Smoke Signals 13
JULY 1,2013
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Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Tami Martin, left, a family nurse practitionar at tha Grand Ronda HaaKh &
Wellness Center, talks with Loratta Rilay, woman's wellness program patient care
coordinator for Native American Rehabilitation Association of tha Northwest
Inc, during "Renewing Spirits," a Native American Women Against Assault
Sexual Assault luncheon at tha Elders' Activity Center on Monday, June 1 7.
Services available for victims
of domestic violence include:
Grand Ronde Native American Women Against Sexual and Do
mestic Violence, Grand Ronde, 503-930-8799
Henderson House, McMinnville, 503-472-1503
Sable House, Dallas, 503-623-6703
Willamette Valley Crisis Center, Salem, 24-hour hotline: 503-399-7722;
or toll-free in Oregon, 866 399-7722
Services available for perpetrators or would-be perpetrators
of domestic violence include:
Focus Circle, with Tribal consultant Priscilla Marlowe, 503-930-8799;
focuscircle.pmgmail.com.
'Renewing Spirits' takes
on domestic and sexual
violence in Grand Ronde
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
At the "Renewing Spirits" meet
ing held at the Elders' Activity Cen
ter on Monday, June 17, a sticker
sitting on one of the vendor tables
read, "Sexual violence is NOT our
tradition."
Outside, a line of T-shirts hung
from string and featured hand
made ideas for fighting domestic
and sexual abuse in Grand Ronde.
Tribal staff members who are
trauma survivors, their friends and
family members printed the advice
on the T-shirts. One said: "SPEAK
UP! About battery against women
... if you don't, we can't help."
Another concluded: "So we can
see ourselves for who we are: com
plicity The three-hour session, led by
attorney Rose M. Quilt (Yakama
Lummi), program specialist for the
Montana-based National Indig
enous Women's Resource Center,
pointed to solutions.
"It takes a village," she said.
"Ending violence against women
is integrally tied to reclaiming our
traditional, natural lifeways."
Throughout the session, heart
wrenching statistics about the
prevalence of domestic and sexual
violence against women, from the
federal Department of Justice, Of
fice on Violence Against Women,
were presented.
Native American women are
2.5 times more likely to be sexu
ally assaulted than the national
average; 60 percent of assaults
are not reported; 80 percent are
committed by non-Native men; 15
of 16 perpetrators never spend a
day in jail.
"These are statistics that hurt
our hearts," said Rhonda Fabreth,
director of Henderson House in
McMinnville. Henderson House
provides help for victims of domes
tic and sexual violence, and Fab
reth said that the nonprofit would
like to "get groups going in Grand
Ronde."
A couple days after the session,
the World Health Organization
reported that worldwide 30 per
cent of women suffer domestic
andor sexual violence in their
lifetimes.
The network fighting domestic
and sexual violence says that these
are among the most under-reported
crimes, and in Grand Ronde, the ex
tent of the underreporting appears
to bear that out.
In 2012, according to Tribal Po
lice Chief Al LaChance, the Grand
Ronde Police Department received
three calls for domestic and sexual
violence, and made three arrests.
In McMinnville, at Henderson
House, where they work with vic
tims of domestic violence, Native
American "crisis calls" also num
bered three and face-to-face meet
ings with victims also numbered
three.
"Underreporting is always an
issue for many reasons, which
can vary," said Quilt. Reasons
may include fear of retaliation
from the perpetrator andor the
perpetrator's family, fear that
law enforcement will do nothing
and fear of further harm. Unfor
tunately, leaving the relationship
does not stop the violence. In
fact, the most dangerous time for
a victim of domestic violence is
when she takes steps to leave the
relationship.
"The ones that go unreported are
the ones that we cannot do anything
about," said LaChance. "Some start
out with simple assault, and that's
often enough to keep someone from
making that 911 call.
"Educating people is the hardest
part," he added. There's so much
stigma that people don't want to
call. They're trapped.
"There is so much shame with it,"
said Henderson House's Fabreth.
Instead of using domestic violence
in describing the agency's mission,
they try to avoid the connection
with shame and use another de
scription: healthy relationships.
"It's not always women who are
victims," LaChance added. "There
are women assaulting men, and
that's even less reported."
The lunch session hosted some
50 in the Elders' Activity Center,
along with some 25 from Youth
Education, who stayed for part of
the session.
"This is our first step," said Tribal
Medical Assistant Jamie Adams,
who is also head of Grand Ronde
Native American Women Against
Sexual and Domestic Violence.
"We're hoping to bring more aware
ness into the community. We're
hoping this will be the start of a
network for support at the Tribe.
We just want it to bear fruit."
In February, the group sponsored
a sexual assault training.
"The bottom line," she said, "is
that no woman should need to leave
her home and have no safe house
to go to."
"It starts with us," said Tribal
Elder Laura Gleason.
"Indigenous peoples in the USA
face deeply entrenched marginal
ization - the result of a long history
of systemic and pervasive abuse
and persecution," says Amnesty
International. "Sexual violence
against Indigenous women today
is informed and conditioned by this
legacy of widespread and egregious
human rights abuses."
"We've lived through a holocaust
that started in 1492," said Quilt.
"Intergenerational trauma is part
of our history. It's important to look
where we've come from to see where
we are going."
That place, she said, is one where
"children grow up without violence
in their lives."
"The answer, though, is within
ourselves," Quilt said.
Traditionally, Native women
were very respected. That respect
has eroded over generations of in
stitutional and personal abuse.
"Women have always been the
backbone of the Tribe," said Tribal
Elder and longtime Tribal Council
Chair Kathryn Harrison.
Children exposed to domestic
violence may experience eating
and sleeping disorders and mood
disorders, Quilt said. They can be
over-compliant or aggressive or de
tached. They also may have school
problems and suicide ideation.
The movement toward justice
requires that the truth of women's
and children's lives needs to be told;
that harm be repaired to the great
est extent possible; and that condi
tions that gave rise to the violence
be removed or eradicated.
It also requires an end to victim
blaming and a beginning to coordi
nated community responses.
"We have to teach our sons to
have respect for women," said
Tribal Elder Betty Bly. "Why do
we as women always have to be
afraid?"
It is "huge," Quilt said, that
Tribes now have jurisdiction over
non-Native perpetrators on Tribal
lands. "It is an affirmation that
Tribes have the inherent right to
protect their people, including the
safety for Native women in their
Tribal communities," she said.
"I want to make a difference for
future generations," said Adams.
"We owe them. It's time to make a
change." H
Request for Bids
Landscaping Maintenance Services
Chemawa Station LLC (CSLLC)
maintains a 15-acre commercial prop
erty on the SW Quadrant of 1-5 and
Chemawa Interchange in Keizer.
CSLLC is seeking proposals for Land
scaping Maintenance Services at its
Chemawa Station Property in Keizer,
Ore. RFB documents may be requested
via e-mail request to mphillipsstb
corp.net. Bids are due by 5 p.m. Aug.
1, 2013, and may be submitted to Michael Phillips, Siletz Tribal
Business Corporation, 2120 N.W. 44th St., Suite D, Lincoln City,
OR 97367. Electronic copies also will be accepted if sent via e-mail to
mphillipsstbcorp.net. Respondents are solely responsible to confirm
receipt of electronic submissions. D