Sharing Our Stories of Survival: Native Women Surviving Violence

A general introduction to the social and legal issues involved in acts of violence against Native women, this book's contributors are lawyers, social workers, social scientists, writers, poets, and victims. In the U.S. Native women are more likely than women from any other group to suffer violence, from rape and battery to more subtle forms of abuse, and Sharing Our Stories of Survival explores the causes and consequences of such behavior. The stories and case-studies presented here are often painful and raw, and the statistics are overwhelmingly grim; but a countervailing theme also runs through this extremely informative volume: Many of the women who appear in these pages are survivors, often strengthened by their travails, and the violence examined here is human violence, meaning that it can be changed, if only with much effort and education. The first step is to lay out the truth for all to see, and that is the purpose accomplished by this book.

About the Author

Sarah Deer is staff attorney and Victim Advocacy Legal Specialist for the Tribal Law & Policy Institute in Saint Paul, Minnesota; she is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma. Bonnie Clairmont , a citizen of the HoChunk Nation of Wisconsin, works for the Tribal Law & Policy Institute; she has worked for 20 years as a counselor and advocate for victims of sexual and domestic abuse. Carrie Martell is a law student at the University of New Mexico. Maureen L. White Eagle has practiced law in various tribal jurisdictions in North Dakota and Minnesota.