And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: forwarded for distribution by Mary M..thanks ---- File information ----------- > File: 922f6e.txt > Date: 19 May 1999, 10:50 > Size: 8014 bytes. > Type: Text > -ACCN- 50486 -PUBL- Lincoln Journal Star -DATE- 19990131 -DAYW- Sunday -SIZE- short -EDIT- City -PAGE- 01, 04 -SECT- E -KEYW- American Indians ; Native Americans -NAME- Randolph Reeves -HEAD- If women aren't well, tribe won't be -BYLN- JODI RAVE, column, Lincoln Journal Star -ILLU- b/w head photo, Grace Blackbird -TEXT- When Grace Blackbird was 15, she gave birth to an 8-pound, 3-ounce boy. The boy's father joined the Army a month later. Left with a baby, the young girl remained in her family's home on the Omaha Reservation where living conditions weren't ideal. Her parents drank. So did she. Alcohol, then and later, would prove to be a detriment for Grace and her son. At 18, Grace was sentenced to six months in jail for a drinkingrelated incident. While in jail, her 3-year-old son was taken from her parents' home in yet another drinking-related incident. The county sheriff responded to reports of a drunken brawl in the Blackbird home. The adults were taken to jail and eight children placed in various homes. The state eventually took custody of the young mother's child. A month before she got out, her boy already was gone. She never saw Randolph Blackbird become a young man. She also never had any more children. Randy Blackbird was admitted to the Nebraska State Home for Children in Lincoln 10 days after being taken from his Macy home. Within eight months, he was living in Central City with people who would become his adoptive parents. His name was changed to Randy Reeves. "I always think, "If only I stayed home and hadn't gone out drinking. Maybe if I had said no this wouldn't have happened,'" the mother said recently as she stood outside the Nebraska State Penitentiary waiting for a ride. Inside the prison, sitting on death row, her 42-year-old son was waiting to die. At 24, Reeves murdered two women, Vicki Lamm and Janet Mesner, in a drinking-related incident. He was scheduled to die in the electric chair on Jan. 14. A Jan. 12 stay of execution, however, has left his death sentence up in the air. Before the delay, a number of people stepped forward to protest his electrocution. They attended numerous vigils, rallies and court hearings. Some supporters stand out more than others. For example, Audrey Lamm, the 21-year-old daughter of one of Reeves' victims, became a fixture in those events. The young, wide-eyed, quotable blonde was given many opportunities to explain how she would suffer if her mother's killer were executed. But what do we know of Grace Blackbird? How has her life been affected by the child she never knew? Grace is not young -- she's 58. Grace is not articulate -- she's withdrawn. Grace is not educated -- she never made it past sixth grade. She is an Indian woman who has lived a hard life. She is an Indian woman whose face bears scars. She is an Indian woman who deserved better. Instead, it seems her fate was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The young mother was jailed after she witnessed two young Indian men fighting with a white man. Allegedly, the white man would not leave her alone and the boys fought to defend her. Grace said she walked away with a female friend. In the end, it came down to Grace's word against the white man's. She should not have spent six months in jail. She should not have lost her son without a say. She should not have been left to raise a child by herself. This country is filled with many Grace Blackbirds. Indian women stripped of their civil rights. Indian women stripped of children traditionally held sacred. I was reminded of these injustices recently while reading "Why I Can't Read Wallace Stegner" by Elizabeth Cook-Lynn. An essay in the book titled "The Big Pipe Case" examines the life and circumstances of a Lakota teen-ager named Marie Big Pipe (not her real name). In 1989 assault charges were brought against Marie, an alcoholic, for breast feeding her 9-week-old child while intoxicated. She was indicted and charged with assault. An attorney argued that Marie may have been guilty of neglect, a misdemeanor, but certainly not assault, a felony. The judge disagreed. He sentenced her to a four-year federal prison term in Lexington, Ky. The sentence occurred without a jury trial. Her three children were taken. "There was no outcry -- not from the attorney who handled her case, nor from the Indian community of relatives and friends, nor from Marie herself," Cook-Lynn writes. Indian women once were the backbone of tribal societies. They once had a place of honor. The men once looked out for the women and children. In that time, women like Grace and Marie would have had a chance to raise their children. Our traditional world is fragmented partly because the U.S. government often has tried to destroy Indian values, rather than develop them. Furthermore, U.S. lawmakers pushed an alien form of government on tribes through enactment of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Today, tribal leaders grapple with a form of government still in its infancy, unlike the U.S. Constitution. These changes have not come without consequences. As sovereign nations, we're also confronted with problems that had no place in our traditional societies, problems of random violence, poor parenting, drug, child and alcohol abuse. Alcohol is one of our worst enemies. But it is a disease, not a crime. Alcoholics need a cure, not punishment. Given the scope of Indian social ills, it's no wonder our legal battles are hard won. Indian people, however, have become more savvy. They pushed for legislation to stop the stealing of Indian children. In 1978 the adoption of the Indian Child Welfare Act kept our kids in tribal homes. But as with many laws established to correct injustices, there are those who find a way to manipulate them, as was the case with Marie. "For the past century, state agencies coupled with overt federal legal actions have condemned Indian parenthood and taken Indian children away from dysfunctional tribal families," Cook-Lynn says. She writes about Ramona Bennett, a former chairwoman of the Pullyallup Tribe in Washington, who argued in the mid-1970s against terminating recalcitrant parents' rights: "The alienation of Indian children from their parents can become a serious mental health problem. If you lose your child, you are dead; you are never going to get rehabilitated or you are never going to get well. If there are problems, once the children are gone, the whole family unit is never going to get well." If Indian women aren't well, tribal society won't be either. "Young Indian women, many with minimal education and weakened familial support systems, have been subjected to closer scrutiny by social services and the court system than ever before," Cook-Lynn says. "They have become objects of scorn, singled out for a particular kind of punishment dictated by their alcoholism, drug use and promiscuity." Because many tribal societies have adopted white forms of government, our lives are out of sync. We no longer honor women. Additionally, we allow men who abandon children and degrade women to sit on tribal councils, participate in sacred ceremonies, work as tribal police officers and run tribal programs. As Indian people we need to start respecting women in our society. We need to take care of suffering women. We need to provide them shelter. We need to quit blaming them for what's wrong with Indian families. We can achieve that by making our men more accountable. Randy Reeves may die because he committed murder. Grace Blackbird's death is less certain. But it's been a slow one to be sure. Jodi Rave covers Native American issues for Lee Newspapers. She is based at the Journal Star and can be reached at 473-7240 or at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
