Oglala Sioux Tribe President stands up against SD abortion bill

[sarahlee]

Cecilia Fire Thunder, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe at Pine Ridge, SD, says that she is going to stand up to Gov. Rounds' ban of all abortion in the state of South Dakota.

The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

“To me, it is now a question of sovereignty,” she said to me last week. "I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction."

http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/013061.asp

[DBoon]

1. YES!

DO IT!

[tandot]

2. You go, Girl!

I wish more people would speak out.

[ceile]

3. What a woman!!!!

You go Cecilia!

[mb6578]

4. that should piss the pigs off

SD didnt really think about this did it?

[elehhhhna]

5. NOM THIS THREAD, please?

I did!

[lukasahero]

15. Did it. eom

[BOSSHOG]

6. Okay Governor Rounds, balls in your court

Whatcha gonna do macho man? Send in the National Guard? Firestorm the building? Please make an extremely large spectacle of yourself. And God Bless you Cecilia Fire Thunder!

[glitch]

7. Beautiful! Another brave woman stands up.

She, among others, are why I haven't given up on this country yet.
K & R

[Warpy]

8. YES YES YES!!

She must be reading DU because quite a few of us have suggested this as a possibility.

[DebbieCDC]

9. Excellent!

:yourock:

[Pacifist Patriot]

10. I love her!

[cap]

11. I wonder how many will cross into her reservation

to get an abortion? Hypocrisy, thy name is South Dakota.

[Mythsaje]

12. I love it!

The bastards behind this crap are going to be running in circles trying to figure out how to block it...but they have no jurisdiction on tribal lands.

[troubleinwinter]

13. Can anybody dig up an address for Pres. Fire Thunder?

I wish to send a donation towards the clinic.

[sarahlee]

17. Here is an address for the tribal office

Oglala Sioux Tribe
Box H
Pine Ridge, South Dakota 57770
[phone]
Fax: [phone]

I think I would write or call her first as she may not be prepared for donations at this junction.

I sent a fax with links to the topic on this I posted in General Discussions and the diary on Kos. Wanted her to see the support.

[troubleinwinter]

19. Excellent! Thank you. Yes, she may want to set up to accept donations.

[sarahlee]

20. Corrected contact info

Tribal Office

PO Box 2070
Pine Ridge, SD 57770-2070
Phone [phone]
Fax [phone]

[lukasahero]

14. Woo hoo!

Way to go, Ms. Cecilia Fire Thunder (Fire and Thunder sound like appropriate names for this woman!) :yourock:

[AnneD]

16. The State of SD has no jurisdiction on

the Rez, it is sovereign.:applause: Pine Ridge and Rose Bud were some of the last tribes to concede. Wouldn't that chap some asses. Gambling casinos, tax free cigarettes and planned parenthood clinics. I don't think it is a very family friendly mix but I am glad she can stand up for women's choices. In some of the more matriarchal tribes, this is totally a woman's choice and a non issue.

[femrap]

18. Let's make sure Cecilia Fire Thunder gets all the

support she needs...money, publicity, etc. What a woman!

[sarahlee]

21. Contact/Donation Info

If you want to mail donations to show your support, you may do so at:

Oglala Sioux Tribe
ATTN: President Fire Thunder
P. O. Box 2070
Pine Ridge, SD 57770

OR her personal mail box - since at this time, this is not an official tribal endeavor

ATTN: PRESIDENT FIRE THUNDER
PO BOX 990
Martin, SD 57751

Enclose a letter voicing your support and explaining the purpose of the donation. The Pine Ridge Res is poor, so do consider donating funds directly to the tribe as well as specifically for this effort.

For email contact, you can contact the president at:

firethunder_president yahoo.com (personal email)
cc:vbush oglala.org (this is her secretary and she asked that you be sure and add the cc for record keeping)

President Fire Thunder asked that checks be made out to
OST Planned Parenthood Cecelia Fire Thunder.

=====

If you want to help the people in another way, send a small check to the Pine Ridge Dialysis Center Project. You can make a real difference in the health of the people who live on Pine Ridge Reservation.

Pine Ridge Dialysis Center Project
attn: Brandy Wright, Director
PO Box 3013
Pine Ridge, SD 57770

Phone: [phone]

====
I faxed the info to Planned Parenthood and emailed to my personal contact list, but I would really like to urge each of you to do the same. I am not going to take some time to email out the info to some liberal media contacts like Mike Malloy - it would be great if some of you would do the same.

[dweller]

22. rec'd

:kick:


dp

[Justitia]

23. What a smart, resourceful & compassionate (female) leader! She really

lives up to her name. I am a long time supporter of Planned Parenthood and I will definitely contribute to the establishment of this health service on her sovereign lands.

Leave it to a strong woman to find the right solution when all looks so bleak.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe has much to be proud of in their president!

[fudge stripe cookays]

24. Well, there's a nice fat donation coming her way from us.

I'm so glad I'm employed again so I can give it to this ballsy woman.

Go Cecilia!
fsc

[sarahlee]

25. Cecelia Fire Thunder Video

Filmmakers Chris Hume and L. Wild Horse travel to South Dakota, the state that has passed a law banning all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest. But on the Pine Ridge Reservation, tribal president Cecelia Fire Thunder is taking a stand. She is invoking the Oglala Lakota tribe's status as a sovereign nation to surpass state law, by building a family planning clinic on the reservation. President Fire Thunder speaks with t r u t h o u t in this video exclusive.

http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm

[sarahlee]

26. The Power of Thunder

<...>President Fire Thunder's decision to take the lead on this issue is nothing short of remarkable considering the number of challenges on the reservation. Almost half of all Native American women in South Dakota are poor, compared with approximately 10 percent of white women, according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research report on the Status of Women in South Dakota. Median annual earnings for women in South Dakota rank last in the nation. Furthermore, the unemployment rate on the reservation is 85 percent and the life expectancy rate is 46 for men and 55 for women.

But President Fire Thunder is a determined woman. Besides announcing plans for the clinic, she has continued to focus on the need to address rape as an issue for South Dakota women, particularly Native American women. One in six American women has been the victim of rape or attempted rape, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey. The average annual rate of rape and sexual assault among American Indians is three and a half times higher than the national average.

Fire Thunder is one of the co-chairs of a new coalition called the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families. The group just announced a grassroots plan to contest the abortion ban on the November ballot. They have until June 19 to collect 16,728 signatures.

AlterNet's Rose Aguilar spoke with President Fire Thunder about the clinic, abortion ban and challenges facing women who live in rural areas.

<...>

Fire Thunder: We have Indian clinics on the reservation, so birth control is available, but it's not enough. We're going to go ahead with the clinic no matter what. If nothing else, we need to establish a place where women feel comfortable.

Aguilar: How will you fund it?

Fire Thunder: I'm not concerned about that. We'll get a lot of support. If it's meant to be, it'll happen. We pray a lot. We trust that there will be people who support it.

Aguilar: How do these laws directly impact the poor women on the reservation?

Women of color and poor women have always known that regardless of what happens, women with money will have access to abortion. Women with money will have access to contraception. No matter which way you cut it, it's always on the backs of poor women.

An elder on my reservation said, "So they don't want you to have contraception or abortions after rape? Are they going to step up and take care of that baby?"

Aguilar: Do you think the pro-choice movement does enough to reach out to poor women?

Fire Thunder: Yes and no. For the most part, we have to empower ourselves. We're becoming much more politically astute, and we're getting a lot more young people involved. We love to get people riled up.

<...>


Fire Thunder: My reservation is 50 miles by 100 miles long. It's a large rural community of 40,000 people and 60 percent of our people speak our language. Half of our population is under 18.

In a perfect world, if a woman is raped, she will call the police, and the police will take her to the emergency room. The emergency room will have components in place to help this woman, including the morning-after pill to prevent the pregnancy. In rural America, that doesn't happen. Many places in rural America do not know about the morning-after pill.

On the reservation, we have to take a look at the high rates of alcohol and drug use. More often than not, young women who've been raped while under the influence will be blamed for being drunk. If someone is raped, especially out in the rural community, they may not report it. After three days, they've passed the cut-off point for taking the morning-after pill.

How many babies are conceived during the act of violence? We don't know.

More....
http://alternet.org/rights/34314/

[petgoat]

27. World Can't Wait travelling to Rapid City to protest abortion ban

and commend the Oglala 7/25--7/27.

http://www.worldcantwait.net/



If you can help or want to join the tour, email [e-mail] or call 866-973-4463

[petgoat]

28. Ooops, change of plans. WCW in Fayetteville Arkansas

region 7-23 to 7-25, Little Rock 7/26, Indianapolis 7-27--7-28.

http://worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2462&Itemid=223#schedule

[noamnety]

29. Commend the Oglala? I think we're over that.

The tribal council (mostly men) inacted their own abortion ban while Fire Thunder was out of town for a medical appointment, they specifically thanked the men attending the meeting who were conceived through rape, and then they impeached her.

[novalib]

30. Did This Really Happen?

I had heard of the story about the courageous Native American Woman in South Dakota who provided a sanctuary against the inhumane law banning all abortions.

I had not heard that she had been impeached and her actions overturned!!!

THIS IS TERRIBLE!!!

Does anyone know how she is doing and what became of her?

Were any women affected by the actions overturning her sanctuary??

[noamnety]

31. Yes, it really happened.

From the clinic's website: "Despite Tribal President Cecelia Fire Thunder's impeachment by the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council, women will continue their work in establishing Sacred Choices Wellness Center (formerly known as Sacred Choices Women's Clinic).

Responding to the needs of women in South Dakota, Sacred Choices Wellness Center will provide women with options for medical treatment, reproductive health care, fitness and mental health needs.

This web site is under construction and will be a fully functional site soon. Our email is working so please send any inquiries there. Thank you and please visit again soon."
http://www.sacredchoiceswomensclinic.org/index.html

So they are working on establishing a clinic still, I guess, but there won't be a legal way to help women that need abortions, since both the reservation and the state have banned them.

Here's another news clip:
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096413261

Women can be in charge, just so long as they do what the men want. As usual. (Sorry if I sound grumpy about this - it's not directed at anyone here at all.)

[petgoat]

32. I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe that's why WCW changed

their itinerary.

Present plans:

Sunday 7-23--7-25 Fayetteville, Arkansas region

Wed 7-26 Little Rock

7-27---28 Indianapolis

7-29- 7-30 Columbus, Ohio

Email [e-mail] or call 866-973-4463 to join the tour or help in anyway you can.