Seminole Nation Domestic Violence Program Moves Forward with Save House Project
By Jill Primeaux
The Seminole Nation Domestic
Violence Department presented the “Domestic Violence
Shelter Project,” to the “Journey to Justice” summit in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on December 2, 2009. Assistant Chief Ella Colman introduced Heather Napier, Seminole Nation
Domestic Violence Director.
Chief Leonard M. Harjo and Hecete Band Representative
and Seminole Nation First Lady, Sheila Harjo were also in attendance.
Assistant Chief Colman addressed
her idea for a panel presentation on the topic of “Land into Trust,” which was presented Gwen Shunanton and Walter Echo Hawk at the Planning Meeting for the October
Listening Conference with The Assistant Secretary for Indian
Affairs Larry Echo Hawk. This meeting was suggested according to Colman due to the difficulties the Seminole Nation
has experienced in putting the tract of land purchased for our Safe House into trust status
by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
“The Seminole Nation Safe House is about breaking the cycle of domestic abuse and violence
on women, children and elders and saving lives, giving hope to victims, and empowering
Native American and non-Native families from a life of intimidation and isolation. It is about building a secure “Safe House” where victims of domestic
violence can find refuge and begin to rebuild their lives. It is about survival, in which it may be a life or death decision
for some people and their children,” said Assistant Chief Colman.
Heather Napier, the Director of the Seminole Nation Domestic
Violence program who is spearheading the “Safe House” Project presented a PowerPoint presentation which introduced the shelter project goals. The goal of the Seminole Nation Safe House is to provide a tribally
operated emergency Safe House that focuses on providing
culturally sensitive services
to victims of domestic violence,
sexual assault, stalking, and dating violence.
To date the SNDV Program has provided advocacy services
to 26 victims who resided in the local non-tribal domestic violence shelter. Only three of these 26 victims were Native
American victims. These numbers reflect how Native American victims are not utilizing
the non-tribal shelter services, which has led the Seminole Nation Domestic Violence
Program to take a step towards providing emergency shelter services.
51% of the victims seen at the SNDV Program along with crisis calls requested a tribally operated domestic violence shelter.
The shelter plan developed in February of 2008 when the SNDV staff identified the need for emergency shelter services to victims and their families. The SNDV staff along with General Council Representative
Sheila Harjo brainstormed ways of marketing the SNDV shelter project along with fund-raising methods to offset the cost of constructing the facility.
The Seminole Nation Domestic
Violence Program received
substantial financial assistance from the Seminole Nation Business Corporate Regulator/BCR program, received
donations and letters of support from the community, tribal Bands, and tribal members,
funds from the Domestic Violence banquet and other fund-raising activities. The end result of which was donations
from businesses and entrepreneurs
through marketing strategies. Finally, the General Council of the Seminole Nation
passed a Tribal Resolution to purchase 40 acres of land for the Seminole Nation Safe House site. The Seminole Nation
Land Acquisition Funds provided the required funding for the land acquisition.
The goal was then to begin the construction of the Safe House prior to receiving any grant funding. The absence of the process for placing the restricted land acquired from a tribal member directly into restricted/trust status for the tribe by the Bureau of Indian Affairs presented a major problem. The advantage of placing the shelter on trust land permits
tribal nations to operate a shelter facility customized to the Nation’s traditions and cultured way of life; it allows flexibility in administering programs
thereby reducing delays in processes for victims seeking
shelter services, increases cross-jurisdictional cooperation
and permits tribal and federal
prosecution.
The advantages of utilizing tribal shelter services are that Native victims have access to other tribal programmatic resources,
i.e., Historical Preservation
office, Job Training, and Placement Assistance, Workforce
Improvement Act, Family
Services, Social Services, Housing, Behavioral Health, Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention and Head Start to name a few. Utilizing a tribal shelter also provides tribally-focused services to the entire family. Victims also have access
to Transitional Living Assistance
and would have access to the Tribal Court system currently
under development, a court system which will hold perpetrators accountable.
For more information regarding
the Seminole Nation Domestic Violence Program contact Heather Napier, SNDV Director at 405-382-3762 or email Ms. Napier at hnapier@seminolenation.com
Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for crisis intervention, safety planning, information and referrals for survivors and anyone calling on their behalf.
The “Journey to Justice” Summit was supported by a grant awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, US Dept. of Justice.
A former tribal employee pleaded guilty to embezzlement before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma on Tuesday, October 28, 2008.
Gannon Brown, 22, of Bowlegs officially accepted guilt for one count of theft by officers or employees of an Indian gaming establishment. Brown was an employee at the Seminole Nation River Mist Casino in Konawa.
The maximum possible penalty for Brown’s offense is imprisonment of not more than 20 years and/or a fine of $1 million. However, according to U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling, Brown will serve a significantly shorter sentence. [Read More] |
