News

The Daily Kos ran a story today about the impending closure of the Pretty Bird Woman’s House. Daily Kos readers have rallied to Chipin money to help save the shelter. Let’s see if we can send them some support from Chipin!

According to a recent Amnesty International report,more than one in three American Indian and Alaska Native women will beraped or sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Far too often,perpetrators of these crimes go unpunished, and victims have nowhere toturn due to poverty, remote geography and tangled legal jurisdictions.

Inthis dire situation, local domestic violence advocates and women’sshelters can make all the difference in saving women from suchviolence; however these resources are chronically under funded. One ofthese shelters, Zintkala Waste Win Oti (“Pretty Bird Woman House”), hasrun out of funding and will be forced to close in May if new resourcescan’t be found.

The shelter was founded by Jackie Brown Otterafter the kidnapping, rape and murder of her sister (whose Lakota namewas Pretty Bird Woman) and serves the Standing Rock Indian Reservation,on the border of North and South Dakota. The reservation covers over2.3 million acres, and with a per capita income of only $8,615, it’sone of the most destitute regions in the United States. From January2005 to August 2006, 125 domestic violence cases were filed with theStanding Rock Sioux Tribal Court—15 cases per month. Pretty Bird WomanHouse was involved with most of those cases, and without that program’shelp, many cases would have been ignored or withdrawn. If Pretty BirdWoman House does not receive continued funding, it is a foregoneconclusion that the women and children who would have been served bythe program will have to struggle along on their own. Domestic violenceon the Standing Rock Reservation will not be addressed and families,who constitute the spirit of the Reservation, will be weakened anddisenfranchised once again.

With adequate resources, the shelterwould like to fund a director for the program, two advocates, and achildren’s advocate, food and supplies for the shelter, andtransportation for families who need to go places to find relatedservices or to relocate completely in order to escape the violence intheir lives. However, in the short-term, without a small amount offunding, the shelter will not be able to keep their phone lines openthrough May.

You help can make all the difference in keepingLittle Bird Woman House open. Your help can contribute to stopping theepidemic of violence against American Indian women.

If you would prefer to donate directly (rather than through paypal), checks can be sent to:
Pretty Bird Woman House
P.O. Box 596
McLaughlin SD 57642

This entry was posted on Friday, April 27th, 2007 at 5:56 pm and is filed under ChipBlog.