A young Native American woman runs across a snow covered valley barefoot with blood on her clothes. This opening scene of the movie Wind River is baffling and heart-wrenching. As a Native American woman, this movie is a wake-up call to the real poverty, hardships, and injustice to women most tribes still face today.
The director, Taylor Sheridan states the movie is, “based on thousands of actual stories just like it,” in an NPR interview. According to a New York Times article, American Indian women are raped and sexually assaulted at a rate four times the national average. They are also 10 times as likely to be murdered than other Americans.
These facts are horrifying, but it only gets worse. The director, Sheridan, hired two researchers for three months to amass a study in which they discovered—“While missing person statistics are compiled for every other demographic, none exist for Native American women.”
When did it become acceptable for Native American women to be a non-statistic or non-existent? Why hasn’t the value of women on the reservations and in the world increased in the year 2017? How can people who claim to be humanist sit by and do nothing, especially those of us who claim to follow Jesus Christ?
My Native American mother and I were both in these statistics. My mom suffered from abuse until she was a teenager. Her emotional and physical wounds proved too severe as she died at the age of 63. I also struggled to get free from my abusive ex-husband for thirteen-years. I was successful, and I moved to the healed side of domestic violence through God’s transforming grace.
My abuse experience and healing have empowered me to become a voice for the voiceless and invisible abused women. A beacon for the value of women. And an advocate for abused women to help them incorporate help from counselors, health care givers, pastors, and employers.
- It’s time to stop the silent pandemic of abuse and domestic violence in America, especially to Native American women.
- It’s time to develop a coalition of resources from caregivers and employers to empower abused women to establish a safe, supportive work environment, career skills, and financial stability to break free from abuse.
- It’s time for all the sons and daughters of God to rise up and help abused women around reservations in love, not judgment.
The silent pandemic of abuse and domestic violence is the silent destroyer of women, families, communities, churches, and America. Let’s work together, and establish help, support, and resources for abused women. Join other organizations and me today to end abuse and domestic violence.
