NOTICES
Safety forTribal Survivors of Domestic or Sexual Violence
by Linda Gast, Attorney at Law, Siletz Tribal Spokesperson
Legal Aid Services of Oregon, Lincoln County Office
Nowadays, more information is
available about domestic and sexual
violence and stalking than there used
to be. But even with all we have
learned about domestic and family vio
lence, recent statistics from a 10-year
profile by the U.S. Department of Jus
tice are alarming:
•
•
•
American Indians experience more
than twice the rate of violence as
other Americans.
61.4 percent of all American Indian
and Alaska Native women will be
physically assaulted in their lifetime.
34.1 percent of American Indian/
Alaska Native women will be raped
during their lifetime; they have a
higher rate of rape and sexual as
sault than any other group. In nine
out of 10 cases, the attacker was white
or black - not an American Indian. 1
In 1999, Tribal Council passed the
Domestic and Family Violence Ordi
nance. It reflects that “the strength of
the tribe is founded on healthy fami
lies,” and that its purpose is “to recog
nize domestic and family violence is a
serious crime against society, the tribe,
and the family, and to provide the vic
tim of domestic or family violence the
maximum protection from further vio
lence which the law, and those who
enforce the law, can provide.” 2
The ordinance allows Tribal Court
to issue orders to protect domestic and
family violence and stalking victims. It's
on the tribe's Web site. State law also
offers protection orders and tribal mem
bers often are able to get both state and
tribal orders.
The Lincoln County office of Le
gal Aid Services has a grant from the
federal government to help rural tribal
members who encounter domestic vio
lence, sexual assault, and/or stalking.
That help can reach not only to civil
orders of protection under tribal or state
law, but also to work on other legal
Trudell to Premiere on PBS
Filmmaker Heather Rae has spent
more than a decade chronicling the life
of American Indian activist and poet
John Trudell and his travels, spoken
word, and politics in a poetic and natu
rally stylized manner. The broadcast
premiere of Trudell is set for April 11
at 10:30 p.m. on PBS.
The biography combines archival,
concert, and interview footage with
abstract imagery mirroring the coyote
nature of Trudell himself. It reveals the
philosophy and motivations behind his
work and his relationship to contem
porary Indian history.
Incorporating years of work, 16mm
and Super 8 film, video, and archival
footage, Trudell begins in the late 60s
when Trudell and a community group,
Indians of All Tribes, occupied Alcatraz
Island for 21 months, creating interna
tional recognition of the American In
dian cause and birthing the contempo
rary Indian people’s movement.
The film goes to Alcatraz, return
ing to what Trudell refers to as his
“birth.” From Alcatraz we follow his
political journey as the national spokes
man of the American Indian Movement
(AIM). This work made him one of
the most highly volatile political
“subversives” of the 1970s with one
of the longest FBI files in history (more
than 17,000 pages).
In 1979, while protesting the U.S.
government’s policy on American In
dians, Trudell burned an American flag
on the steps of FBI headquarters in
Washington, D.C. Within hours, his preg
nant wife, three children, and mother-
in-law were killed in a suspicious
arson fire on a Nevada reservation.
This ended Trudell’s involvement
in organizational politics. He spent the
next four years driving America in a
car given to him by friend and fellow
activist Jackson Browne.
It was during this period that
Trudell’s voice as a poet began to sur
face. His gift as an orator carried him
through his pain and he found a new way
to represent his manifesto and cause.
In 1983, he began to put his words
to music with the help of a Kiowa gui
tar legend, the late Jesse Ed Davis, and
Browne. Even his early recordings re
flect an articulate sensibility and elo
quence about the state of the world.
Trudell does not adhere to a dogma
or school of thought but has created
his own diatribe based in experience,
having lived through and taken part in
some of the most turbulent American
political events of the past century. In
an interview with Native actor Gary
Farmer (Dead Man), he referred to
Trudell as “the Native people’s prophet
of these times, our Socrates.”
Trudell’s musical and film career
have led him to work with the likes of
Robert Redford (Incident at Oglala),
Sam Shepard and Vai Kilmer (Thunder
heart), Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie
Raitt, Browne, Amy Ray. and more re
cently Angelina Jolie, who produced
his current album, Bone Days.
The film combines interviews with
his allies from the entertainment com
munity, the “movement” days, his
friends and family with archival foot
age, concert footage from all over the
world, and abstract imagery. Trudell is a
film that steps outside of traditional forms,
even for Native films, and explores a
figure of our contemporary history in
a way that fairly represents the evoca
tive nature of his work and significance.
For more information, visit www.
trudellthemovie.com. and www.
pbs.org/independentlens/trudell.
issues that will help with the safety of
the tribal member family, like problems
with custody or visitation, housing,
TANF, or child support.
The support of the Confederated
Tribes of Siletz Indians was crucial in
obtaining this grant, which covers other
rural counties within the tribe’s service
area: Linn. Benton, Yamhill. Tillamook,
Washington, and Clackamas counties,
along with Lincoln County.
Your contact with Legal Aid is con
fidential. You can call Legal Aid just to
get more information. Any decision on
what to do next is always a decision
made by the client, not the lawyer.
Sometimes survivors of domestic
violence or stalking are at a point where
they want to get an order of protection;
other times they might just want to
know more about their options in or
der to plan better.
Another resource at this stage is My
Sisters’ Place at 541-574-9424. They
can talk with survivors about safety
plans and ideas, emergency cell
phones, and shelter if needed.
You can reach Legal Aid Services
at 541-265-5305 or 1-800-222-3884.
Information on domestic violence and
stalking is available on the Legal Aid
Web site, oregonlawhelp.org, and at the
Lincoln County office at 304 SW Coast
Highway in Newport.
A kiosk with written information
from Legal Aid also is located by Tribal
Court offices in the tribal administra
tive building in Siletz.
Call Legal Aid Services anytime,
including evenings and weekends, and
leave a message about the best time
and place to safely reach you.
1 American Indians and Crime 1992-
2002; US Department of Justice, Bureau of
Justice Statistics; December 2004, NCJ
203097
2 Domestic and Family Violence Ordi
nance, 12.500; Confederated Tribes of the
Siletz Indians
NAJA Offers Opportunities to
Native Students
The Native American Journalists
Association has several annual oppor
tunities for students to gain additional
experience in their chosen journalism
field. A few are listed below; please
visit www.naja.com for others.
paper published in North America in
1828, The Cherokee Phoenix.
To download an application, go to
www.naja.com/programs/students/
project-phoenix.
Deadline to apply is May 1.
Get Seen, Get Heard,
Get Published!
New Web Site Info
NAJA is accepting applications for
the 2006 Student Projects, a weeklong
workshop for American Indian students
majoring in print, radio, television, or
online journalism.
More than 35 Native students from
around the country will be accepted
for the workshop scheduled Aug. 7-12
in Tulsa, Okla. NAJA provides a small
stipend for the week plus hotel and
travel expenses.
For more information or to down
load an application, e-mail us at
info@naja.com, call us at 605-677-5282,
or go to www.naja.com/programs/
students/student_projects.
Deadline for applications is May 1.
Project Phoenix
Journalism Camp
NAJA is accepting applications for
Project Phoenix, a weeklong journal
ism camp that introduces the exciting
field of journalism to American Indian
high school students.
Selected from a pool of applicants,
15 students learn the basics of journal
ism skills by working with Native and
non-Native media professionals in pro
ducing one issue of a newspaper called
Rising Voices. The project is named
after the first American Indian news
NAJA has upgraded its Web site to
include fellowships, internships, and
scholarships from other organizations
and institutions.
To view the new site, look for Fel-
lowships/Internships under the Re
sources category on the home page's
menu bar or go to www.naja.com/
resources/fe Howships.
Honor a Teacher
The U.S. Department of Education
again plans to honor outstanding class
room teachers through the American
Stars of Teaching program.
Its Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative is
seeking nominations for teachers who are
improving student achievement, using
innovative strategies in the classroom,
and making a difference in their students’
lives. Teachers across all grade levels
and disciplines will be honored this fall
as 2006 American Stars of Teaching.
Parents, students, colleagues,
school administrators, and others can
nominate teachers. One teacher will be
recognized from each state.
To learn more or to nominate, visit
www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initia-
tive/index.html. All nominations must
be completed by April 15.
April 2006
•
Siletz News
•
13