As a small child,
Nakuset was taken from her home in Thompson, Manitoba and adopted into a
Jewish family in Montreal. She was part of the Sixties Scoop, a
generation of Indigenous children who were forcibly removed from their
families and communities throughout Canada, and adopted into settler
homes.
Told through personal archives, Nakuset details
the abuse and confusion she suffered as a child and chronicles how,
along with the help of her Bubby (Jewish grandmother), she was able to
reclaim her identity and become a powerful advocate for her people. WATCH
Sept. 30 is the National
Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Expert worries that future drop in gov't funding could derail inquiries into the past
Acimowin
Opaspiw Society is investigating children who went missing while
attending the Blue Quills residential school, at Saddle Lake, Alta.,
between the years 1898 and 1931. (Musée Héritage Museum)
WARNING: This story contains distressing details
Leah Redcrow never went to residential school but that doesn't mean she escaped its long reach.
Three
generations of her family were sent to the Blue Quills residential
school in Saddle Lake, a Cree First Nation located 170 kilometres
northeast of Edmonton.
Her grandfather survived the institution, but 10 of his siblings did not.
One of those siblings, a seven-year-old girl named Eva, has no burial record.
"She's not even listed as deceased," says Redcrow, executive director of the Acimowin Opaspiw Society, a group investigating the school's history.
Redcrow
only learned of Eva's existence during her research. "We don't know
where her body is," she says. Like countless other children, Eva simply
never came home, vanishing from the historical record.
Correcting
that record was a key recommendation of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (TRC) report when it was released in December 2015.
Such
inquiries are now happening across the country, led by Indigenous
nations, groups and organizations trying to untangle the dark mysteries
left in the wake of Canada's residential school system while providing
some clarity and closure for survivors, families and affected
communities.
Paying for the work
Sept. 30 is the National
Day for Truth and Reconciliation, designated in 2021 to recognize the
tragic legacy of residential schools. At that time, the commission had
documented 4,117 deaths of Indigenous children at residential schools
but the actual number could surpass all estimates.
The rate of
deaths among children in residential schools was far higher than that of
the general school-aged population, and parents were rarely informed
about their child's illness, death or burial.
"No one took care to count how many died or to record where they were buried," reads the TRC's final report, summing up the need for and challenges of the ongoing inquiries.
But the first obstacle to that work is the cost.
In
2009, one year after the TRC was established, the commission asked for
$1.5 million to perform research work similar to what is now being done.
The federal government denied the request.
More than a decade
later, in June 2021, the federal government launched a major funding
program for groups to perform research. The program, which received
criticism for the slow pace at which money has gone out the door, has been funded through the first quarter of 2025.
As of Sept. 25, 150 applications had been received, with 117 approved for a total of $160 million, according to a statement from Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.
Of
those not approved, three projects were deemed ineligible, two not
recommended for funding, three applications were withdrawn, and one
application was redirected to another funding program. The remainder are
still under assessment.
The
Alberta government announced its program in 2021. The $8-million fund
was created to provide grants to Indigenous communities and groups
conducting research into deaths at residential school sites. Funding was
capped at $150,000 for proposals from individual groups, with no cap
for joint submissions.
According to a spokesperson for Indigenous
Relations, the province approved grants from 43 different Indigenous
communities or organizations, paying out all $8 million in the 2021/2022
fiscal year.
Survivors are 'tough negotiators'
Redcrow's grandfather, Stanley Redcrow, went on to lead a sit-in
at Blue Quills Residential School, forcing the federal government to
the negotiating table and ultimately transferring the school to First
Nations' control in 1971.
Perhaps drawing on that hard-nosed
heritage, Leah Redcrow, alongside survivors with the Acimowin Opaspiw
Society, negotiated with the federal government to move from its initial
offer of $300,000 to an eventual $1.1 million.
"They're tough negotiators," Redcrow says of the survivors, with a laugh. "They kept rejecting and rejecting and rejecting."
Archaeologist
Kisha Supernant uses ground-penetrating radar in her work. Supernant
has been consulting with Indigenous communities on how the technology
can best be applied to search for unmarked graves. (Submitted by Kisha Supernant)
Asked
about those negotiations, a spokesperson for Crown-Indigenous Relations
and Northern Affairs Canada said in a statement that "the Acimowin
Opaspiw Society and the departmental program officer responsible for the
file clarified the proposal's objectives, activities and budget and
they were able to agree on a funding amount that supported those
activities and objectives."
After writing a preliminary report
detailing progress, particularly with church records, the group received
additional money. The almost-$6.4 million allocated to the society over
four years is the most of any Alberta group, and the fourth-highest
nationally.
The funding is crucial because costs for groups doing
historical research are considerable — and over multiple years, things
start to get pricey.
There are wages for staff, such as a project
manager and investigators, document translation and office
expenses. There are costs associated with the work of commemoration,
community engagement or interviews with elders, sometimes including
travel expenses.
And then there's the specialized work, like
the ground-penetrating radar (GPR) used to detect anomalies consistent
with unmarked graves.
Radar searches often misunderstood
The
use of GPR has resulted in headline-grabbing finds that fixed the
national gaze on the human toll of residential schools, even if they
only served to confirm what was already known.
The May 2021 news
of 215 potential unmarked graves at the Kamloops Indian Residential
School on Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation made international news,
marking something of a turning point in the use of the technology at
former residential school sites.
"I do think the announcement from
Tk'emlúps resonated nationally and internationally in a way that we had
never seen before," says Kisha Supernant, director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology at the University of Alberta.
"Even
when other kinds of related issues have been raised — even after the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission or the whole chapter on the missing
children — we hadn't seen this kind of resonance and the response of
non-Indigenous people, especially in Canada."
While other
organizations do GPR in this context, Supernant has become one of its
most prominent practitioners in Canada. She says that she and her team
have done work at 12 former school sites, held over 20 engagement
sessions with interested communities, and had more than 50 nations and
other groups reach out about residential school searches.
Leah Redcrow is executive director of the Acimowin Opaspiw Society. (Francois Joly/Radio-Canada)
Supernant
says GPR has to be used in concert with other information, like
archival research or oral histories, in order to identify possible
unmarked graves of children. The many discovery announcements that
followed Tk'emlúps — including at Cowesses, Star Blanket Cree, Blue Quills
and elsewhere — and the ensuring swirl of news coverage contributed to
false expectations of what GPR can do. As Supernant notes, there were
often years of work behind those announcements.
The significance of those discoveries are often mischaracterized.
It
has long been known that the residential school system, which ended in
1997 after more than a century, resulted in significant numbers of
deaths and disappeared children. The oral histories of Indigenous
communities affected by residential schools are rife with stories of
children who were taken and never returned home. Records from schools or
parishes, while often spotty, also bear testament to these
disappearances and deaths.
"We don't need to find them to know
children died in the thousands. We have extensive records of that,"
Supernant says. "What we're trying to do is find specific locations and
provide additional information for communities who want to investigate
further."
Initiatives led by survivors, communities
What's
crucial, according to those involved in this work, is that the
communities are in control, determining what work needs to be done and
how best to do it.
Governments have provided funding within a
fairly broad set of parameters, but local groups have been left to
determine their path forward, often with survivors leading the way.
"My
big worry at this point is that people will stop paying attention,"
says Supernant. "And once that attention is no longer paid, what will
happen to the funding? What will happen to the supports?"
In St.
Albert, Alta., a city on the northwest edge of Edmonton, the St.
Albert-Sturgeon County Métis Local are part of a collaborative inquiry
with multiple First Nations and Innu groups affected by the Youville
residential school.
Archie Arcand, president of the local, says the work is important and overdue for communities.
It's also an opportunity to help others better understand what the residential school system has wrought in human terms.
Arcand recalls a story he was told.
"In
this particular instance, they'd go by boat along the river. There was
an RCMP [member] in the boat and the person from the residential school.
They'd stop at a community, isolated community, and they'd pick up
kids. No choice, gotta come," he says. "I put myself in the place of
those people and say, holy moly. How would you react?"
He adds: "You can understand why there's so much trauma."
A
national Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide
support for survivors and those affected. People can access emotional
and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour service at
1-866-925-4419.
Mental health counselling and crisis
support is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the
Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat.
Warning:
This video contains distressing details | The Pine Creek First Nation
in western Manitoba is one of the first in Canada to excavate a site
near a former residential school. CBC’s Wawmeesh Hamilton explores how
the community is paving the way for others as it faces the tough
revelations that come with searching for answers.
Dean
Lerat has created extensive family trees in the Treaty 4 area of
Saskatchewan. He usually helps families who are Sixties Scoop and
residential school survivors connect to family — so far helping over 15
families. Rachael Lerat reached out for help and later learned two
acquaintances would be revealed as brothers.
A First Nation in British Columbia says it has found nearly 160 child deaths at four facilities in the province.
As Dan Karpenchuk reports, most of the deaths occurred at a hospital.
The probe by the Stó:lō Nation in British Columbia focused on unmarked graves and missing children, going back to the 1860’s.
But representatives of the First Nation and its research and resource management center say the work is only beginning.
So
far, obstacles have been the lack of access to information from Ottawa
as well as religious institutions that were linked to residential
schools.
The research, using ground penetrating radar, archives,
and field work, was into three residential schools, cemeteries, and a
First Nation hospital.
Most of the children died of diseases such as tuberculosis. Some from accidents.
Amber Kostuchenko is a researcher and the project manager.
“One
child died because they were jumped on by another student. Another
child was reported to have hit their head against the bed under unknown
circumstances. And another was reported to have broken their spine while
jumping rope.”
St. Mary’s Indian Residential School
The
institutions included the St. Mary’s Indian Residential School, the
Coqualeetza Industrial Institute, and the Coqualeetza Hospital – all
three in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley. And the fourth was the All
Hallows School in Yale, BC.
Kostuchencko says her team is still gathering information and has only accessed about half of the 70,000 documents they need.
One
of the lead researchers also says interviews with survivors suggested
many atrocities committed against children, including sexual assaults,
starvation, and secret burials.
Some survivors allege that the St
Mary’s school was a place of punishment and starvation – and later when
it moved to a second location, a place of pedophilia.
WINDOW ROCK – Child welfare services
provided to by Arizona, New Mexico and Utah may soon be improved through
the adoption of traditional Navajo teachings and knowledge if
incorporated into their programs.
Officials with these states’ child welfare agencies were in Window
Rock recently to discuss ways to expand the capacity of their existing
partnership with the Navajo Nation.
The meeting sought ways to strengthen agreements between the Navajo
Nation Division of Social Services and states to enhance services for
Navajo children and families.
“My administration wants to encourage collaboration between child
welfare agencies and to use the Diné Action Plan to help combat the
challenges our Diné families and children face,” President Buu Nygren
told state officials.
The Diné Action Plan is considered a living document that expresses
Diné teachings. It was adopted by the 24th Navajo Nation Council in
2021. The plan was introduced in April 2018 as a blueprint to improve
the quality of life throughout the Navajo Nation.
“Unfortunately, we are seeing inter-generational cycles that occur
when a child is removed from his or her home,” said Thomas Cody,
executive director of the Navajo Division of Social Services. “The
increase of substance use, decrease of healthy parenting, and a decrease
in teachings at home causes a decrease in spiritual connection.”
According to Cody, some Navajo services aid and provide services that
focus on alleviating those generational challenges and traumas.
“Unfortunately, more is needed to combat these issues. This is why
these collaborative partnerships are so important,” Cody said.
Although the Nation has the resources to treat those in need, it
needed a plan to reflect Navajo values and principles of ntsáhákees
(thinking), nahat’á, (planning), iiná (action) and sih hasin
(reflection) that Navajos are familiar with through their traditional
teaching.
The DAP was the result. It was designed to address public safety,
violence, substance use disorder, suicide and missing and murdered Diné
relatives on the Navajo Nation, said Cody.
According to the DAP, which references traditional Navajo teachings,
in contemporary society Navajos face the “monsters” of the modern world.
“These include substance abuse, suicide and the various forms of
violence that has come onto our people. With substance abuse, our people
are attacked by the monster of addiction and lose their lives to
chemicals that draw them into a trap of irresistible cravings where they
are poisoned and die.
“With suicide, our Diné face the evil of hopelessness which results
in the taking of one’s own life,” Cody said. “With violence, there are
monsters of frustration and pain causing them to lash out on others.
Finally, there are monsters outside Navajoland and within (which) take
our people away from our families.”
The DAP states that the teachings of the Navajo deities, known to
Navajos as the Holy People, “are embedded in our culture and traditions
and the teachings provide us with the tools we need to defeat our modern
monsters. The teachings have been given to us by our Diyin Dine’é (the
Holy People).”
According to Navajo teachings, the seven monsters that have preyed
upon the Navajo people from time immemorial are laziness, sleepiness,
jealousy, hunger, poverty, lice and old age.
The DAP was established to maintain spiritual connection as the
foundational component to self-identify and to our culture, said the
president.
Nygren said the Diné Action Plan should be part of each state’s
mental health programs because most Navajos would be familiar and
comfortable with its concepts, and that would lead to better outcomes.
He said there is a need for a state-tribal cooperative approach
because so many Navajos live off the Navajo Nation and use mental health
care provided through neighboring state services.
“Mental health and wellness are so important, especially for our
young people and elders,” he said. “By working together with our state
partners, we can help ensure Navajos have access to culturally
appropriate services no matter where they live.”
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted longstanding mental health
challenges on the Navajo Nation. These include high rates of depression,
substance abuse and suicide.
Isolation during lockdowns exacerbated these issues for many Navajos.
The agreements will aim to address barriers of lack of
transportation, shortage of Navajo-speaking providers, and the high cost
of care.
Specific programs being discussed include the development of a mobile
crisis unit, school-based telehealth services and funding for
traditional healing.
Cases in new AK missing persons report go back to 1960
A first-of-its-kind report on missing persons in Alaska,
which maps out hundreds of cases going back to 1960, has been released
by state's Department of Public Safety and the Anchorage Police
Department, as Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports.
The State Department of Public Safety and the Anchorage Police Department collaborated to collect this data.
Austin McDaniel, a spokesman for the Public Safety Department, says the report maps out hundreds of cases going back to 1960.
“We think this is a good first effort, and we’re definitely interested in adding additional data points.”
McDaniel
says the work, which is an outgrowth of Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-AK)’s
People First Initiative, will be updated every quarter and can be found
online.
In the last quarter, from April to June, 200 Alaska Native
or American Indian people went missing in the state. Most of those have
been found, except for 25.
The database has an important new feature.
It categorizes the circumstances surrounding the disappearances, identifying those which are suspicious.
As
director of the Data for Indigenous Justice group, Charlene Apok
welcomes the new report and says it’s what advocates for missing
Indigenous people have been asking for – for years.
She worked on an earlier attempt to track their numbers.
“Sadly,
I think what this really illustrates is a systemic issue of violence
that’s being perpetrated in our community in the state of Alaska. And
that should raise flags and alarms, and really start igniting justice.”
Apok
hopes the database will continue to improve and provide more
information about those missing, including their hometowns and Native
cultural identities, so they become more than just points of data, but
reminders of loved ones, lost to their families.
my screenshot from the new report👆
**Maybe this TV show helped?👇👇
only one season, sadly
Yesterday I watched the last two episodes of Alaska Daily who had made a similar map and report... Devastating to watch... Trace
Shoes left at Assumption Church on July 9, 2021 (Photo courtesy of the University of Windsor)
Windsor City Hall to light up orange for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
"Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a
challenging time for so many," said Mayor Drew Dilkens. "It provides the
opportunity for all of us to honour First Nations, Inuit, and Metis
survivors, their families and communities."
Orange Shirt Day honours the story of Phyllis (Jack) Webstad, a
residential school survivor, who wore a bright orange shirt on her first
day of school. The shirt was a gift from her grandmother. It was taken
from the six-year-old but became a symbol of remembrance for all
Indigenous children who were forced to attend the schools where
Indigenous language and culture were repressed, and many suffered abuse.
The
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a call to action for all
levels of government, institutions and Canadians to consider how the
Indigenous were and continue to be treated in Canada. It came out of the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which chronicled the experiences
of residential school survivors.
WARNING: This story contains disturbing details about residential and boarding schools. If you are feeling triggered, here is a resource list for trauma responses
from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition in
the U.S. In Canada, the National Indian Residential School Crisis
Hotline can be reached at 1-866-925-4419.
Chairperson Lonna Street, left, Spirit Lake Tribe, and Tamara St.
John, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate historian and a South Dakota state
representative, stand in the Indian Cemetery at the former site of the
Carlisle Indian Industrial School late in the evening of Sept. 17, 2023.
Work in the cemetery disinterring the graves of Amos LaFromboise and
Edward Upright had gone on for approximately 11 hours on a rainy day.
(Photo by Charles Fox for ICT)
“I know that this process will be long and difficult. I know that
this process will be painful. It won’t undo the heartbreak and loss we
feel. But only by acknowledging the past can we work toward a future
that we’re all proud to embrace.” — Secretary Deb Haaland
NABS Receives Grant From DOI to Create Permanent Collection of Stories from Survivors of Federal Indian Boarding Schools
Dear Relatives,
We are honored to share that NABS received a grant from the Department
of the Interior (DOI) to conduct video interviews with Indian boarding
school survivors across the United States to create a permanent oral
history collection. This effort is part of the DOI’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative.
NABS sees this Oral History Project as a historic opportunity to
highlight the voices of Indian boarding school survivors and the harmful
effects of U.S. Indian Boarding School Policy. Through this project,
NABS will support the storytelling and healing of survivors which has
never been done before in U.S. history. Since NABS was established, we
have created spaces where survivors have felt safe to share their
experiences. We have sat with them, learned with them, and have been
moved by their courage. They are our family.
We look forward to working with our relatives across Indian Country in
the U.S., empowering them as they share their stories. Our commitment
includes offering our love and support throughout this process.
tix̌ix̌dubut (take care of yourself),
You can
help today. The truth about the U.S. Indian boarding schools has largely
been written out of the history books. The social, emotional,
spiritual, and cultural devastation from boarding school experiences are
passed down to Native American individuals, families, communities, and
Tribal Nations today. The time for healing these intergenerational
traumas is now. Help us work towards truth, justice, and healing.
Resources:
Secretarial Memo launching the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative
(EAGAN,
Minn., September 26, 2023) – It’s been more than six years since
StrongHearts Native Helpline opened its phone lines to offer victim advocacy
and support for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN). To say they’ve
come a long way is an understatement—especially in the wake of a pandemic.
“We came out of a pandemic
true to form as resilient Native people,” said Lori Jump, (Sault Ste. Marie
Chippewa/ Anishinaabe) CEO, StrongHearts Native Helpline.
“Not only did we survive as
an organization, we thrived while facing adversity. Our commitment didn’t
waiver, and our determination to succeed was undeniable.”
Jump refers to established
benchmarks to expand hours of operation from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. to 24/7, to
increase access by adding text and online chat advocacy, and to enhance
advocate training by adding components to address sexual violence and human
trafficking.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives
“The additional training
components speak to the crisis of our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives
(MMIR) and how they intersect with domestic and sexual violence,” Jump
explained. “We collaborated with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Blue Campaign
to develop culturally sensitive training to support victims of human
trafficking.”
Unfortunately, people in
most need of food and shelter are often preyed upon by predators who target the
poorest communities in the country. They know where they find people desperate
for work and take advantage of them under false pretenses by offering job
opportunities or even love, support, and companionship.
Increased
Staff and Advocates
As StrongHearts became more widely known, staff
and advocates anticipated growth in the number of contacts:
●In the first nine months, StrongHearts started
with two advocates who answered a few hundred calls.
●The following year, the number of calls more than
doubled.
●In 2019, StrongHearts increased its advertising
and marketing efforts to spread awareness that help was available, resulting in
several thousand more contacts.
●In 2020 and 2021, when the pandemic necessitated
spatial distancing, StrongHearts responded by offering remote advocate
positions. Again, contacts grew by several thousand.
●In 2022, contacts exceeded the “all-time” number
in the previous five years with advocates answering more than 40,000 contacts.
Over the course of six years, StrongHearts hired
39 front-line advocates and 11 administrators and support staff.
Adaptation
To Remote Work
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, StrongHearts had
to improvise and adapt to social distancing by utilizing and offering remote
work to advocates and staff. Though this was never intended to be a permanent
remedy, StrongHearts discovered that by providing at-home positions, more
Native people could apply in different states nationwide.
“StrongHearts was created for Native Americans
by Native Americans,” said Jump.
“By transitioning to remote work, we opened new
doors for Native people to apply for jobs with StrongHearts. Headquartered in
Minneapolis, MN, with a branch office in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, we now employ
advocates in 15 different states.”
Michigan
Office
Welcomed by the State of Michigan, StrongHearts
opened the Michigan office in Sault Ste. Marie. The State reached out to
StrongHearts, wanting to support eradicating violence against Native Americans
by providing after-hour services to Michigan Tribes.
Jump explained, “We know that abuse doesn’t
happen between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The opportunity for victim-survivors to call
their respective Tribes and to connect with a StrongHearts advocate after hours
can be lifesaving.”
Michigan’s pilot program allowed participating
Tribes to “opt-in” and offer support and advocacy by tapping into StrongHearts
phone lines after regular business hours. Tribal members could have direct
access to a StrongHearts advocate and receive peer support, emotional support,
crisis intervention, and safety planning, as well as referring them to
Native-centered service providers and resources.
“Advocates help by listening and supporting
survivors through some very dark hours when navigating intimate partner
violence,” Jump explained. “This added layer of protection helps to bridge the
gap between victim-survivors and Tribal member service providers and
resources.”
Real-Time
Data
In just six years, StrongHearts data has
identified victim survivor demographics, types and prevalence of abuse,
barriers to justice, and discovered crisis-level disparities. Thus far, data
suggests there is an incredibly high risk for domestic violence and sexual
violence in all age groups and across the lifespan:
●Ages
range from 13-73+ years. However, most contacts are between the ages of 20-39
years.
●Emotional,
physical, and sexual abuse are more often reported than financial or
digital abuse.
●The
top five barriers to service include access to services, mental health
services, other reasons, finances, and transportation.
●Crisis
level disparities. For Native American survivors, there are 56
shelters and 257 Native-centered service providers. For non-Natives, there are
1,544 shelters and 3,643 service providers.
When Native people suffer some of the highest
rates of violence among 574 federally recognized Tribal nations, it is
appalling that there are only 313 culturally appropriate shelters and service
providers. The disparities in services are catastrophic.
National
Statistics
A study conducted by the National Institute of
Justice (NIJ) in 2010 and published in 2016 concluded:
●97%
of Native women and 90% of Native men experience violence at the hands of
interracial (non-Native) perpetrators.
●35%
of Native women and 33% of Native men experience violence by intraracial
(Native) perpetrators.
●More than 4 in 5 Native Americans have
experienced violence in their lifetime.
●56%
of women have experienced sexual violence.
●28%
of men have experienced sexual violence.
●In
some counties, rates of homicide are 10x more than the national average.
●Homicide
is the leading cause of death for Native women, with more than 3 in 4 being
killed by intimate partners.
“Indigenous people have
been plagued by five centuries of historical trauma that has accumulated
throughout American History. As a culturally appropriate helpline for Native
Americans by Native Americans, StrongHearts advocates understand the
significance of being Native-centered, trauma-informed, and empowerment-based,”
concluded Jump.
“In our seventh year of
operation, we are just beginning to address the need for cultural healing. We
seek to eradicate violence, restore safety, and preserve sovereignty for all
Tribal nations, but on a personal level. Every step we take toward healing is a
step we take to ensure the safety and sovereignty of our children.”
Serving all individuals who reach out for their
services regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, age, religion,
national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or any other factor protected
by local, state, or federal law, StrongHearts advocates are available 24/7 to
provide support and advocacy, make referrals to Native centered service
providers and connect our relatives to regionally available resources. Call or
text 1-844-762-8483 or chat online at strongheartshelpline.org
Source: André B. Rosay, "Violence Against American
Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men," June 1, 2016, nij.ojp.gov
TOP PHOTO: Exponential growth in the
number of contacts demonstrates the need for culturally-appropriate support and
advocacy. | Courtesy: StrongHearts Native Helpline.
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