Thriving Women's Initiative

THRIVING WOMEN A

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THRIVING WOMEN

I N D E X ABALONE WOMEN | 2 Lyn Risling INTRODUCTION | 4 WE WERE STOLEN | 8 Tanaya Winder RESTORING OUR MATRIARCHAL BALANCE | 9 Lisa Brunner SACREDNESS OF WOMANHOOD | 11 Tami Truett Jerue (Author) and Michelle Demmert (Editor) ACHIEVING HEALTHY INDIGENOUS MASCULINITIES | 12 Dr. Michael Yellow Bird MOTHERHOOD IS SACRED | 13 Albert M. Pooley MISSING: MORE THAN A WORD | 14 Tanaya Winder CHANGING WOMAN | 15 Tupac Enrique Acosta THE 3 R'S IN REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND BIRTH JUSTICE WORK | 16 Nicolle L. Gonzales INDIGENOUS WOMEN: ASSERTING OUR HUMAN RIGHTS & GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY | 18 Peggy Bird, PhD WINDS OF LOVE: HEALING IS POSSIBLE | 20 Elsie Boudreau FOR GIRLS AND WOMEN ON FIRE | 22 Tanaya Winder AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES | 24 ABOUT SEVENTH GENERATION FUND | 27 ABOUT THRIVING WOMEN | 29 THANK YOU | 31

Abal o ne Wom a n

by L yn Ris l i n g (K aru k/Yuro k/H up a)

The story of Abalone Woman and Dentalium Man is a story that’s told mainly by the Wiyot and the Yurok Peoples of Northern California. Yurok territory is located along the lower Klamath River. The Mad River and Eel River run through the Wiyot homelands. The story takes place on the coast of the Yurok and Wiyot lands. The story that follows is an adaption of the Wiyot story.

The dentalium is a very special shell that our tribes used traditionally as our main currency for many different things. It is still worn as necklaces in our ceremonies and also displayed on our regalia used in our ceremonies. Abalone is another shell that’s used on much of our regalia for ceremonies and is important to our cultures.

A young woman lived in Wiyot territory on the coast, and every day she would go out to the beach and she would look north up in the sky and see a brilliant white light. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It attracted her so deeply that she thought there must be a man, a beautiful man that lived way up north, who was projecting this beautiful, bright, shiny light. She would see this everyday, and so she fell in love with this man that she had never really seen in person who she was convinced lived north of her.

And so she finally thought, “I’m just going to go up there and I’m going to become this man’s wife.” So she packed up her pack basket with her cooking utensils and things that she would need to be a young wife, and she started traveling north. At a village up north along the coast, this young man, sure enough, he lived there: Dentalium Man. When he looked to the south and looked up in the sky, he saw these beautiful brilliant iridescent colors of light. And he knew in his heart that a beautiful woman lived south, and he would go out there every day and look up in the sky and see the beautiful colors. He fell in love with this woman that he had never seen in person, and he hoped that one day she would come.

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And so finally, the young woman did arrive. She came with her pack basket, with her things that she had gathered up, and out to greet her were the young man’s mother and father, and they welcomed her with open arms. They knew of their son’s love that he talked about every day, and they knew it must be her that had arrived, so they invited her into their home.

And there she stayed, and she would help his mother cook and prepare acorns every day and do all the things that a young woman was expected to do, but the young man would not look at her; he would ignore her. This went on for a while, and every day he would go out and look up into the sky, hoping to see the beautiful shiny colors, but they were not there anymore. But still he was not convinced that this young woman that had arrived was his beautiful Abalone Woman that he had fallen in love with.

Finally, one evening the young woman went to the sweathouse where the young man was, and she had decided that she would plead one more time to him to convince him that she was the young woman that he had fallen in love with. But he would not believe her, and so she finally said, “Okay, then I must go.”

So the next morning, she started out early, walking along the beach, heading back towards her home.

When the young man realized that she had left, he finally thought, “Well, maybe she really is the woman I fell in love with.” So he started going after her, and when she saw him she started running. She kept running, trying to out run him, but he got closer and closer. He had brought with him a flint knife. As he finally caught up to her, and in his anger over her leaving him, he started to beat her on her back with the flint knife, and she began to bleed.

And at that moment, she started going towards the ocean, towards the water. Tears began falling down her cheeks. As the tears touched the water, the water began to turn all these beautiful colors, and all these shells appeared. Then the young woman herself, transformed. She transformed into the abalone, and so she became our beautiful abalone shell that we use today in our regalia and ceremonies.

There are a lot of lessons in this story. One of the things is that if you were to look at an abalone shell in the raw, like when you first get an abalone shell, oftentimes it’ll have a lot of red on the outside of the shell, and that represents the blood of abalone that was on her back when she was abused by this man. Inside the shell are all these beautiful iridescent colors, and that’s where her beauty lies, on the inside, and that’s how we see our women.

Oftentimes, people—mostly men—look at the outside beauty of women more than what’s on the inside, and that’s one of the lessons.The inside is where our real beauty lies, and so that’s one of the lessons of this story. And now we have issues of historical trauma and the things that happened to our people—and not just our tribes, but many tribes across the country—the genocide, its impact, and the disruption of culture and how that has affected our people today. It affected how we socialize, how we communicate, how we treat each other. And the boarding schools took away children from our families: children grew up not having the family social skills or interactions in being—or knowing how to be—spouses and parents, how to be loving, affectionate and respectful. People experienced violence and abuse in the boarding schools, and that impacted their relationships with their families.

And also, in our communities, when somebody did something wrong to someone else or to their family, in our traditions we used things like abalone and dentalium shells as a means of payment for these transgressions against other people. There was a mediator that would go between families to negotiate what payment should be given for this abuse or whatever happened in that family, and then once the payment was made, sometimes there was even a particular ceremony that we call the War Dance that was done to help resolve and take care of the problems.

Once the payment was agreed upon by both families and made, then the issue was gone. You no longer dwelled on it. It was done; it was finished. It was like a clean slate, and so you were able to move on and heal from it. Once those systems broke down, we didn’t have that means of resolving some of those issues in the way we had, and some of them continue on, and some of the grudges continue on through families, through generations. And so there was a lot of breakdown of values, disruption, and loss of culture.

And of course we feel the loss of language and values that are part of that language, and the knowledge —the traditional knowledge— that comes with the language, that holds the values, that teaches the values. There has been a lot of different people that have made efforts to bring back these stories because we realize the value of these stories to our communities today. They still have lessons that hold true to our people today, and so I think it’s real valuable to reintroduce these stories in different ways into our community.

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I N T R O D U C T I O N The Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples was born in 1977 from thousands of Indigenous Peoples’ dreams put into action to reclaim our identities, our languages, and our cultures, to further actualize our self-determination. Our organization has become a movement leader and a catalyst for social transformation through identifying and directing much needed resources to leading edge organizing strategies that honor traditions, revitalize cultures, build leaders, sustain communities, and create positive change.

Our organization believes that the Earth is our common mother, with a right unto herself, to be free from exploitation, pollution, ecological violence and other assaults, which preclude or impede the Earth’s ability to nurture and sustain life. We operate knowing that we as Indigenous Peoples have a very direct, intimate and interconnected relationship with the Earth and Natural World. From this perspective, we see that what occurs in the land echoes in the bodies of Native women and children. Environmental exploitation and devastation directly correspond with the dehumanization and destruction of Indigenous Peoples’ minds, spirits and bodies.

Seventh Generation Fund’s

Thriving Women is a major highlight to our programming. It is mindfully

designed with direct input from feminine Native leaders and community healing experts to support community-generated and centered responses to gender based violence, build resilience, and strengthen culturally relevant strategies for healing, empowerment, and individual and collective well being of families, communities and nations. Through Thriving Women, we infuse funding and organizational capacity building directly to community-created and based projects in a way that positively impacts lives, cultures and communities.

Thriving Women centralizes Native women-led work that nurtures life and recognizes how Native women’s holistic health is connected with the vitality of Mother Earth. The program pathway is also focused on breaking down settler colonial gender oppression by supporting responses to the pandemic of violence against Native women and girls. This includes strategies that help prevent, respond to, remedy, and heal from violence against Native women and families to revitalize lives, cultures, communities and nations. Thriving Women does not solely focus on reproductive health; rather, it is driven by an all-encompassing strategy that directs goodness, healing, and ceremony to every aspect of positive and healthy Indigenous feminine existence.

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This work especially recognizes that Indigenous women are the hearts and backbones of our communities and nations, and also, that they are the most exploited, targeted, violated, and invisibilized nationally and globally. We recognize violence against Indigenous women as a worldwide epidemic and an extension of ongoing imperialism, settler colonialism and the associated trauma and exploitation taking place in the Natural World that are terracide, aquacide, genocide and femicide.

The enormous epidemic of human trafficking of Indigenous Peoples throughout the world is a continuation of colonial-era slavery and indentured servitude practices that forever changed the dynamics of earth systems. Not only were people taken from their homelands, but the Earth lost her stewards, and the seasons and nonhuman life were drastically affected by a mismanagement of the ecosystems and dormancy of Earth-based ceremony.

Amidst human trafficking exists the modern day mancamps -- quickly built encampments of primarily, if not solely, non-Native men who are working in extractive industries -- that mirror the historical camps associated with gold, silver, and other extractive industries of the initial colonial era. Today, uranium, fossil fuels, copper, and other resources that power our capitalist societies bring tens of thousands of workers to the built workers’ campsites -- most of which affect reservations and other rural communities of color. With these mancamps come the vices that have followed frontier settlement since the beginning: gambling, drugs and alcohol, forced prostitution, kidnapping children, and more.

Current day trafficking of Indigenous women and children throughout mancamps is as frequent as it was on the western frontier, although there is no way to properly account for exact statistics at either times in history. Slavery, indentured servitude, murders, disappearances and kidnapping are all far too common in modern times. Women and children are being forcibly sold and held against their will for sexual exploitation, just as their ancestors were. Some are taken against their will, and some end up in a cycle of trafficking and exploitation that began with a strategy for survival to feed themselves, their families, or to feed addictions. These atrocities are occurring in an environment of settler patriarchy, generally by non-Native men, that is empowered by socially acceptable destruction and exploitation of the Natural World. Much of the work of Thriving Women seeks to reclaim a world without violence against Earth and Her First Peoples, especially women and girls.

For many feminine Indigenous Peoples, the active hegemonic systems of contemporary power and privilege encourage and fuel self doubt, stigma, and a lack of pride within that stems from the genocidal and control-focused policies of initial conquering projects and settlement. Traditional

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wellbeing practices were criminalized, medicinals were exploited, coming of age ceremonies were lost, and more. As a response, Thriving Women actively resists such colonial hegemonic systems by focusing on Native women-led, community-generated projects that nurture and revitalize traditional knowledge systems around reproductive, sexual, and family health. This includes projects engaged in traditional birthing and midwifery practices; restoring traditional herbal medicines; cultural food systems; revitalizing intergenerational wisdom exchange and learning; coming of age ceremonies; and Native women generated approaches to empowerment, healing and traditional practices.

Contemporary mainstream society attempts to dictate what is valuable as medicine and religion and what is still in many facets unwanted, ungodly or criminal that our Indigenous communities practice. These oppositions are exacerbated by inaccessible or inappropriate services, settler colonial gender and cultural norms, and an ever present threat of violence. Further compounding these inequalities are the numerous offenses committed against Mother Earth and non-human life, which are intrinsically linked to feminine Indigenous minds, bodies and spirits. Efforts are being made across Indigenous nations to reawaken and revitalize ceremonies that center on feminine and the transitions to womanhood. To defy these deeply held systems of power and privilege is a necessity of survival and a component of resilience.

The multi-faceted strategy of Thriving Women is grounded in building and affirming the identity and inherent strengths of feminine Indigenous Peoples. We know that Native Peoples do not have to be saved or rescued; that what is needed is knowledge of our own, inherent power, and how to access it, how to reclaim it, how to use it, individually and Smore importantlyT collectively, to support its full actualization, its full blossoming in a way that nurtures and grows, not destroys. We recognize that at times throughout the settler colonial project our Peoples have faced the necessity of foregoing traditional lifeways as a strategy for survival. We also recognize the power of dormancy, reawakening, and thriving of many distinct traditional Indigenous practices and ways of life that speak to the aforementioned struggles. Additionally, understanding the current political and social climate as a continuation of genocidal policies, we uplift the empowerment of feminine Indigenous lifeways and wisdom as tools against modern day trafficking and violence.

Though our organization has always supported work that uplifts feminine Indigenous lifeways, Thriving Women has helped us amplify Native women-led projects and demonstrate the abounding power of supporting Native womenRs resiliencies. The inspiring and powerful Native Peoples who are leading this work, and thousands more like them, are re-creating and reinvigorating a field of Indigenous femaleLcentered leadership which mindfully honors the sacred feminine of traditional Native teachings, which are rooted in place, culture, and memory.

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We appreciate the partnerships we have developed to support and build Thriving Women, and the intentional work we do together. This work has enabled Seventh Generation Fund to coalesce, strengthen, and refine an empowered vision and to put it into action in this critical field at a time when such remedies for healing and well being are sorely needed.

During the four-year program timeframe of 2014 - 2018, Seventh Generation Fund provided $1.65 million in direct grants, program-related support, and capacity building to Thriving Women participants and other projects related to Indigenous women's capacity building. We know there is a growing need to continue and expand this critical work for the health and well being of current generations, and to secure the sacred birthright of the future.

The work highlighted in this publication identifies, disrupts, and provides strategies of survival to the ongoing oppression and exploitation of Indigenous women and girls that continue to plague and harm our families, communities, and distinct Indigenous nations. This work uplifts and serves to further empower already-thriving women, and their future generations. This is a self-determined revolution steered by Indigenous minds that is fueling the ongoing rebalancing of power for communities and nations to thrive.

Think not of yourself, your own family or even your own generation.

Consider the seventh generation to come.

-Â Haudenosaunee teaching

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We Were Stolen by Tanaya Winder One day when we’re all gone and you think we’ve disappeared.

You’ll realize we were stolen. The earth will continue to split herself open in mourning.

The morning sun will no longer rise because you failed to protect those who are so powerful they’re in sync with the moon.

And soon, hurricane, tsunami high waves will cover the land in the water you didn’t care to protect because you thought oil was more precious than life.

Our Mother will shake in her wailed grieving so hard to stir you from complacency. Pipelines will break and the fractured sites will turn flame as Mother Earth sets herself on fire.

And as you’re being swallowed whole you’ll wish you paid more attention, wish you listened, wish you believed, wish you protected instead of abused or misused us. on’t 1ust bear witness at rallies or see us in headlines that declare JmissingK then Jbody foundK then JmurderedK and then claim that you’ll protect us.

See us when we’re alive not 1ust when we go missing, get stolen, and murdered.

Remember that we are real, we are worthy, and we deserve to be seen with each beat our hearts take, each beat our hearts make as we continue to birth revolutions.

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R E S T O R I N G O U R M A T R I A R C H A L B A L A N C E

by Lisa Brunner Our Anishinaabe teaching within our Creation story speaks about how the Universe was created, how life was created upon our sacred Mother Earth. It was the life force of water, our tree and plant relatives who came first, then came our four legged, creepy crawlers, fish and other water beings then our winged and feather relatives. After everything was created, we were the last to be created as humans, the two legged. We were created last because we are the most pitiful. We are completely dependent upon all our relatives for our very survival. They however, do not need us to exist, in fact, given today’s predatory toxic environment they would flourish without us.

Prior to colonization that was set forth through the Doctrine of Discovery in 1452 issued by Pope Nicholas V, many Indigenous Peoples lived in matriarchal or matrilocal societies. This was not a hierarchal social structure, it was one where we lived in balance with each other as human beings, it was one where we lived in balance with our Mother Earth and all life that we share our existence with.

There were also many Indigenous societies that were patriarchal and patrilocal. I think it is important we discuss what that was prior to colonization because the patriarchal mentality that came to our shores during globalization that was set in motion with the Doctrine of Discovery was one where the men came with diseased spirits that became infectious and tainted not only Indigenous patriarchal society structures with colonial patriarchy, but systemically weakened and in some of our societies, destroyed our matriarchal and matrilocal social structures and replaced them with colonial patriarchal structures that were no longer in balance with Mother Earth, each other and all our relatives we depend on for our very survival.

Colonial patriarchy is the toxic masculine energy held and carried by too many men who view the life of Mother Earth and Indigenous woman and child as one of commodity to be exploited for predatory economics. They held very little to no respect for women and children of their own lands as they were already raping, sex trafficking, beating and murdering their women and children long before they touched our shores and the shores of so many other Indigenous lands around the world.

Toxic masculinity is set on two pillars that are opposite of healthy masculinity and that is sexual con=uest and violence. Its foundation is male dominance and that the physically stronger one is the dominate one. In our Anishinaabe teachings, women are stronger than men three to one. Spiritually, mentally, and emotionally women are stronger than men and men are physically stronger. It is not about dominance as it is about respect of each other strengths and how it compliments one another.

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“They treat Mother Earth like they treat women and women like they do Mother Earth. They think they can own us, buy us, sell us, trade us, rent us, poison us, rape us, destroy us, use us as entertainment and kill us. I’m happy to see that we are talking about the level of violence that is occur-ing against Mother Earth because it equates to what is happening to us women. What happens to her happens to us. We are the creators of life. We carry that water that creates life just as Moth er Earth carries the water that maintains our life. You cannot stand for and the other.” I said this during the Protecting our Grandmother Gathering in North Dakota a few years back and it is relevant when addressing violence against our women and Mother Earth.

Our work as it has been must continue as a collective, not one separated from the other, they are not a separate issue, never has been. We must decolonize every step we take in our work ensuring we maintain our balance. To end the systemic genocidal violence committed against the very women who give birth to our nations and future generations and our Mother Earth that sustains our existence, we must stand in planetary solidarity with one another and in every piece of work we produce must sustain and support the protection of the existence of women. Like the bees, without us, there will no longer be life.

Through continued reclamation and restoration of our language, ancestral teachings, ceremonies, songs, dance, art, clanships, traditional social structures and social safety, we can and will recreate a world where our women and children, our people will no longer be hunted, but

Through our ancestral and cultural practices, we are healing from colonial violence, we are healing our minds and spirits from colonial taint, and we are restoring our matriarchal balance with our Mather Earth and each other. protected and celebrated for we are still here!

Our right to exist as women without violence is a cosmic right, ancestral right, cultural right a human right and the right of our creation.

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S A C R E D N E S S O F W O M A N H O O D Written by Tami Truett Jerue & Edited by Michelle Demmert Alaska Native Women's Resource Center Womanhood and sacredness traditionally are one and the same; the power of women to bear children is a miracle. Throughout history Indigenous Peoples understood these values and many cultural practices were based on this basic understanding. Necessary roles for survival and thriving existed for the survival of the tribe, and many of the rules (protocols) were in place to keep the Tribe alive. This statement may be oversimplified but the essence is critical to understand: tribal structure and interrelationships were maintained for the good of the Tribe.

As history has shown, colonialization brought disease and violence in many forms, including raping and ‘trafficking’ of Indian women. By undermining the tribes very foundational principles, honoring its women and attacking the Tribe’s most valuable asset, its women and children, the “war” was won. As Indigenous People we know this, yet we are striving to retain the small bits of the cultural identity that is embedded in our DNA. Tribes are surviving despite years of history, policies and laws that have been designed to eradicate us and the sacredness of our cultural identity and values.

Violence against women and children attacks our humanity as Tribal people. The saddest part is that in more recent times, often the violence and the destroying of our souls is being perpetrated by our own Tribal people. The history that most Tribal people have experienced should have destroyed us.

But it has not — American Indian and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian women are some of the most resilient people on this earth. The trauma that has been perpetrated against us in the past and continues to this day has not destroyed us. It has created women warriors who are determined to fight the laws, policies, stereotypes and attitudes that continue to be perpetuated against so many of us. We understand that the healing and answers to the violence come from within. We recognize that our traditional knowledge and interrelationships were what kept many of our Tribal communities thriving. To create safe and healthy Tribal communities, we realize that it is necessary for our tribes to acknowledge that healing, accountability and resources are needed to maintain and revitalize our cultural beliefs. Getting back to the recognition and recon- ciliation of the sacredness of our women and the healthy rearing and education of our children is critical; yes, assistance is going to be needed but ultimately the real change will have to come from within our Tribes consistent with our Tribal identity and lifeways.

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A C H I E V I N G I N D I G E N O U S

H E A L T H Y

M A S C U L I N I T I E S

by Dr. Michael Yellow Bird The traditional narratives of Indigenous Peoples and the science of evolutionary biology share a close corresponding critical lens that can be used to understand the behavior and diversity of humans. Indigenous Peoples believe that all forms of life are connected and that we are all related to one another. Traditional teachings instruct us that the distance between humans and other forms of life is not only miniscule, but it is symbiotic and necessary. Indeed, Oglala Lakota Luther Standing Bear (1868 – 1939) once said “the man who sat on the ground in his tipi meditating on life and its meaning, accepting the kinship of all creatures, and acknowledging unity with the universe of things was infusing into his being the true essence of civilization.”

Similarly, the central idea of evolutionary biology is that the diversity of life on Earth comes from a common ancestor which makes humans related to all other forms of life: trees, plants, bees, whales, and birds.

Understanding our place in this great web of life can be helpful in guiding us how to achieve a balance of mind, body, and spirit.

Traditional narratives inform us that, despite our best intentions, we have a shadow (trickster) side that constitutes a number of negative qualities: greed, anger, aggression, gossip, dishonesty, selfishness, and cruelty.

However, we also have noble tendencies: generosity, kindness, empathy, honesty, dependability, courage, and loyalty. Although evolutionary theory does recognize many positive human traits, it paints a gloomier picture of our human circumstances. In fact, both traditional stories and evolutionary science agree that, as a species, our most natural fallback position is being mistrustful, fearful, aggressive, suspicious, and negative. And therein lies what we must overcome - our human condition.

As an Indigenous man, husband, father, son, uncle, and brother, it is critical that I understand my own unique masculinities (male traits) and continually work towards balancing them. Positive masculinities might be my ability to be an outwardly nurturing and loving father or uncle, or to exhibit cooperation, non-violence, kindness, and equality between the genders. Negative or toxic masculinities can include tendencies towards violence and aggression; misogyny and homophobia; and male (alpha) dominance - otherwise known and “hegemonic masculinity.” It’s important for me to remember, in concordance with traditional and evolutionary philosophies, how I feel, think, and behave has consequences that ripple outward and can touch the lives of many others. How do I balance my negative and positive masculine tendencies in favor of the good? I must pay attention to, and embrace, the original instructions of my ancestors of what constitutes a healthy man. I must be aware of what constitutes a well-adjusted man in contemporary times. I must be mindful of how different life experiences and my genetic inheritance influence my feelings, thinking, and behavior. I must understand how evolution is continually shaping my positive and negative male qualities. I must continually seek feedback from women in regard to what they feel might be healthy male traits.

In the end, I must surround myself with the company of other positive, egalitarian, compassionate, and

With courage and commitment, we must immerse ourselves in positive and optimistic thinking, behaviors, and strategies that help prepare the next generation of Indigenous men. courageous men and women that are aspiring to be as healthy as possible.

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M O T H E R H O O D I S S A C R E D

by Albert M. Pooley I was born a Navajo/Hopi on a reservation and my parents taught me in the ways of our people. As a father and now grandfather, womanhood and motherhood has always been considered sacred as our ancestors have known. I have worked with over 400 tribes across the United States in my professional career and this knowledge of womanhood and motherhood rings true with all of them. They recognized the sacredness of motherhood.

There is nothing in this world more lasting and strong than the tender heart of a loving and caring mother. We are bombarded with media telling us otherwise. Family is at the heart of the Native American culture and mothers are at the center of that heart.

The effect and influence she brings to her children is profound and beyond measure. Mothers stabilize and unify a family in many ways. They see and hear our children with their hearts. With intuition and special internal gifts they nurture our children to be productive adults.

Life experience tells us that those mothers who remember to communicate and interact with her children will mold and shape them into who they are today. It is hard work for sure, but mothers understand the sacrifice necessary to help our children grow and learn. We know with persistent direction of loving and leading their own children will come to know their purpose in life to raise their own.

Native women are strong and those who understand their calling as mother, define themselves in this ennobling endeavor. They model themselves after our own mothers, sisters, aunts, and grandmothers. Their influence comes from the divine within and they are entrusted with this sacred calling.

In the past, Native people have always understood the necessity of teaching their children to gain knowledge and skills for their survival. It is no different in our modern world. Mothers have the tools to teach the importance of education and encourage her children to play an active role in the community.

Service in the home has a great effect on all who live there. When we learn to serve others, they become real to us. Our children know their mothers and grandmothers love them and will always have a special place in their hearts.

Today, Native Americans live in a complex world together with other tribal cultures and the larger non-Indian society. As mothers, they have the power to uplift and inspire our children to be better. As their mothers teach them sound principles of being courteous, kind, and honest, our children will become more courageous, strong and self-reliant which is an investment for our future.

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Missing: More Than a Word

by Tanaya Winder

A recent government study found that there were 14 federal human trafficking investigations in Indian Country between 2013 and 2016.

During that same period the FBI investigated 6,100 elsewhere.

IÂ spend my days kneeling in despair prayer palms into shovels to dig.

They tried to bury us in soil – 1 in 3 Native women will be raped in her lifetime.

Daily ritual: my hands search and sift through layers of tiny earthquakes: shifted verdicts not guilty not enough evidence not prosecutable not our jurisdiction I dig. Native women are 2.5 times more likely to be sexually assaulted compared to all other races.

I dig. I dig until mud and earth find home underneath my fingernails. I’ll plant something new in the absence burn vanish underreport I dig to remind myself our roots are ancestral deep and there is nothing more sacred than these dirt-covered hands.

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Changing Woman

by Tupac Enrique Acosta

At one Time She found herself among the Loneliest of speckled clouds, Hanging by the power of a lightning bolt To the desert land below that belonged To the People, to the O’Odham: Generations of the Nahuatlaca.

They who had traced her trail, The echoing footsteps, Tracks that took A moon time to appear And disappear, Blown back to stardust By the wind From the Sun. The OrigiNations met, Formed assembly and adopted Positions, Caring for them as if they were Their own children, which they were.

Particular places where these, Their children, Could once again, Twice, and then as before, Emerge reborn Eyes clear and Focused On the shimmer of her Sweeping skirt In departure over the horizon, Leading the way Home.

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T H E 4 R ' S I N R E P R O D U C T I V E H E A L T H A N D B I R T H J U S T I C E W O R K

by Nicolle L. Gonzales

The landscape of our bodies can be mapped through history by a timeline of Indian policies meant to create citizens of the United States. Like our land, indigenous bodies are in different states of recovery and resistance, while working to reclaim the “sacred” through our medicine teachings.

Historically and currently Indigenous women are the subject of collective trauma, cycling through stages of grief, while being re-traumatized through systems of oppression that have medicalized our reproductive rights. We know traditional knowledge systems, families, and identities as Indigenous women have forever been changed by our collective trauma, through colonization. The process of reconstructing ourselves while honoring our traditional knowledge systems, begs the question of who are we today? What work needs to be done to help restore our collective reproductive rights as Indigenous women?

In the last 10 years, it has become clear that there are many intersections between Indigenous midwifery, reproductive justice and Indigenous feminism. As Gurr explains in her book about reproductive justice, “the fundamental role of race, class, sex, and gender inequalities in contemporary societies, and the histories from which these inequalities derive, necessitate the careful and deliberate consideration of social relations in an effort to understand health and wellness” (Gurr, 2015). It’s important to take into account the social, political, and economic forces around Indigenous women’s reproductive experiences, as that it requires us to examine how their well-being is shaped by these forces.

Many of the challenges American Indian women face around access to reproductive health care are a result of a healthcare rationing, multiple stakeholders, price discrimination, and government mandated policies around reproductive options offered at government funded healthcare facilities, like Indian Health Services. We know social determinates of health impact where and how American Indian women receive health care. Unfortunately, American Indian women’s collective voices and lived experiences are missing from the National Healthcare crises conversation. Seeing how American Indian women were constantly left out of important conversations around their reproductive health was what lead to the formation of Changing Woman Initiative. The Native women-led organization’s mission is to renew cultural birth knowledge to empower and reclaim indigenous sovereignty of women’s medicine and life way teachings to promote reproductive wellness and healing through holistic approaches.

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Reframing the concepts around health and identity where women reclaim their health for themselves and their communities is an integral part of healing. Indigenous midwifery supports this healing through creating environments where women can connect with their ancestral knowledge around their bodies while supporting them through their reproductive revolution of self-determination. Further, Changing Woman Initiative uses Indigenous midwifery as a framework to reconstruct a healthcare delivery system that addresses culturally rooted teachings around language, land, plant medicine, relationships, and takes into account the community’s collective trauma while centering (intersectional) American Indian women’s health.

Although many assume midwifery is just about mothers and babies, it encompasses the care of all types of families and the care of women at all stages of life. Body sovereignty, sexuality, dismantling patriarchy and sexism in reproductive health care is the frontlines at which many birth workers find themselves. Supporting intersectional and full-spectrum Indigenous women’s health is the future of reproductive resistance work.

Creating innovative healthcare pathways forward, like the creation of an American Indian birth and wellness center, seems risky to some and for the same reasons there is a national outcry for healthcare reform. Delivering culturally centered care, that is affordable, accessible, and reflects the communities it is intended to serve is a multifaceted challenge many tribes are still trying to grasp. The cost of care drives what services will be available to communities, especially in rural communities where there is a shortage of health professionals. Yet, in the face of crises, organizations like Changing Woman Initiative seek to address all of these issues through a cultural community approach.

Restoring the reproductive rights of Indigenous women falls on all our shoulders. Reclaiming and restoring ceremony in birth, motherhood, sexuality, and parenthood all lead to stronger nations, while acknowledging recovery is an on-going process. Contemporary, intersectional, traditional, healing, healed, and healer are all responses to the many issues American Indian women face around their reproductive health. This is resistance work.

Resources: Gurr, B. (2015). Reproductive justice: The politics of healthcare for Native American women. New Brunswick, New Jersey & London: Rutgers University Press.

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I N D I G E N O U S W O M E N : A S S E R T I N G O U R H U M A N R I G H T S A N D G R A S S R O O T S A D V O C A C Y

by Peggy Bird, PhD I acknowledge my ancestors and the ancestors of Indigenous Peoples around the world. I am an Indigenous woman who has been sexually assaulted at numerous points in my life. I have been in relationships with Native men who chose to be physically and mentally abusive. I write this piece, as an advocate who has been working over 25 years to address violence against Indigenous women, to share some of what I have learned about the importance of asserting our human rights as Indigenous women and to share a few tips or guidance for grassroots advocacy in providing support to Indigenous women who are or have been abused or sexually assaulted.

How do we uphold the human rights of Indigenous women and ensure their safety and protect them from abuse, rape, murder, sexual assault, and trafficking? I assert that incorporation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into the work we do, the documents we draft, the laws we create and our everyday behavior will go a long ways towards creating social change, and towards de-colonization. Recognition of the human rights of Indigenous peoples will help to strengthen our Indigenous ways of creating justice in our communities, will help people to live the values of respect for one another, will help people to understand how to be human and how to behave as a human. Implementation of UNDRIP will help to restore peace and harmony and will help with ensuring that acts of violence against women will no longer be tolerated.

Indigenous women, with the help of Indigenous men and our non-Indigenous allies are the key to

We have the herstorical experience within us that was ingrained during the times when matriarchates flourished around the world, before most of them were crushed and pushed aside in favor of patriarchates. We are not all lost however, as there are restoring humanity.

still existing matriarchates in this world holding true to their values and working hard to counter the impacts of a world that embraces the negativity of colonialism. There is hope.

Working together, supporting each other, talking to each other, learning from each other, teaching each other, making connections with each other moves us forward to achieving our collective visions for the future. The answers to the question posed above are to be created through the collective work of the Indigenous people of each of the communities impacted by violence against women. When we raise awareness about the violence, shine the light on it, bring it out in the open, talk about it, we then have the opportunity to look at ways to address it within the contexts of our Indigenous values and ancestral teachings and way of life. When we make those connections with each other we be- come stronger, more educated and aware, and are able to support each other all over the world.

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As we move forward with grassroots advocacy, we can provide support to Indigenous women who are being abused or sexually assaulted or trafficked by doing the following:

Listen to them • Believe them • Tell them that it’s not their fault • Do not tell them what to do – respect their autonomy • Be nonjudgmental – do not judge them • Do not ask why they do not leave • Let them know that you are there for them • Help them to create a safety plan for themselves • Recognize them as a sacred human being • Tell them they do not deserve to be abused or sexually assaulted or trafficked • Maintain their confidentiality • Offer options & resources •

We should not be blaming them for what is happening or has happened to them. We need to remember that those who are committing acts of domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, human trafficking, stalking and overall, being disrespectful to Indigenous women, are the ones who should be held accountable for their behaviors and actions.

We have the strength of our connections to one another to make positive changes happen! We have our ancestors with us and we are considering future generations in our work to restore peace and safety!

Thank you for all that you do!

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W I N D S H E A L I N G

O F L O V E : I S P O S S I B L E

by Elsie Boudreau All Alaska Natives have a right to live a life true to their inherent rights and responsibilities as good relatives. We, as Native Peoples, are rich in values, beliefs, qanruyutet (words of wisdom/words to live by), traditions, ceremonies, arts and ways of knowing. These guiding principles have ensured our survival for thousands of years, living with and off the land in reciprocal reverence. As a Yup’ik, Yuuyaraq—the Way of the Human Being—allowed our ancestors to live with an understanding and appreciation that everything was interconnected: the land, the animals, human beings and the universe. Respect was paramount.

It is with that same energy of compassion, love and respect that the exploration and implementation of strategies presented advance the Seventh Generation Fund’s Thriving Women. The premise is that HEALING IS POSSIBLE. Leadership, on all levels from within communities, is imperative in ensuring communities can heal and thrive. We are all leaders. Leadership can be nourished and developed. According to our Yup’ik Elders, leaders were chosen because “their minds were accurate or intelligent. They had good intentions and encouraged people to lead good and peaceful lives.” One had to embody, in spirit and energy, the qualities of patience, perseverance, vision, innovation and love with the capacity to inspire others to action. It is in action that we ensure our children are put in a place of honor and women are regarded as sacred. It is with action that we embrace our ancestor’s wisdom and love for us. It is in action that we move to happy, healthy and thriving communities. It is in action that we honor ourselves in this place and time, bearing in mind and heart intergenerational trauma and the resilience of our people.

Strategies: I have been involved, through a non-profit I founded: Arctic Winds Healing Winds, in the movement to energize communities to acknowledge the impacts of intergenerational trauma and build momentum for action-oriented change. Through the “Leadership for Results Summit”, leaders have been involved in transformational projects while incorporating Alaska Native values and practices. It touches on growing individuals through cultural knowledge and strength while incorporating emotional and spiritual intelligence. It allows for communities to grasp and create lasting solutions that strengthen and heal. It recognizes that the harms committed were not to individuals but to communities and so healing must take place on a communal level while putting to action interventions that are meaningful and sustainable from within.

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If someone were to ask me what the most important thing we can do, I would say we need keep our women and children in the forefront of our minds, heart and actions. We need to believe children, nurture their spirit and love them. Our job today and every day is to be heroes for our children. To raise them like we are fearful of them like our Elders have shared. We need to heal our open wounds and acknowledge the scars of intergenerational trauma with the same love and reverence of our ancestors while honoring the life-givers.

We need to focus on healing. Like our Yup’ik Elder Dr. Rita Blumentstein says, “To heal is to become ourselves, to become the light within. It is to accept ourselves and what we feel, and in doing so, accept others. It is to be a real person.”

We must acknowledge that we are all related. We can rely on our own ways by grasping the wisdom of our elders to help define who we are while acknowledging our connection to the land, each other and our values. We understand, to ensure, regain and restore healthy communities, we need to find and regain that connection; it is that connection to spirit, to all that is sacred, and the basis of who we are as Native people, as human beings, that brings us whole. We must ensure that all our people are within the circle of community.

“Love isn’t the cure to trauma, but without it, it is hard to imagine healing. Love is what wraps what was wounded. Love is the cast that can hold that broken bone of the psyche steady as it knits back together. Love is what gets absorbed to rebuild what needs to be rebuilt.” Gretchen Schmelzer

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For Girls and Women on Fire

by Tanaya Winder

Everything happens for a reason and breaks you thought were heartaches was really Creator helping you dodge a massive bullet destined for danger, rupture, and the darkness you crawled your way out of long ago.

So let go.

Let go of anything that didn’t work out the way you wanted.

Because you know this, deep in your heart of hearts, you know: you were born from a line of fierce women on fire, who shine light in the darkest of places, and heal those in need.

And if people are afraid of you (let them be afraid) they should be.

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Because you are powerful beyond containment; the kind of free people dream of embodying and everything is coming together the way it was always destined.

Because you are destined for greatness and anything you ever set your mind to, you looked yourself in the mirror and said “We are going to do this.”

And you did.

You did do it. So don’t stop now.

Because you are meant to keep all of the promises you ever made to yourself.

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A U T H O R

B I O G R A P H I E S

TUPAC ENRIQUE ACOSTA (Nahuatl-Xicano) serves as board vice chair of Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples. Tupac is a long time activist for Indigenous peoples’ rights and is a founder and coordinator for the community based organization TONATIERRA in Phoenix, Arizona. He served as a representative for the TLAHTOKAN AZTLAN to both United Nations Human Rights Commission and the United Nation Working Group on Indigenous populations in Geneva, Switzerland. He was also awarded the Alston-Bannerman award for activism in 2004.

PEGGY BIRD, PhD (Kewa Pueblo, Sun Clan) is of the Sun Clan from Kewa Pueblo, New Mexico. She is an advocate/attorney/ consultant/human rights activist and works to enhance the sovereignty of Native women by ending violence against Native women, both nationally and internationally. Peggy is a co-founder of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, Inc., the Native Women’s Advocacy Center, Inc., and the Indigenous Women’s Human Rights Collective, Inc. She is a board member of Tewa Women United, Inc. She is also a co-founding member of the NCAI Violence Against Native Women Task Force. She received the National Crime Victims Service Award granted by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Sunshine Peace Award granted by the Sunshine Lady Foundation and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She co-chaired the Global Indigenous Women's Caucus two times in preparation for the UNPFII and has participated in the UNPFII numerous times since 2003. She a graduate of the Pueblo PhD program at the Arizona State University School of Social Transformation.

ELSIE BOUDREAU (Yup’ik) is a licensed master social worker (LMSW) and a proud Yup’ik Eskimo from the village of St. Mary’s, Alaska. She is the President of Arctic Winds Healing Winds, a nonprofit. She helped establish an Alaska Native Unit within a Child Advocacy Center. In that role, she provided advocacy services and therapy for families whose child(ren) have been severely physically or sexually abused and conducted forensic interviews of children. As a prior Children’s Justice Act Project Coordinator for the Tribal Law & Policy Institute, she helped develop an educational video highlighting child sexual abuse in Alaska, grasping the wisdom of Elders and identifying ways of healing. Elsie has a bachelor’s degree in social work from Carroll College in Helena, Montana and a master of social work degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

LISA BRUNNER (White Earth Ojibwe, Wolf Clan) is wolf clan and from the White Earth Ojibwe Nation in Minnesota. Lisa’s work addresses violence against Native American and Alaska Native women and has worked in this area for 17 years. Ms. Brunner has advocated on the local, state, national and international levels to bring about change to public policy that maintains the horrific realities of violence against Native women and within our Tribal communities. On a national-level she has served on panels and focus groups addressing jurisdictional issues that impact the safety of Native women. Lisa has also served on a panel at the United Nations regarding violence against Indigenous Women of North America. Lisa has participated for five years at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and participated in Global Indigenous Women’s Caucus. Lisa is also a founding member of the National Congress of American Indians, Violence Against Women Task Force. She has also testified at Thematic Hearing on “Violence Against Native Women in the United States” before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Lisa has testified before Congress for the Hearing on “Combating Human Trafficking: Federal, State, and Local Perspectives” before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Lisa is a 2016 Bush Fellow.

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A U T H O R

B I O G R A P H I E S

MICHELLE DEMMERT (Tlingit-Eagle, Hittaan Clan) is a current delegate and elected Chief Justice for the Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. She has worked in various capacities of advancing domestic violence protections for women and children since 1995. As the presiding judge at the Chehalis tribe for over 10 years, she assisted with amending code provisions that provided greater protections for women and children, as well as developing a court process that holistically addressed all participants. During this time, she also assisted the Northwest Tribal Court Judges’ Association with the creation of a bench book on processing domestic violence cases, establishing a full faith and credit process with the state for registering tribal Orders of Protection and participated as a significant contributor to a Tribal Prosecutor’s Pilot Project and Manual for best practices in this area.

NICOLLE L. GONZALES (Diné-Navajo), BSN, RN, MSN, CNM, is the Executive Director and Founder of Changing Woman Initiative, a Native American women-led health collective. Mrs. Gonzales received her Bachelor’s of Nursing and her Masters of Nurse-Midwifery at the University of New Mexico. She is a member of the American College of Nurse Midwives and is certified with the American Midwifery Certification Board. She has over 12 years’ experience as a nurse and has worked as a Nurse-Midwife doing full-scope midwifery for the last 7 years. Through the years, she has worked on several community projects around birth equity and she has served as the founding board president and vice board president of two birth centers in NM. In addition to attending births, Nicolle was a contributing author to the “American Indian Health and Nursing” in 2015 and is a contributing writer for the Indigenous Goddess Gang online magazine, where she discusses indigenous birth, midwifery, ceremony, reproductive justice, and indigenous feminism.

TAMRA (TAMI) TRUETT JERUE (Yup’ik) is an enrolled member of the Anvik Tribe in Alaska and currently resides in Fairbanks Alaska. She is the mother to four children and the grandmother to five. She is the Executive Director of the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center and continues to work with her Tribe on various issues. Ms. Truett Jerue has worked in the field of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault for the last 35 years in various capacities. Her education includes a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, Community Psychology and Secondary Education. She has been involved with many non-profit Boards over the years and has worked and lived most of her adult life in rural Alaska in many capacities as therapist, sexual assault counselor, teacher, tribal administrator, first responder, ICWA social worker and trainer. Tami’s many experiences and those of her family and friends with Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault have kept her passionate about helping to facilitate change at a community level, within systems, and in families to help survivors live a violence free life.

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A U T H O R

B I O G R A P H I E S

ALBERT M. POOLEY (Navajo/Hopi) was born to the Hopi and Navajo Native American cultures. He grew up close to both cultures on the reservation where the love of a father taught him outstanding life lessons. He holds a Masters of Social Work (MSW) and Masters of Public Administration (MPA) and has extensive experience as a marriage and family counselor. In 2002, Mr. Pooley founded Native American Fatherhood and Families Association with the purpose of strengthening and keeping families together. Throughout his professional career, Mr. Pooley has worked with over 400 tribes throughout North America in promoting and strengthening families in a variety of national and tribal programs that promote healthy parental involvement in creating happy and safe homes. Mr. Pooley has been married 48 years, is the father of six children, and grandfather of 16 grandchildren.

He appreciates the role of being a father and finds joy in teaching principles that are relevant to his Native American culture.

TANAYA WINDER (Southern Ute/Duckwater Shoshone/Pyramid Lake Paiute) is a writer and vocalist from the Southern Ute, Duckwater Shoshone, and Pyramid Lake Paiute Nations. Her debut poetry collection Words Like Love was published in 2015 by West End Press. She is the Director of the University of Colorado-Boulder’s Upward Bound program. Winder also founded Dream Warriors, an Indigenous artist management company and collective.

DR. MICHAEL YELLOW BIRD (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara) is a Professor of Sociology and the Director of Indigenous Tribal Studies at North Dakota State University. He is a citizen of the Three Affiliated Tribes, (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara) and joined North Dakota State University faculty in the fall of 2014. He has held faculty appointments in the Schools of social work at the University of British Columbia, University of Kansas, Arizona State University, and Humboldt State University. His teaching, writing, research, professional presentations, and community work focus on Indigenous Peoples health; the effects of colonization and methods of decolonization; neurodecolonization and mindfulness approaches; neuroscience, microbiome science, genetic science and Indigenous Peoples; and ancestral and paleo eating and lifestyle. Dr. Yellow Bird is the author of numerous scholarly articles, book chapters, and the co-editor of four books. “Choice Magazine” selected his work, Decolonizing Social Work, as a 2014 Choice Outstanding Academic Title. Choice Outstanding Titles are given extraordinary recognition by the academic community and are designated to be “the best of the best.” He is the co-author of the forthcoming book, Integrative Social Work.

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ABOUT SEVENTH GENERATION FUND FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Our purpose for existence and collective responsibility is to promote Indigenous Peoples' self-determination and the sovereignty of Native nations.

Founded in 1977, the Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples is the oldest international identity-based non-governmental organization in the United States. As a culturally relevant, Native-centered philanthropic and community development model, our organizational purpose works directly with Native nations, communities and organizations throughout the Indigenous World to help them design and actualize self determinative, sustainable, and empowered futures.

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Our organization:

Our work:

• Founded in 1977

• Emerges from Native communities

• A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit

• Engenders community-led authority and

• Emerged from grassroots community

decision-making

organizing

• Promotes and enhances Native values and

• Movement building for change

lifeways

• Mobilized tens of millions of dollars

• Demonstrates strategies for capacity building

to Native led social, cultural, and

and self-reliance

environmental justice projects and

• Impacts and engages broad segments of

initiatives

society

• Grandmother of self-determined

• Strives to build capacity within the community

philanthropy

• Honors and upholds dignity for all Peoples • Respects equity, reciprocity, and our relationship with the Natural World

Board of Directors Dr. Henrietta Mann (Southern Cheyenne), Board Chair Tupac Enrique Acosta (Nahuatl-Xicano), Board Vice-Chair Deborah Sanchez (Chumash/O’odham), Board Secretary & Treasurer Jake Edwards (Onondaga), Director Oren Lyons (Onondaga/Seneca), Director Dr. Luis Macas (Saraguro Kichwa), Director Brian Monongye (Hopi), Director Christopher Peters (Puhlik-lah/Karuk), President & CEO Tāwera Ngaronoa Tahuri (Ngā Ariki Kaipūtahi/Whakatōhea/Ngati Ūenuku/Tūwharetoa), Director 28

ABOUT THRIVING WOMEN

The Thriving Women program supports Native women-led projects regarding the following themes: Birthkeeping, Motherhood, and Kinship underscores Native Women as the hearts and backbones of sustaining, maintaining, and re-balancing families and communities. It focuses on strengthening kinship systems between Native Women as community members and relatives; as midwives and mothers; as peers in movement-building; as intergenerational mentors. As Native Women supporting Native Women. It uplifts traditional systems of birthkeeping,

Projects centralize traditional birthing systems, motherhood, and kinship-building, such as midwifery, prenatal community education, and sisterhood convenings/groups. reproductive and sexual health, and family and community wellness.

Cultural Continuity emphasizes how culture is the core framework within which Native Identity, family wellness, community roles, and nationhood are formed. It recognizes that restoration of healthy Native Peoples, their families and communities is about cultural continuity and repairing the intergenerational transmission of knowledge that was deliberately broken over the centuries of colonization and forced acculturation. Engaging in cultural

Projects support Native Identity development and cultural education, such as on ancestral languages, traditional foods and health, coming-of-age ceremonies, and Indigenous concepts of gender and community roles. activities revitalizes the very basis of Indigenous lifeways.

A World Without Violence Against Women imagines and strives for a world that undos toxic masculinity and, instead, regards women and girls as sacred and empowers them as community leaders. It recognizes that the disproportionate violences perpetrated against Native Women/Girls, as well as

Projects include leadership development, emergency shelter and crisis support services, issue advocacy, educational workshops, and traditional approaches to healing and protection. their families and communities, is not their tradition.

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GENDER-BASED SETTLER COLONIAL VIOLENCE AND TRAUMA • 86% of perpetrators of sexual violence against Indigenous women are white males • More than 1 in 3 Indigenous women will be victimized by sexual assault in their lifetime • Indigenous women continue to be targeted for sterilization without fullconsent • Perpetuated by rampant invasive extractive industrial development destroying lands and territories • Perpetuated by ongoing colonization and consumption of our lands through violence against Native women’s bodies • Perpetuated by the eruption of man-camps

HOW TO SUPPORT THE THRIVING WOMEN PROGRAM Listen to Native women and girls to seek their solutions-based remedies to these issues Follow the lead of Native women and girls, and their communities Provide funds to Native-led efforts for community organizing and capacity building

related to pipelines and other mega

Stand in solidarity

corporate development

Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples’ Thriving Women knows our role includes being a bridge between socially conscious donors who want to make a positive difference in the world by supporting Native women and girls’ leadership for healing and wellbeing. We believe that you will be moved to act and contribute by supporting this effort.

Contact us: contact@7genfund.org P.O. Box 4569, Arcata CA 95518 www.7genfund.org 30

T H A N K

Y O U

Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples expresses our sincere appreciation to the strong hearts and minds contributing their words and stories to this publication, to the community-based projects committed to this vital work, and to the dedicated supporters of Thriving Women.

Thriving Women Supporters Amanda Coslor Community Foundation Serving Boulder Colorado Everywoman’s Leadership Regranting Fund Groundswell Fund Kalliopeia Foundation NoVo Foundation TAO Fund Tri-Mindful Zak Sinclair

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COPYRIGHT © 2018 THRIVING WOMEN

BY SEVENTH GENERATION FUND FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, INC. REPRODUCTION OR REPUBLICATION STRICTLY PROHIBITED WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Publication Editors Stephan Cheney (Kul Wicasa Oyate) Heather Freitas (Lusitanian Descent) Chisa Oros (Zuni/Yoeme) Tia Oros Peters (Zuni) Johnny Salazar (Indigenous, Abya Yala)

Design Contributors Chelsea ira.lor Trillo (Pangitaa) and Vico Designs

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Photo and items courtesy of: Tia Oros Peters

RED PAPERS ARE SELF-DETERMINED STORY TELLING. A PUBLISHING BRANCH OF SEVENTH GENERATION FUND FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, RED PAPERS ENCOMPASS

Be a Good Ancestor.

COMPOSITIONS BY AND FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, FEATURING A VARIETY OF DISCOURSE ISSUE ADVOCACY, SCHOLARLY ESSAYS, TRANSCRIBED SPEECHES, POETRY ND MORE. ALL SUCH WORKS FACILITATE

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STORY SHARING, STEEPED IN TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS, INDIGENOUS SURVIVANCES, AND COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS TO ONGOING COLONI ATION AND ASSOCIATED ISSUES ACROSS THE INDIGENOUS WORLD. RED PAPERS EMBODY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' SELF-DETERMINATION AND SERVE TO INFORM NON-INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVES AND LLIES.

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For any inquires or more information about available units, please contact: redpapers@7genfund.org