Activism and Women and Children

This week was extremely interesting because it showed that Native Americans were effectively using the media and the public to gain results for their people. However, I would have like to have heard more about what groups such as WARN (Women of all Red Nations) were doing to combat crimes against Native American women and children. Following my presentation on the sterilization of Native American women, Vonnie brought up a good point. She stated, "What was AIM and other organizations doing about all this?" I realize that the larger organizations such as AIM were busy during this period responding to events such as the Alcatraz seizure, Wounded Knee, the murder of Raymond Yellow Thunder, etc. but this was a methodical killing off of Native people and a horrendous abuse of Native women. The book and my article does not state how effective the activism of WARN was but I can't help but wonder how much difference it would have made if other organizations had joined this fight.
Just as a side note, I was also disappointed to see that the Indian Child Welfare Act only received one sentence in our textbook because I consider it to be a very important piece of legislation. That could just be because I am a social welfare major but this legislation stated that tribes had ultimate jurisdiction over children removed from their homes by social services. Native Americans did not agree with the social services' policy of removing Native children and placing with the non-Native adoptive and foster parents, where they would not be exposed to their culture, relatives, etc. As a person that works with children in the custody of the state, we are required to notify the tribe if we have a child from that tribe needing to be placed elsewhere due to an unhealthy situation at home. The tribe then decides if they want to take over the case and they have every right to step in. It's very interesting so I recommend anyone that works with children like in a social services or teaching position should be familiar with it.