Public Safety vital to Health of Native Communities |
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Date Posted: 11/10/2009 Description: WASHINGTON, DC - A recurring theme during Thursdays White House Tribal Leaders Conference was the need for interagency coordination to meet the alarmingly high rates of violence against women and youth suicide in Native American communities. While focusing on the many initiatives his administration was taking to improve education and stimulate economic growth in Native communities, President Obama reminded tribal leaders that having safe communities must be a priority. None of our efforts will take root if we can't even guarantee that our communities are safe -- safe places to learn, safe places to grow, safe places to thrive. On some reservations, violent crime is more than 20 times the national average, said Obama. The assault against Native women was acknowledged by the President and later reinforced by tribal leaders speaking during the conference session on law enforcement that afternoon. The shocking and contemptible fact that one in three Native American women will be raped in their lifetimes is an assault on our national conscience that we can no longer ignore, said Oba ma. During the afternoons interactive discussion on public safety and housing, tribal leader Jerry Isaac (Athabascan), president of the Tanana Chiefs Conference of Alaska, said the problem of violence against women goes beyond insufficient funding. He challenged tribal leaders make the health and safety of Native families a priority. Rural Alaska and Indian country suffers from the highest rates of domestic violence and sexual abuse in the entire nation. Rural Alaska and Indian country also suffers from the highest rate of suicide s among the youth, he said. As leaders we have remained dangerously silent for too long. Our silence is an abandonment of our leadership responsibility. Our reaction is no lohger acceptable. Those suffering are not statistical numbers. They are our sisters, our mothers, our daughters, aunts, cousins and children. Isaac and other tribal leaders during the conference called on federal agencies provide more funding for safe communities, to involve tribes in policy making and to pool resources so that tribes have adequate support for their courts, police and substance abuse prevention and treatment programs. During meetings last week with the Bureau of Indian Affairs on funding for the new justice center, Shoshone-Bannock tribal representatives said the tribes would be seeking funds from the US Department of Health and Human Services to provide substance abuse prevention and treatment programs to Native American inmates in the detention facility. Many of those who end up in jail do so because of things they have done while under the influence of alcohol and drugs, said Alonzo Coby, Fort Hall Business Council chairman. If theres an opportunity to help them get clean and sober while in jail then its more likely theyll be able to be clean and sober when they are out of jail. During the public safety panel, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD) said she introduced the bipartisan Tribal Law and Order Act, a companion bill to legislation introduced by Senator Dorgan (D-ND) in the Senate to provide more resources for public safety in tribal communities and to improve coordination among federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement agencies. Tragically, there is a pervasive sense of lawlessness in too many areas of Indian Country. Less than 3,000 law enforcement officers patrol more than 56 million acres of Indian Country. Let me repeat: 3,000 officers for 56 million acres. That reflects less than one-half of the law enforcement presence in comparable rural communities, she said. In his address, Obama noted that the Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services are all working on ways to empower tribal governments to ensure greater safety in Native communities. Chris Devers, chairman of the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians, asked during the discussion on public safety and housing what the timelines might be for meetings to take place to discuss better interagency cooperation. When can we expect change? At what point in time can you give us a date for these things to happen? We continue to come back and say we need help. Let us know what that process will be, he said. President Obama has given federal agencies 90 days to come up with a plan to improve tribal consultation.
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