If it weren’t for tribal sovereignty, I most likely would be dead. Literally. I lived on a reservation, and was attacked by a former partner of mines. I was attacked several times during the course of our rollercoaster relationship. I even suffered physical injures that still affect me today.
Due to tribal sovereignty, I was able to go through a tribal court system, that provided me with tribal victim services, rides to my surgeries, an advocate, and much more. In the end, A decision that was made by a tribal judge was to eventually ban my former partner from the reservation. This decision was only possible because my former partner was Native American and if he was any other ethnic group the tribal courts would have no say as they do not have jurisdiction over non-Native Americans.
Many people are not aware that in the United States there are indigenous sovereign nations that have their own laws, courts, and jails. Many people refer to Native sovereign nations as tribes, or Indians without realizing their Nation-to-Nation government relationship with the United States set by international legal treaties.
As of right now, no sovereign nation within the United States can convict a non-Native American even if they commit an offense on their tribal lands, even in cases of rape, or domestic violence. So many abusers, murderers have never been convicted due to this loophole.
The reauthorization of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) seeks to close this loophole and allows Native Nations to assert their sovereignty by protecting its women, children, and victims of sexual and intimate partner violence. This makes simple sense as if I was in another country I must hold up their laws as a guest of that country, and Native Nations should have the same respect.
It is crucial to protect the women of Indian Country by calling your congressional representative to day and tell them to pass VAWA with the ability for Native nations to prosecute non-natives committing domestic violent acts on their tribal lands. There are blocks put forth by members of the Republican Party to put this legislation on hold. Women on reservations can’t wait any longer; they have already waited long enough. Please contact your senate representative to pass this potentially historic legislation.
To download a template of a form letter to your representative go to http://