International Women’s Day and First women

By JULIANNE JENNINGS
Special to the Times-Union

In the early 20th century, Clara Zetkin (leader of the “Women’s Office” for the Social Democratic Party in Germany), proposed that every year in every country, there should be a celebration on the same day — a Women’s Day — to press for their demands.

Women from around the world, representing unions, socialist parties, working women’s clubs and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, rallied to the cause, and International Women’s Day, now celebrated each March 8, was the result.

This year on International Women’s Day , I would like to recognize First women, who are so rarely mentioned in popular media and continue to struggle for equal rights, equal opportunities and freedom from sexual violence.

Many ethnographic accounts from the 17th and 18th centuries reveal that American Indian social structures were matriarchal: Children belonged to the mother’s clan, and women spoke at council meetings and had the right to vote well before their European counterparts. Indian societies empowered women and revered them for their life-giving force.

Today, the story is much different. According to Justice Department statistics, American Indian or Alaska Native women suffer sexual violence at disproportionately high levels — 2.5 times higher than for non-Native women in the United States. There is also evidence that indigenous women are more likely than other women to be brutalized by their attackers.

In order to end sexual violence against indigenous women, we must understand why it exists in Indian Country as well as off reservations today, and assess our current challenges in addressing the issue.

HISTORY OF THE ABUSE

Sexual assault on indigenous women by non-Indian men can be traced to the colonial period. Throughout the 1600s, Indian lands were confiscated all across Turtle Island (the North American continent). The rape of indigenous women often converged with acts of war on Indian nations. At the cessation of war, indigenous women remained victims of sexual violence, including during the Long Walk and Trail of Tears.

Four centuries later, not much has changed. According to statistics by the U.S. Department of Justice, 86 percent of reported sexual assaults against American Indian and Alaska Native women are committed by non-Indian men.

Meanwhile, when sexual assaults are reported, federal law enforcement agents often fail to bring non-Indian offenders to justice. In addition, the under-funding of tribal law enforcement prevents adequate criminal investigations. Federal funding for registered American Indians is distributed among 562 tribal governments across the country. The under-financing of police staff and tribal courts leads to gaps in law enforcement.

Indian Health Service facilities are also critically under-funded. Because of the lack of trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners at Indian Health Service facilities who can provide forensic exams and gather essential evidence, victims often fail to receive adequate and timely exams or, worse, receive no exams at all. Without forensic evidence, victims may never see their case prosecuted.

Stereotypes don’t help. Images such as the Land O’ Lakes maiden — a kneeling, subservient, butter-offering “squaw” — are offensive to the historically aware, and deny the heritage of active American Indian womanhood. The word “squaw” is an eastern Algonquian word meaning “woman” that appears in many Algonquian dialects. Over time, however, it has taken on negative connotations and become a derogatory, sexualized term.

TAKING ACTION

What is being done? Amnesty International issued a report in 2007 titled “Maze of Injustice: The failure to protect indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA,” contending that the federal government had a legal responsibility to ensure protection of the rights and well-being of American Indian and Alaska Native people.

Women in Indian Country are now being heard in the Senate. Recently, landmark legislation was introduced: The Tribal Law and Order Act of 2008, which addresses the jurisdictional problems faced by tribal authorities.

However, “[W]e now need Congress to follow through and ensure that this legislation is strengthened and passed,” according to Renata Rendon, advocacy director for Amnesty International. “Lawmakers must strive to increase support for this act, improve its content through meaningful dialogue with Native leaders and advocates, and ensure its impact is actually felt.”

You can help: Donate to tribal and Indian community organizations to develop outreach programs that are culturally appropriate from within Indian communities.

Julianne Jennings is a Nottoway Cheroenhaka and adjunct professor at Eastern Connecticut State University.