Community Discussion Guide
Written & Produced by the Native Youth Sexual Health Network and Incite Pictures/Cine Qua Non
When Cecelia Fire Thunder, the first female President of the Oglala Sioux tribe, challenges a South Dakota law criminalizing all abortion, she ignites a political firestorm that sets off a chain reaction in the lives of three Lakota youth on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Each of these young leaders is thereby forced to make choices that define who they are and what kind of adults they will become.
Table of Contents
1. Letter from Sunny Clifford 2. Letter from the Filmmakers 3. Introduction 4. Background - So what is Reproductive Justice? 5. Explanation of words and “Who’s Who” in the Film 6. Planning a Great Screening Event 7. Discussion Questions 8. The Young Lakota Outreach Team and The Native Youth Sexual Health Network 9. Suggestions for Action 10. Resources 11. Appendix “I hope this film can lead to inspiration for young people to voice their opinions and concerns, whatever the issues. I also hope the film can lead to open discussion around issues faced in the film, such as the importance of reproductive justice, especially for Indigenous women who seem to have been left out of the conversation in mainstream media for a long time.” - Sunny Clifford 2
A letter from Sunny Clifford Since I was a child I’ve lived on and off the reservation. I returned to my hometown of Kyle in 2005 after attending boarding high school and college in Oklahoma. After taking a U.S History class that included only one paragraph on Native history, I decided I was not satisfied with the college education I was receiving in Oklahoma. My classmates didn’t understood what rez life was like, either. When one of my Oklahoma friends in college asked me what the rez was, I told her it was a fenced off piece of land that the government set aside for Indians. She didn’t think I was serious. I yearned to be home and
Sunny Clifford. Photo by Diego Sirnaga
around people who understood the community in which
I grew up, so I returned to the Pine Ridge Reservation. When I returned to the rez, the tribe had its first elected female president, Cecelia Fire Thunder. My twin sister Serena and I were huge fans of her. It was refreshing to see a woman in a leadership role on the rez. I believe Cecelia and women like her, such as Wilma Man Killer (another one of Serena and my heroines) have paved a way for Native women leaders in their communities. Cecelia held an open discussion about her presidency in our community, and Serena and I attended to learn more about her ideals and the work she was doing. At the time, South Dakota was trying to pass an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. We listened to Cecelia speak, and she helped me realize how intrusive and oppressive this abortion ban was. We wanted to do something about it too. At the time, Cecelia had attracted a lot of media attention for her outspoken stance against the South Dakota abortion ban. When she mentioned establishing a women’s clinic on the reservation—many interpreted it as an attempt to build an abortion clinic on the rez. The tribal council impeached Cecelia for this statement. Someone with a camera was at Cecelia’s open discussion, and as we were the youngest people in attendance, Serena and I caught their eye. We spoke, and agreed to participate. My first reaction, and one I grappled with several times during filming was, “Why me?” I saw it as a personal challenge because I had been a very quiet kid growing up and often felt misunderstood. Being filmed was challenging for me because I really didn’t feel like I was all that important. That said, I’m an avid reader and come from a culture of storytelling. I love stories. I saw being filmed as a modern day extension of storytelling. It felt good to be heard, and I felt validated knowing that what I have to say matters. Gradually, I became more confident, and I hoped that sharing my story would help someone, somewhere. Now I see the importance of this film. It’s not about me; rather it’s about the issues I have faced. My biggest hope for this film is that it will be a societal change maker. I want young people to know that they matter in this world. I want young people to know that they can take control of their futures. I especially hope that Native youth will see something in themselves reflected in this story and be able to relate to it and know they’re not alone.The struggle for reproductive justice has affected Native people since the beginning of colonization and the establishment of governments on our lands. It is a continuous struggle and I fear it will continue as long as conservative Christianity continues to influence social policy. On the rez today, certain groups continue to try and convert others. Moreover, the Oglala Sioux Tribe has only had one other female president since Cecelia. Reproductive oppression is an ongoing assault against women. The more people that become aware of the issues we face in the fight for reproductive freedom, the better. This is especially true for young people. Youth are the future. What if communities, all the world over, believed in their young women? What if all across the continents young women had power to make decisions about their own bodies? Not only would these young women decide their own futures, they could decide the future for all of us—not driven by self-interest, but driven by a commitment to others.
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From the Filmmakers Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt
We came to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to shoot a documentary about a young woman from Wounded Knee who was suing the U.S. government over a sexual assault. When our plans shifted unexpectedly, we found ourselves on the Pine Ridge Reservation with no story. At the time, the state of South Dakota had just passed a law criminalizing abortion, with no exception for rape or incest. The first female President of the tribe, Cecelia Fire Thunder, was co-chair of a statewide coalition to stop the abortion ban. Cecelia threatened to build Sacred Choices, a women’s clinic on the sovereign land of the reservation. National media picked up the story and suddenly everybody was talking. We got a call from one of Cecelia’s political opponents saying they planned to march on a Tribal Council meeting and call for Cecelia’s impeachment. At the impeachment hearing, we met Brandon Ferguson, an aspiring filmmaker from the local college, and two twin sisters, Sunny and Serena Clifford. All three were ardent supporters of Cecelia and deeply drawn to her message. Watching Sunny, Serena, and Brandon, we knew they were beginning a journey that would unfold in front of us. In short, we’d found our story! We saw how Sunny, shy and soft-spoken, had begun to come into her own. Drawn to her enthusiasm and heart, her emotional and political awakening now seemed like an important journey to follow. As we watched how her growing awareness fueled profound personal changes, and how those changes, in turn, informed her growing activism, we knew we’d found our film. Perhaps to describe it more aptly, the film found us.
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Introduction In 2006, Sunny Clifford (Oglala Sioux) then 21 years old, returned to her home on the Pine Ridge Reservation after spending almost two years away at an Oklahoma college. Sunny came back not out of a desire to return to a home filled with happy memories but for a deep seated desire to make a difference—even if a small one. Soon after Sunny returned, an opportunity to get involved quickly emerged: the South Dakota government proposed a new law that would ban all abortions in South Dakota, without exception for rape or incest. When Cecilia Fire Thunder, the first female president of the Oglala Lakota tribe, came out against the ban, Sunny and her twin sister Serena found a way to become change-makers in their community. Sunny Clifford, Photo by Diego Siragna.
As a tumultuous political battle was waged on the reservation, Sunny began spending more time with Fire Thunder, helping her campaign and mobilizing support on the reservation. Through doing so, Sunny starts to make political and emotional connections, (this individualizes a systemic issue of oppression/disempowerment of young Native women) andas her courage grows, she is finally able to walk away from an abusive relationship. Sunny recognized a problem and made a choice to help. In doing so, she found her voice. Sunny fought and continues to fight fiercely for women’s rights, both on the reservation and beyond. Her struggle reflects the difficulties many other women face in finding confidence, independence, purpose, and expression. “We have to know who we are, and we have to know where we're from,” Sunny says. “And once you fully accept yourself, you realize what you want. I want be a woman who's not afraid to say what's on her mind.” Sunny’s personal story of her growing political awareness amidst the deeply enmeshed statewide and tribal political struggles highlight some key themes. Although Young Lakota shows the fight for reproductive rights and justice on the political stage of the Pine Ridge Reservation and South Dakota, there are many emotional and complex layers to the film, including: • The impact of poverty on sexual health and access to quality care • The interplay of state politics and tribal sovereignty when it comes to legislating laws that dictate a woman’s ability to make decisions about whether to have children • The role of cultural identity for emerging youth leaders • The prevalence of young parents in communities across the country, and specifically on the reservation • The need for culturally safe health care and services • The widespread occurrences of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking experienced by Native communities
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Background Information “We believe reproductive justice is the complete physical, mental, spiritual, political, economic, and social well-being of women and girls, and will be achieved when women and girls have the economic, social, and political power and resources to make healthy decisions about our bodies, sexuality and reproduction for ourselves, our families and our communities in all areas of our lives.” Forward Together The reproductive justice framework—the right to have children, to not have children, and to parent the children we do have in safe and healthy environments—is based on the human right to make personal decisions about one’s life, and the obligation of government and society to ensure that the conditions are suitable for implementing one’s decisions. It represents a shift for women advocating for control of their bodies from a narrower focus on legal access and individual choice to a broader analysis of racial, economic, cultural, and structural constraints on women of color’s power, and, in the case of Young Lakota, Native women’s power. The Reproductive Justice movement has historically differed from the more mainstream Pro-Choice movement in that their definition of reproductive rights goes well beyond abortion and the right to “choose.” These organizations critique “choice” not because they argue that women should be denied agency, but because larger structural constraints shape how Indigenous women and women of color make choices, navigating their reproductive lives. The emphasis on individual choice does not pay attention to the social context in which individuals—women—make choices, nor does it look at how the government works to regulate certain populations, discipline individual bodies, and control reproduction. Up through the 20th century, the US government, as well as private doctors, abused sterilization practices on women usually without women’s consent or even their knowledge. Native American women, for example, were unknowingly given hysterectomies (a type of surgery to remove the reproductive organs like the uterus and ovaries) by Indian Health Service—a procedure that is not reversible. The Reproductive Justice movement, therefore, opposes such practices of population control while simultaneously supporting voluntary birth control. Reproductive Justice addresses the social reality of inequality, specifically, the inequality of opportunities that women have to control our reproductive destiny—the right to have children and the right to not have children. Our options for making choices have to be safe, affordable and accessible, three minimal cornerstones of government support for all individual life decisions.
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Why Reproductive Justice Matters for Native Women
"Terra Nullius" by Erin Konsmo, Native Youth Sexual Health Network
Despite advances in health care across the country, Native Americans continue to suffer a significantly lower health status than any other group in the U.S., and Native American women on rural reservations are especially affected by this difference.. There are historic and ongoing violations of Native women’s right to health, oftentimes produced and perpetuated by the Indian Health Service (IHS). IHS facilities are very few, and the ones that do exist are oftentimes inadequate or outdated—a result of underfunding from the US government. Moreover, different IHS facilities have different forms of contraception—what they offer is very uneven. According to a report by the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center (NAWHERC) in 2008, 12.5% of IHS facilities do not dispense Emergency Contraception (sometimes called the ‘morning after pill’ or ‘plan B’) at all.
Native women experience disproportionate levels of violence—especially sexual violence. More than one in three Native women will be raped in her lifetime, and are 2.5 times more likely than any other woman in the US to be raped or beaten. The IHS fails to provide Native women comprehensive and reliable access to rape kits, emergency contraception, and quality and/or safe contraceptives. Moreover, facilities do not have clear protocols or may not offer care that is culturally safe or appropriate. 44% lack staff trained to provide emergency care to survivors of sexual violence. Native women face similar barriers to quality health care as low-income and rural women across the country, with countless added challenges resulting from geographic isolation, racism, displacement and cultural trauma as a result of colonization. What is Cultural Safety? This is a concept developed originally developed by Indigenous peoples in New Zealand and now used all over the world, to address ongoing racism and discrimination in health care settings. It moves beyond frameworks of ‘cultural sensitivity’, ‘diversity’, or ‘culturally appropriate’ into a systemic analysis of how colonialism presents itself when Indigenous peoples receive health care. It is important to note that only the person receiving care can decide if it is safe, or not - not the service provider. The emphasis is that Indigenous people must, at minimum, feel safe when receiving care.For more information please review this fact sheet: http://www.naho.ca/documents/naho/english/Culturalsafetyfactsheet.pdf
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Some Numbers and Figures on Native and Indigenous Women & Reproductive Rights By Law Students for Reproductive Justice Widespread poverty plays a large role in Native American women’s struggle for reproductive justice. The federal government directly regulates and restricts Native women’s reproductive health choices through Indian Health Services (IHS), the sole source of health information and services for many Native Americans. During the 1970s, the IHS engaged in coercive and forced sterilization of Native women throughm is informed consent—an estimated 25,000 women underwent this surgery by 1975. Threats that the women would die or lose welfare benefits if they had more children accompanied “consent” documents offered only in English, rather than the women’s Native languages. • One former IHS nurse reported the use of tubal ligation on "uncooperative" or "alcoholic" women into the 1990s. • More recently, Depo-Provera has been used on Native women with mental disabilities, purportedly to eliminate their menstrual bleeding for the convenience of their caregivers. This reasoning ignores the fact that the drug stops bleeding completely in only a few cases. • The IHS used Depo Provera on many Indigenous women with disabilities in the 1980s in Phoenix and Oklahoma City, despite the fact that the FDA had not yet approved its use. • In accordance with the Hyde Amendment’s funding restrictions, IHS cannot provide abortion services to Indigenous women except in the case of rape, incest, or life endangerment. In fact, the IHS has provided only 25 abortions in the past 20 years. • In Mississippi and South Dakota, states with high Native populations, IHS does not provide federal financial aid for abortion in cases of rape or incest, services guaranteed under federal abortion policy and required by the Department of Health and Human Services. • One in three Native American women will be raped or sexually assaulted in her lifetime—a rate 3.5 times greater than other groups. 86% of perpetrators are non-Native, so tribal police have no jurisdiction to arrest them and must depend on the FBI to do so. • IHS does not provide access to emergency contraception except in cases of sexual assault though even this is unevenly implemented.
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Explanation of Words & “Who’s who”: Colonialism: Adapted from Wikipedia: Colonialism is the establishment of governance or authority through the creation, maintenance and expansion of settlements by another country or jurisdiction. It is a set of unequal relationships between the colonizer and the colony and between the colonists and the Indigenous peoples of that land. Colonization: The process of colonialism systems and structures like boarding schools, creation of reservations and taking away land rights. Cultural Safety: a concept developed by Indigenous peoples that specifically names issues like power imbalances, prejudice and racism and how they play out in a health care setting as well as what service providers can "Sharpie Ceremony" by Erin Konsmo do to be reflective and make systemic society to ensure that the conditions are change. The emphasis is that Indigenous suitable for implementing one’s decisions. It people must, at minimum, feel safe when represents a shift to a broader analysis of receiving care. racial, economic, cultural, and structural Indian Country: Federal law defines Indian Country as: “All land within the limits constraints on our power. Reproductive Rights: Advocates control of any Indian reservation,” “all dependent for women over their bodies mostly through Indian communities within the borders of legal process (legislation, laws and policies) the United States”, and “all Indian allotments, the titles to which have not been and access to individual choices about whether to not to continue a pregnancy to extinguished.” term. IHS: The Indian Health Service was Sovereignty/Selfdetermination: There established in 1955 is a division of the department of the US Department of Health are many definitions and understandings of and Human Services which operates health these concepts: some are found in international human rights law, US law, as facilities for American Indian and Alaska well as Tribal law, and more traditional Native peoples Reproductive Justice: The reproductive understands that pre-date colonization. For this guide, think of it as the freedom to justice framework – the right to have children, not have children, and to parent the choose what your future will be and the ability to make decisions that impact your children we have in safe and healthy environment-- is based on the human right life (Example: Self determination over our to make personal decisions about one’s life, bodies means no one can tell us when or how to have children or not). and the obligation of government and
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Legacy of Indigenous Feminisms: “When a woman makes a decision about her body, it’s my job to support that decision, no matter what” - Cecilia Fire Thunder
Many Indigenous peoples and Nations have a long history of understanding and practicing balance and respect between our peoples. Through forced colonization, land theft and the disruption of our traditional ways of life many ideas about gender and sexuality were imposed.
n the last 100 years or so mainstream feminisms have claimed to be the only movement for women’s rights and justice. Mainstream feminist theories about "waves" of feminism often erase Indigenous women's existence in different leadership and governance positions within different nations. Young Lakota shows us this is not true - and that while there are many expressions in our languages for how to describe our relationships with each other - it is clear there is a long legacy of Indigenous women’s leadership that needs to be respected, honored and learned from.
Each individual Nation has its own teachings of how to structure a healthy community so that everyone has responsibilities. Some were, and still are, matriarchal or matrilineal meaning family was traced through the mother’s bloodline andthat women “I had no reason to think there was nothing a woman could not made important decisions such as food do or not achieve simply because distribution, leadership and she was a woman. My familial,
cultural and personal experiences had made me think the opposite, that women were inherently strong and were the natural leaders within the family and the community… While feminism was something I had studied in university, Indigenous feminism was something I had lived.” - Jocelyn Formsma, “My journey to Indigenous Feminism” from Feminism for Real
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Selected Individuals Featured In Young Lakota Sunny Clifford (left): Sunny is a 21-year old Oglala Sioux, and has recently returned to the Pine Ridge Reservation with hopes of making a change in her community. Serena Clifford (right): Serena is Sunny’s twin sister. She also lives on the Reservation and is the young mother of a child, Kamea. Like Sunny, Serena is a supporter of Cecelia Fire Thunder.
Brandon Ferguson: Brandon is the neighbor of Sunny and Serena, and their good friend. He has a charming personality and political aspirations.
Cecelia Fire Thunder: Cecelia is the first female President of Oglala Sioux Tribe. She incites political turmoil on the reservation when she mentions building a women’s clinic on tribal land.
Alex White Plume: Alex is the former Vice President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. He asks Brandon to work for him during his campaign against Cecelia Fire Thunder for tribal president.
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Planning a Successful Screening Event! Below are tips and ideas on how to plan an event around a screening of Young Lakota. We hope this film will be used as a way to spark dialogue and educate. Here we offer practical suggestions, as well as questions and information that will make viewers and participants think more deeply about the issues that the film raises.
Questions to consider when planning an event: What are your goals? Are you hosting a standalone event, or is it part of a larger and ongoing project? What do you hope to achieve? How will you structure the event? Do you want a larger audience, which is better for educational events, or a smaller audience, which is better for in-depth dialogue? Do you want to organize a panel of experts on various topics? Do you want to host a character from the film or member of the outreach team? Do you need an outside facilitator? A translator? A sign language interpreter? Who are you reaching out to? Have you thought about all potential groups you could invite to the event? Where will you hold the event? Do you have an appropriate space? Is it comfortable? Is there room for discussion circles or small breakout groups?
Some tips if you will be facilitating an event: ∙ View the film before the event. ∙ Know the basics on issues of Native women’s health and reproductive justice to help guide the discussion. See our Resources section for suggested reading material. ∙ Be clear about your role: if you’re planning on facilitating event, remember that this role differs from being a host or organizer. A facilitator’s job is not to convey information, but rather to move the discussion and make sure everyone’s voice is heard. ∙Be aware and attuned to difference: issues can play out very differently for different groups of people. Take care not to assume that all members of a particular group share the same point of view.
On Cultural Safety and Consensual Allyship: For non-Native supporters and event leaders Given the deliberate erasure and colonization of Indigenous peoples in the U.S. (and globally) some of the realities depicted in this film and this guide may be a surprise to you. We encourage you to reflect on why this might be, why this was not taught to you at some point in your lifetime and hope you will continue learning about these issues. If you currently or have previously worked in health care, again these realities may come as a shock or you already know but have feelings of guilt, anger, sympathy or discomfort. Indigenous communities have been dealing with the impacts of colonialism and racism for a long time and have built up strategies to address it. For example, “Cultural Safety” is a concept specifically geared towards talking about how things like power imbalances, prejudice and racism play out in a health care setting and what people can do to be reflective and make change. Please engage with Native communities and individual Native people in a consensual way. Ask before you take any action that might have unintended negative impacts, and take leadership from Native activists who are already doing work on these issues. Do your homework and research what has already been tried, as well as what has worked or not worked. Being a non-Native ally doesn’t mean you won’t make mistakes, and that’s ok, just learn from them, step back, and take direction.
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Discussion Questions
General Reactions to the film:
1. If you could ask any person in the film—Sunny, Serena, Brandon, Cecelia—a question, what would you ask them? 2. What there anything in the film that surprised you? Did you learn anything you didn’t know before? 3. What was your reaction to Cecelia Fire Thunder’s desire to build a women’s clinic on the reservation? What were the arguments for the women’s clinic? Against it? 4. What did you think about Cecelia Fire Thunder’s impeachment by the tribal council? Why do you think she was impeached? 5. What were some of the cultural, political, and religious factors contributing to many Pine Ridge residents' resistance to Cecelia’s efforts? (For ideas reflect on the interviews with Eileen Janis, Judy Peres, and the rap artist Lightfoot among others) 6. In what ways is Young Lakota a story that is specific to the community on the Pine Ridge Reservation? What parts of the story speak to universal qualities about community, leadership, and the beliefs that shape us?
Native Youth Leadership
Supporting Women’s Rights
7. How do economic circumstances influence the decisions Sunny, Brandon, and Serena make in the film? 8. Compare Brandon and Sunny’s personal journeys throughout the film. Where do their paths diverge? Come together? 9. After Cecelia Fire Thunder lost to Alex White Plume in the primary elections, Serena states: “I thought he was a good guy.” Do you think Sunny and Serena are justified in doubting Brandon’s character in light of his choices? What would you do if you were Brandon? 10. How does Cecelia Fire Thunder inspire Sunny to make changes on the reservation? Are there relationships between adult leaders and youth leaders in your community? If not, why?
11. How does the story of Young Lakota relate to current debates about women’s reproductive health on a national level? 12. What role do you think popular culture plays in how we think about women’s bodies, sexuality and gender? Reflect on media messages you are exposed to, and from the film. 13. Reflect on the moments where Cecilia, Sunny, Serena and other people talk about the history and culture of the Lakota people. How does culture inform or tell us how to think about certain issues? If you’re Native, where can we draw strength and inspiration from our history as Native peoples? If you’re not Native, do you draw strength and inspiration from your cultural background and if so, how?
Taking Action and Getting Involved 14. How might you become more involved in local activists and community efforts to a) support women’s rights b) support Native youth and c) raise awareness about important issues facing your community. Brainstorm examples together for each option. 15. In what ways is your community providing sexual and reproductive health services to local residents? Do you have local centers where women can receive services such as exams, birth control/contraceptives, and abortions? What about other services such as shelters, domestic violence programs or sexual health? 16. Do you think these services could be improved to better serve your community? How can you help to make that happen?
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About the Young Lakota Outreach Team: The Native Youth Sexual Health Network (NYSHN) is coordinating the community engagement and outreach with the Young Lakota team. As a national organization by and for Indigenous youth working across issues of sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice, NYSHN is supporting the film with: • Interactive and Educational Workshops for youth and/or service providers and community sharing information on sexual health, or themes relevant to your community • Speaking engagements • Community organizing and mobilization • National and local activism initiatives NYSHN Contact Jessica Danforth at
[email protected] to find out more
“We are excited to support this film because it is an example of the power of Native youth leadership—and youth leadership more broadly—in effecting real change. While the realities of confronting racism and sexism can get us down we also know there is tremendous strength, wisdom, and cultural pride in our communities and families! We can use these strengths to take actions—in our families, in our peer groups, or even on a personal level— to change the present and future.”
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"Reproductive Rights are Land Rights," by Erin Marie Konsmo, NYSHN Staff
Suggestions for Action 1. Organize a screening party of Young Lakota and start a dialogue in your community about women’s reproductive health and local activism opportunities.
6. Tell your politicians to protect women’s health today by standing up against laws that violate reproductive rights https://www.aclu.org/secure/protect-womenshealth?ms=web_page_130411_protectwomensheal th.
Center for Reproductive Rights Take 2. Consider making a show with Public Action: Access television or community radio where http://reproductiverights.org/en/feature/takeyou can discuss reproductive rights and action justice in your community. 7. Read more about Native Youth issues at the Center for Native American Youth 3. Organize and educate women, girls, and http://cnay.org/ForEveryone.html#Research_&_P their families in your community—not only olicy about access to abortion, but also its 8. Sign Sunny Clifford’s petition on connection to other reproductive justice and Change.org demanding access to Plan B on social justice issues. Indian reservations http://www.change.org/petitions/ihs-stopblocking-native-women-s-access-to-emergencycontraception
4. Hold a workshop in your community around a screening of Young Lakota. Contact Jessica Danforth at 9. Learn more about access to emergency
[email protected] to contraception within Indian Health Service here: find out more. 5. Educate yourself about reproductive justice by exploring our suggested reading.
http://www.nativeshop.org/images/stories/media/ pdfs/Plan-B-Report.pdf
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Resources Organizations:
The Native Youth Sexual Health Network: www.nativeyouthsexualhealth.com The Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center: www.nativeshop.org Tewa Women United: tewawomenunited.org Sister Song Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective: www.sistersong.net Pro-Choice Public Education Project: www.protectchoice.org Forward Together (formerly Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice): forwardtogether.org National Latina Health Organization (NLHO): clnet.ucla.edu/women/nlho/ SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW!: www.sparkrj.org Black Women’s Health Imperative: www.blackwomenshealth.org Black Women for Reproductive Justice: bwrj.wordpress.com Latina Institute for Reproductive Health: latinainstitute.org COLOR: Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights: www.colorlatina.org
Blogs Advocates for Youth: www.advocatesforyouth.org/blogs Break the Cycle: www.breakthecycle.org Colorlines: http://colorlines.com/ Feministe: www.feministe.us/blog/ Feministing: feministing.com/ INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence: inciteblog.wordpress.com Indigenous Women’s Network: indigenouswomen.org National Advocates for Pregnant Women: http://advocatesforpregnantwomen.org /blog Our Bodies Our Blog: www.ourbodiesourblog.org Project Respect Blog: projectrespect.org/project-blog.html Racialicious: www.racialicious.com RH Reality Check: www.rhrealitycheck.org Scarleteen: www.scarleteen.com/blog The Crunk Feminist Collective: www.crunkfeministcollective.com/ The F Bomb: thefbomb.org The Feminist Breeder: thefeministbreeder.com The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unwanted Pregnancy: www.thenationalcampaign.org Womanist Musings: www.womanist-musings.com Women’s Health News: http://womenshealthnews.wordpress.c om/
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Further Reading Amnesty International. 2007. Maze of Injustice: The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence in the USA. New York: Amnesty International. Available at: http://www.amnestyusa.org/pdfs/MazeOfInjustice.pdf Conquest: Sexual Violence And American Indian Genocide, Andrea Smith, Forward by Winona LaDuke. South End Press, 2005. 246 pages. "Indigenous Feminism Without Apology" by Andrea Smith from "Reflections and Resources for Deconstructing Colonial Mentality: a sourcebook compiled by the Unsettling Minnesota collective," September 2009. "An Indigenous Perspective on Feminism, Militarism, and the Environment" by Winona LaDuke, Peace Now, Vol. 4 No. 4 Spring/Summer 1994. Indigenous Women and Feminism Conference: Culture, Activism, Politics Stollery Business Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada August 25-28, 2005 Indigenous Women's Health Book, Within the Sacred Circle: Reproductive Rights, Environmental Health, Traditional Herbs and Remedies. Edited by Charon Asetoyer, Katherine Cronk, and Samanthi Kewakapuge. Pine Hill Press, 2003. 322 pages. Indigenous Women’s Reproductive Rights: The Indian Health Services and Its Inconsistent Application of the Hyde Amendment, Kati Schindler et al, Native American Women’s Health Education and Resource Center (2002), Available at: http://www.prochoice.org/pubs_research/publications/downloads/about_abortion/indi genous_women.pdf "I Am Woman: A Native Perspective on Sociology and Feminism," by Lee Maracle, University of Queensland Press, January 1, 2002 "Feminism for Real: Deconstructing the Academic Industrial Complex of Feminism," edited by Jessica Yee, The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2011 "Making Space for Indigenous Feminism," edited by Joyce Green, Zed Books, December, 2007 Policing the National Body: Sex, Race, and Criminalization by Jael Silliman, Anannya Bhattacharjee, Angela Yvonne Davis. South End Press, 2002. 352 pages "Talkin' Up to the White Woman: Indigenous Women and Feminism" by Eileen MortonRobinson Reproductive Justice Briefing Book: A Primer on Reproductive Justice and Social Change by the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective and the Pro-Choice Public Education Project. Available at: http://www.protectchoice.org/downloads/Reproductive%20Justice%20Briefing%20Boo k.pdf Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organizing for Reproductive Justice by Jael Silliman, Marlene Gerber Fried, Loretta Ross, and Elena Gutiérrez. South End Press, 2004. 344 pages.
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Academic journal publications: Native Feminisms: Legacies, Interventions, and Indigenous Sovereignties guest edited by Mishuana R. Goeman and Jennifer Nez Denetdale Whiteness Matters: Implications of Talking Up to the White Woman - Eileen Morton-Robinson Race, Tribal Nation, and Gender: A Native Feminist Approach to Belonging - Renya Ramirez Dismantling the Master's Tools with the Master's House: Native Feminist Liberation Theologies - Andrea Smith
Videos: What is Reproductive Justice? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu-iJH3xSoU Loretta Ross of SisterSong on "Reproductive Justice 101" Part 1 & 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRcT_NMa6aI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNIWbvdeJas&feature=rel ated Lucy Felix, Migrant Health Promotion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWlxtmChsJ0 A Different Vision for the Reproductive Justice Movement: LUZ Reproductive Justice Think Tank http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w34xRxYweT8 Speak Justice! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMihq-u_J9Y
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Appendix Below is a short current history of the attempts and counter attempts to affect Roe v. Wade and the rights of South Dakota women, including women of the Lakota Sioux of the Pine Ridge reservation: 2006 - As depicted in the film, the Legislature passed a ban on all abortion, including rape and incest; the only exception was endangerment of the mother’s health. It was signed into law, but opponents gathered sufficient signatures to put it up for a public referendum on 2006 Statewide Election Ballot. It was then defeated. 2008 - A law banning abortions with narrow exceptions for rape and incest was passed by the Legislature and signed into law in 2007. This was also defeated by public referendum on the ballot in 2008. A sonogram requirement (all abortion providers must offer a sonogram to a woman before an abortion even if it is not medically necessary) also passed the Legislature, which was signed into law. 2009 - SB 92 was introduced, which would have required the physician performing an abortion to be physically present in the state for 24 hrs before a procedure. Because SD flies in its physicians from other states (there are no physicians in the state willing to provide abortions) this would have made services limited if not impossible. 2010 - No anti-choice legislation, but a contraceptive equity bill failed. 2011 - HB 1171- A bill that would have created a justifiable homicide defense for individuals who murder abortion providers was proposed but failed in the House. HB 1217 - Would require women to endure a 72 hour waiting period and visit an anti-choice Crisis Pregnancy Center for "counseling" before an abortion procedure. It was passed by the Legislature, signed into law, but blocked by the court. 2012 – Federal 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a South Dakota law which requires doctors to warn women that abortion would subject them to increased risk of depression and related psychological distress” and “increased risk of suicide ideation and suicide,” even though there appears to be no evidence supporting these statements. As of June 1st 2013—Abortion in South Dakota is only legal up to 24 weeks. Public funding will only be provided to pregnant women seeking abortion in cases where the women’s life is in danger (No exceptions are made for rape or incest). Women who seek an abortion must receive state mandated counseling on Fetal Pain and the scientifically unfounded claim that abortions lead to negative psychological effects. Women must wait at least 72 hours after counseling before they receive a procedure and in cases where a woman is under 18, parental notification is required. (Guttmacher Institute)
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Created by Erin Marie Konsmo, NYSHN staff reflecting on the issues Native women still face when accessing reproductive health services on the 40th anniversary of Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion in the United States
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