Pretty Bird Woman House

As you can see, we've not only met the shelter's emergency funding goal, we've surpassed it! It has been inspiring to watch so many individuals come together and provide Pretty Bird Woman House with the opportunity to continue its important work. Although we have met the shelter's immediate needs, I will leave the fundraiser open until the end of May, and donations are still gladly accepted.

Thank you to everyone that has been a part of this project: the donors who have contributed online and via check -- especially those of you that have chosen to remain anonymous; the writers and blogs that have featured and publicized this issue; and the volunteers that are already doing the hard work of helping the shelter to become self sustaining. Together you have all contributed to the effort:

• To save this shelter
• To stem the tide of violence against women in the Standing Rock region
• To take the first steps in addressing the horrors described in the Amnesty International report that sparked this effort.

Thank you again. Your generosity offers hope and assistance to women and children that have been otherwise ignored and forgotten.

Although we have met the shelter's immediate needs, I'm still asking for your help; it's not enough to provide an emergency cash infusion if the shelter cannot become self sustaining... and if the much larger issue of sexual and domestic violence against Native American women cannot be addressed in a more systematic way.

To that end:

• We continue to gladly accept the help of volunteers for the shelter's sustainability efforts
• Beyond helping this individual shelter, it is imperative that we work to address the inequities that lead to such high levels of sexual and domestic violence against Native American women. I urge all of you: show your support for the full funding of the Violence against Women Act, particularly Title IX (The Tribal Title).

We can dream of the day that Pretty Bird Woman House and shelters like it choose to close their doors -- not because they've run out of funding, but because there is no longer a need for their services. Until then, the work that you've done and continue to do is exceptionally important. Thank you again.

There have been a few questions from folks whose companies will match funds donated to qualified charities. If you need more information about the shelter for your companies matching funds program, please contact: director AT prettybirdwomanhouse.org. Georgia can fax your company the necessary documents that verify the shelter's 501(c)3 status.

South Dakota Public Radio is planning a one hour radio call in talk show in response to efforts to save the shelter (and the larger issues raised by the Amnesty report) today. They've invited Georgia Little Shield (PBWH's director) and other Lakota leaders, as well as an expert from Amnesty International, to talk about this issue. The May 3rd show starts at 11:00 a.m. Mountain, (Noon Central, 1:00 p.m Eastern)and it will be streamed on line at www.sdpb.org.

Georgia Little Shield (Director and Advocate at the shelter) has finished setting up a paypal account for Pretty Bird Woman House. I've changed the chipin so that all contributions go directly to that account (littleshield@lakotanetwork.com), rather than mine.

This will be helpful, both in getting donations to the shelter more quickly, and in verifying the veracity of the campaign (you can see that this is really the program's director by checking the shelter'sentry at the South Dakota Coalition website.

We're also waiting to hear back from paypal; they're considering waiving or reducing fees for donations to the shelter.

A special thank you to Danita Browne, who took us over the 50% mark.

And thank you to everyone who has helped bring us to the half-way point, and as well as to those who've contributed since we reached this landmark.

50% is important...but we still have a ways to go. Please, give what you can, if you can. And keep spreading the word.

I've been traveling for the weekend and have not had internet access since Friday morning. Words can not express what it feels like to have come home and found this kind of generosity. For an update on the project, take a look at this diary. I'll be posting a more thorough update to this page tommorrow. In the mean time, thank you! But don't stop now--we're only halfway there.

According to a recent Amnesty International report, more than one in three American Indian and Alaskan Native women will be raped or sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Far too often, perpetrators of these crimes go unpunished. Domestic violence is also a serious problem, inflicting physical and emotional damage on both women and children. Often victims have nowhere to turn due to poverty, remote geography and tangled legal jurisdictions. In these dire situations, local domestic violence advocates and women’s shelters can make dramatic differences in helping women cope with the after-effects of violence, and helping them escape from situations where further violence is likely. However, these shelters are chronically under-funded. One such shelter, Zintkala Waste Win Oti (“Pretty Bird Woman House”), has run out of funding and will be forced to close in May if new resources can’t be found to sustain it.

The shelter was founded by Jackie Brown Otter after the kidnapping, rape and murder of her sister (whose Lakota name means Pretty Bird Woman). It serves the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, which is on the border of North and South Dakota. The reservation covers over 2.3 million acres, and with a per capita income of only $8,615, it's one of the most destitute regions in the United States.

From January 2005 to August 2006, 125 domestic violence cases were filed with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Court-15 cases per month. Pretty Bird Woman House was involved with most of those cases, and without that program's help, many cases would have been ignored or withdrawn. If Pretty Bird Woman House does not receive continued funding, it is a foregone conclusion that the women and children who would have been served by the program will have to struggle along on their own. Domestic violence on the Standing Rock Reservation will not be addressed and families, who constitute the spirit of the Reservation, will be weakened and disenfranchised once again.

With adequate resources, the shelter would like to fund a director for the program, two advocates, and a children's advocate, food and supplies for the shelter. They would also fund transportation for families to obtain related services, or to relocate completely in order to escape the violence in their lives. However, in the short-term, without a small amount of funding, the shelter will not be able to keep their phone lines open through May.

You help can make all the difference in keeping Little Bird Woman House open. Your contribution will help stem the epidemic of violence against American Indian women.

If you would prefer to donate directly (rather than through Paypal), please send a check to:
Pretty Bird Woman House
P.O. Box 596
McLaughlin, SD 57642