the state or federal officials pick them up. Until tribes regain the right to jurisdiction over non-Natives, tribes can find ways to exercise their sovereignty and protect women using exclusion and banishment.

On issues of jurisdiction and sovereignty, legal advocacy extends to the national level. Sections of VAWA and other national domestic violence legislation that address the special circumstances and needs of Native women are the result of decades of advocacy by Native women. They are advocates in their homelands who also work with national Native and anti-domestic violence organizations to change federal policy in addition to tribal and state policies.

Societal Change through a Coordinated Community Response

A coordinated community response to end violence against women encompasses a broad range of initiatives, based upon system and societal change. Advocates usually provide leadership, strategies, and vision for this effort—a vision of safety for women. Other players are people within law enforcement, the criminal justice system, and men’s programs who have authority to establish policy, procedure, and protocol. Of all the players, advocates are the only ones able to maintain biased support of women who are battered.

The goal of a coordinated community response (CCR) is safety for women and accountability for offenders. This is accomplished by education, dialogue, policy, and legislation. A major objective of a CCR is accountability of law enforcement, the criminal justice system, men’s programs, and shelter/advocacy programs. Leadership of advocates and women who have been battered is key to that objective. It is inappropriate and revictimizing to use CCR meetings for “staffing” of women, discussion of women’s behavior, or as a mental health or social services task force. A CCR may involve other programs such as child protection, social services, medical personnel, and housing agencies. However, battering must be clearly acknowledged as a violent crime, and the CCR as a criminal justice initiative.

Conclusion

This chapter has attempted to provide the highlights and key issues of legal advocacy. Given the limitations of space and the endless legal matters women who are battered face, legal advocates must be prepared to face (and hopefully learn to enjoy) the challenge. They must also trust their instincts, think critically, be creative, continuously ask questions, and learn. The lives of women and their children often depend on the commitment of advocates. So, for advocates, women who are battered, and their allies, this quote is offered to maintain context of the struggle and for inspiration:

The development of this work is founded in the creation of a social movement for change. Implementing this initiative in Indian Country is different than for the rest of the country because we, as Indian people, have access to our traditions and customs. Our task is to unravel all the imported attitudes from the fabric of our tribal societies and emerge as the dream we were to our ancestors seven generations ago.

—Terri L. Henry, member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee
⁵

Note

1. Marilou Awiakta, “Amazons in Appalachia” in
   A Gathering of Spirit: Writing and Art by North American Indian Women,
   ed. Beth Brant (Montpelier, VT: Sinister Wisdom Books, 1982) p. 125.
   
2. See
   www.airpi.org/projects/tribsov.html
   .
   
3. Biderman’s “Chart of Coercion,” in Amnesty International’s
   Report on Torture
   (London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., 1975): 53.
   
4. “From the Roots Up: An Overview of Shelter and Advocacy Program Development Supporting Women’s Sovereignty,” Sacred Circle, National Resource Center to End Violence Against Native Women.
   
5. Unpublished. On file with author.
   

Questions

1. Describe the tactics used by colonizers to destroy Native culture. What forced beliefs or systems contributed to violence against Native women?
   
2. Compare and contrast tribal sovereignty to Native women’s sovereignty. What place does a land base hold in each? What is the significance of land and women’s bodies in the struggle for respect for Native women?
   
3. How do advocates empower the women they work with instead of telling them what to do? Describe the ideal relationship between advocate and the individual woman.
   
4. Describe the similarities and differences between the medical/social work approach with the grassroots/social change approach in advocating on behalf of women. How can people in these different fields work together to assist survivors? Which model do you think works better for tribal communities? Why?
   
5. How does confidentiality conflict with evidence collection in courts? Why is it important for tribes to have laws concerning privileged communication to help in the protection of women?
   
6. How can specializations within the field of advocacy work against the advocates serving women?
   
7. What are some causes of the negativity seen in tribal courts?
   

In Your Community

1. What difficulties and challenges does your tribal court face? How does this interfere with your advocate’s job to protect women who are battered or assaulted? What improvements can be made to protect the safety of women within your community?
   
2. How does your community overcome nepotism or the protection of perpetrators who are family members? What ideas do you have to combat this problem?
   
3. How does individual sovereignty conflict with tribal sovereignty in your community surrounding violence against women? Do you think there is a distinction between the two?
   

Terms Used in Chapter 12

Ambiguity
: A situation or expression that can be understood in more than one way, and the meaning may be unclear.

Biased
: Unable or unwilling to form an objective opinion about something.

Futility:
Lack of usefulness or effectiveness.

Genocide
: The systematic killing or attempted killing of all people from a national, ethnic, or religious group.

Oppression
: The act of subjecting a person or a people to a harsh or cruel form of domination.

Proactive
: Taking the initiative by acting rather than reacting to events.

Subpoena
: A written legal order summoning a witness or requiring evidence to be submitted to a court.

the house of comfort

the blonde with the dark roots says
call it the ‘house of comfort’ instead
of the battered women’s shelter
the ex-crack head with pierced tongue says
call it the ‘house of inspiration’ instead
of a group home for abused women
the hispanic says
‘mi casa, su casa’
& though it is not my house
it is my home for awhile
though i can’t find the broom
or toilet paper
it is my haven for awhile
& where so many bottles &
packages have names & initials
of women who are no longer here
leave a legacy of possibilities

the ‘tracy’ on a peanut butter jar
the ‘m. j.’ on a coffee creamer
the ‘don’t eat’ on susan’s soups
petroglyphic histories etched on
food stamp purchased goods
& they are gone

gone on to what?
back to homes that weren’t refuges?
back to addresses where they were assaulted?
or gone to unknown futures
spare rooms at friend’s trailers
subsidized apartments in
noisy neighborhoods
struggling
struggling with freedom
struggling with choices
given by the ‘house of comfort’.

Nila NorthSun (Shoshone/Chippewa)

Chapter 13

Overview of Sexual Violence Perpetrated by Purported Indian Medicine Men

BONNIE CLAIRMONT

T
he elders have told us, “The wisdom and vision you are seeking is within you.” Despite this advice, Indian people have sought help, wisdom, renewed health, and guidance through spiritual journeys with tribal spiritual leaders and medicine men. Within Native communities, there are those who appear to be gifted at helping people through their spiritual journeys. They are the “chosen ones,” the spiritual guides chosen by the Great Spirit to help their people. These “chosen ones” live a life of personal self-sacrifice while attending to the spiritual needs of their people, often living a life of modest means and humility. Unfortunately, there are others who are misusing their positions of power along with growing accounts of “self-proclaimed/instant spiritual leaders” and “false/ plastic medicine men” in Indian Country. These individuals are misrepresenting themselves and misusing and abusing the power they have been given for their own benefit.

If anything is sacred to Indian people, it is our spirituality. Indian people did not traditionally regard their spiritual beliefs and practices as a “religion,” practiced once a week, as some Christians do. Old-time spiritual people/elders referred to spirituality as “a way of life.” The term “religion” does not accurately describe spirituality as practiced by Indian people because it doesn’t accurately describe the deeper search for meaning and the belief in the interconnectedness and relationship between all living things. Indian people recognized the importance of respecting all living things as being part of the circle of life. We accepted the circle of life as an interdependent and
egalitarian
system. It is for this reason that violence, particularly violence against women, was once virtually nonexistent. Indian people believed that causing harm to any part of this circle would cause harm to oneself; thus we upheld the sanctity and sovereignty of the women.