|
Ma k'u wam Greetings Everyone,
During the month of August, the Policy and Advocacy team traveled to conferences, traveled to Consultations, spoke and tabled at events, and held our final focus group with Indigenous survivors of Human Trafficking.
On Thursday, August 3, 2023, Isleta Pueblo and other Tribal Leaders from the 23 Tribal Nations in New Mexico honored Isleta member, Marine Veteran and Educator Miguel Trujillo, by gathering for a “75 Years of Native American Voting Rights” celebration at the Isleta Resort & Casino. CSVANW was a listed agenda speaker to honor Miguel Trujillo. CSVANW also tabled at the celebration. Civil rights hero Miguel Trujillo fought for the voting rights of Native Americans in New Mexico in 1948 and won!
On August 5, 2023, Our Policy & Advocacy staff joined Bold Futures and other partners in child welfare to celebrate the standing of the Indian Federal Child Welfare Act with the Brackeen V. Haaland case. The celebration was held at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center from 10AM to 2PM. During the celebration, the Policy & Advocacy Director, Tiffany Jiron facilitated a group activity that allowed us to experience the removal of our Indian children during the Residential Boarding school era.
August 7th-August 11th, 2023, the Policy & Advocacy Director, Tiffany Jiron, the Policy & Communications Coordinator, Ryder Jiron, our CSVANW Board of Director Chair, Paula Feathers, and Governor of Pojoaque Pueblo, Jenelle Roybal traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma to testify at the 18th Annual Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women Government to Government Tribal Consultation. CSVANW’s Policy & Advocacy team is happy to support tribal leaders when speaking to the federal government when it comes to better protections for American Indian and Alaskan Native Women and relatives. Please reach out to our Policy team in regard to providing written testimony by September 11, 2023.
The OVW Consultations are for tribal leadership and advocates across the U.S. to attend and testify before the federal government on the issues in our tribal communities regarding domestic violence, sexual violence, teen dating violence, human trafficking, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). For more information about the consultations please visit: https://www.ovwconsultation.org/Home
Each year, CSVANW takes 1-2 Tribal leaders from New Mexico. This year we had the opportunity to take Governor Jenelle Roybal of Pojoaque Pueblo. If you were unable to attend in-person, you may still have your voice heard by providing written testimony.
CSVANW has gathered recommendations and formulated a written testimony guide to support Tribal leaders submitting a written testimony. We recommend tribal leaders meet with their tribal advocates/social workers to discuss and answer the question. Please click on this link to find the OVW Written testimony guide: OVW Written Testimony Toolkit & Deadline
Once you have completed your written testimony, you may send it to: [email protected] by Monday, September 11, 2023. Thank you for your support in the 18th Annual DOJ OVW Government to Government Consultation. Let us know if you have any questions or need further support.”
The week of August 25, 2023, CSVANW was grateful to be in attendance at the 30th Annual Four Corners Indian Country Conference this week in Salt Lake City. We are excited to bring information learned here from so many offices involved in judicial systems to your communities!
August Community Advocate Meeting: On August 8, 2023, Advocates met and shared space with presenters from Southwest Center for Law and Policy’s COO Brenna Hanley & ED Hallie Bongar, who provide legal training and technical assistance to tribal communities and to organizations and agencies serving Native people. They partner with University of Wisconsin Law School in providing a 6-month training for Tribal Advocates in becoming Legal Advocates, funded by OVW. This happens in 2 parts, with 20 weeks of online courses, then travel to Wisconsin to complete the 40-hour weeklong in person training. We are proud to have had three of our very own tribal advocates graduate to become our new Tribal Legal Advocates. Congratulations to Kelia Yanito, Tamani Ortiz and Trudy Tsosie who graduated on July 21, 2023. For those interested in taking the Legal Advocacy course can go to NTTConline.org or https://nttc.extension.wisc.edu
On August 21-24, 2023, CSVANW took 2 of our Advocates, Tamani Ortiz and Terrie Chavarria Baca to the Annual National Sexual Assault Conference, “Equity In Action” in San Franciso. The NSAC brings together over 2,000 advocates and activists invested in ending sexual violence. The conference provides opportunities to develop new skills, share resources and information and build strong partnerships and strategies that strengthen our work to end sexual violence in tribal communities.
On August 25, 2023, the Policy & Advocacy Department held our final focus group with 7 Indigenous survivors of Human Trafficking. The Policy & Advocacy Department provided three Focus groups with Indigenous survivors from New Mexico to hear their stories of survival and healing. We will generate a report on our findings from the focus groups and make policy recommendations that are survivor led.
CSVANW will be hosting the first Tribal Coalitions and Policy Quarterly Meeting on September 27, 2023 at 11AM Pacific, 12 PM Mountain, 1PM Central, 2PM Eastern. This meeting will be for all policy directors and policy coordinators from the different Tribal Coalitions across Turtle Island to coordinate call to actions and share important information as they relate to violence against American Indian and Alaskan Native people.
CSVANW and other Tribal Coalitions signed on the NIWRC amicus brief in in United States v. Rahimi, encouraging the United States Supreme Court to overturn the Fifth Circuit's decision declaring section 922(g)(8) to be unconstitutional. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, concluded that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8) violates the 2nd Amendment and is therefore unconstitutional. Section 922(g)(8) contains critical protections for our Native women and children, as it prohibits individuals subject to a protective/restraining order for domestic violence and stalking from possessing firearms (the prohibition applies to orders issued in state and tribal courts). As we know, domestic violence and intimate partner violence create significant danger for the lives of victims. When you add a firearm to the mix, the chances that the victim will be killed increase dramatically. Thus, section 922(g)(8) serves as an important barrier between all victims and homicide. Because Native women face the highest rates of DV and IPV, the loss of section 922(g)(8)'s protections would inevitably result in significant loss of life in tribal communities and across Indian Country.
4 years ago, Kaysera Stops Pretty Places was murdered in Big Horn County, Montana. Kaysera was a member of the Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations. CSVANW is asking our members, tribal leaders, and our communities to support the family in their fight for justice. To this day, there has been no arrest and no justice for the family. You can support by signing the #JusticeForKaysera petition by clicking on this link: #JusticeForKaysera
https://chng.it/zshcGGbZr4
You may also donate to the family and learn more about this case by clicking on this link: https://www.justiceforkaysera.org/
For the month of September we will be having our next Community Advocacy Meeting on September 20th, 2023 from 10:30-12:00. Here is the zoom link; CAM Zoom link
The Advocacy Coordinator will be attending the Safe & Together Conference held on September 21 –22, 2023 held at Isleta Casino.
| 
