Rape on the Reservation

Though I deeply appreciate the fact that this issue is being addressed, while watching I couldn't help but wonder why external threats to these women were never addressed. According to the Justice Department, 80% of rapes involve non-native perpetrators. This is startling to me because off the reservation, most rapes involve someone the victim knows or is related to, this percentage tells me that non-natives are coming onto the reservation and specifically seeking out women to assault. As a former journalist, this would have been an immediate draw for my attention and it would have warranted exploration.

Donna, Does that mean that any woman, man or child that goes to someone's house and gets raped it is their fault because they should know better??? Really???

I watched this and I sympathize with all who are trapped in the life that they have on the reservation. Only thing I had a problem with was the chick named 'Donna' who was raped after she went to the store to buy more alcohol for her husband then ran into the 'perpetrator' who asked her to come to his place and that's when he raped her? I'm sorry that she was raped but I have to ask the same question that her husband asked...why on earth would she go to another man's place. Didn't she know any better. When a guy asks you to come to his place...he has only one thing in mind. She shouldn't have gone with him.

This documentary is very well put together. However, I know people who live on the Rosebud res and here is what really goes on. These people sleep with their blood relatives- I know of one man who has a child with his first cousin! They all do drugs or drink- some of them even filter Lysol and drink that! My husband was friends with one of those cops from Rosebud and their stories were horrifying. I'm sorry for the women who get sexually assaulted but there are so many problems on that reservation. What the people need is education - like incest does NOT keep your bloodline pure; it causes birth defects. alcohol is not the answer; obviously its your problem. I agree with the commentor who said we need to stop giving them free housing. Sorry, but when the government pays your bills it only prolongs the cycles of drug abuse and alcoholism. These people need to take better care of their kids and themselves. I get that white people took their land and everything but its time to move on... and make a better future for yourselves and your kids.

I live on a small reservation in central South Dakota and what Im about to speak of is first hand. Our tribe like all others receives millions and millions of federal dollars every fiscal year and its controlled and spent by our tribal councils, the general population has no idea when the money comes in or how its really being spent. There has been mismanagement and theft reports by Tribal and non-tribal members who have worked in about every tribal program that you can think of receiving federal funds but to no avail. The Federal Agencies awarding this money say that there are grant agreements to be followed but that they have no really way of forcing the tribes to follow them or making them accountable for not following the them. What a bunch of bull- - - -. In the mean time the honest individuals who have reported turned evidence are fired and basically ran out....I think they use the term, " at will termination." My biggest point to the outside world is our so called leaders want everybody to believe that they stand for their people and their people's needs...... some more bull- - - -. Most, I won't say all tribal officials are as corrupt as the day is long. We haven't had a honest, fair tribal election here in 35 years and no body seems to care. We get millions for law enforcement, health care, housing, tribal infrastructure and yet our reservations are like dirty little 3rd world countries nobody in the united states wants to deal with. This is a direct quote from one of the federal agents I spoke to. " the federal government knows what and how the tribes are ran, and most by an iron fist. BUT.... the Federal Government doesn't want to come in and then have those so called tribal leaders(you know the ones who supposedly represent the people)announcing to the world how we are picking on the indians again." I told him pick away, pick away because all that federal money is only really benefiting a handful of greedy self serving people anyway. It really can't get much worse for the remaining 90% perecent of us trying to survive on the reservation.

I wonder how much the tax benefits afforded to tribes plays into the lackluster response from federal authorities?

could you please make this video available again

The video that posted with my responce is not the Rape on the Reservation video...you will have to go to the blog site.

I need this video to show in a class and it has apparently been pulled? Why?! This is such an amazing, compelling video--I am so disappointed in Current for pulling this.

sooo... wtf current? why are your videos being pulled? podcasts are only downloading little clips... and now this? current... you're making it hard to love you...

I know it's been a few months since this video aired. It was painful and frustrating to watch the pain of the women who had been raped and the casual attitude of the others. In honor of this being Domestic Violence Awareness Month, would you consider making the video available again?

This is a problem that can be addressed with a therapy that can correct and heal the deep issues that keep this process continuting. EMDR treatment would not only be appropriate for the victims of rape but also the perpertrators. Most therapies teach how to handle the symptoms , EMDR heals where the symptoms and behaviors are coming from. Thus the perps can be healed of their abusive behaviors and the survivors can be healed of their pain. See www. EMDR.com The issue will be getting permission to go to the reservation and begin to train their thereapist to use EMDR. EMdr can also address addictions.

I wonder if Antonio (? gang boy) has a sister. Or how he would feel if he found out his mother had been gang raped? What will he do if he ever has a daughter? Will it still be ok? Manly still? So sad.... Donna and others, stay strong

This was a very eye opening documentary about the conditions and life of Native Americans. But what struck me the most as a woman was how ridiculous I found the woman's reactions to the aggressors and the helpless attitude they take! Rise up for the sake of your children! Especially the mother of that girl who was murdered. If you want those houses destroyed then just burn them to the ground yourself! It's called gasoline and a match. If they can't manage to prosecute someone for rape and murder then I highly doubt they will manage to prosecute you for burning down some abandoned houses. Every decent man and woman in that society needs to take it upon themselves to stand up and teach their children. Have self defense classes for the girls, teach them about banding together, using their voices and their fists if necessary to defend themselves and their friends. I could not believe the reaction of those two girls as those two little punks that called themselves the leaders of a gang said that hitting women was o.k. and how they get girls drunk to rape them! She just shrugged her shoulders. Fear is the enemy! I would have reached across that table and slapped the shit out of him! I know people will think (fighting violence with violence is never the answer) but when it comes to defense it is and when it comes to women it is. Generations of women in cultures around the world have been passive for too long. Stop sitting there like a lamb for the slaughter and start realizing the power you hold in your mind and in your hands. Change is something you create and fight for yourself not something you ask someone else to do for you.

I wanted to thank Van Zeller for getting the coverage that is needed to be address on the reservation. I also wanted to thank you helping my sister, Donna courageously speak out about her side of the story and many others who are still coping with loss.

Are they allowed to have arms on their reservations? Maybe the women need to carry a handgun and do themselves - and society - a favor, and just shoot the bastards. Rapist today, child rapist tomorrow - be preemptive - shoot, shovel and shut up.

Then why do people think that drugs and alcohol are ok, considering the way they change the behavior and health of people? It's not fantasy, it's fact. The difference between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is alcohol and drugs, or bad food and candy perhaps

This is crazy...you would never think some shit like this would be happening but it is and its happening so much thats its become the norm.

This has been going on for years on all Reservations. It is only now being recorded. So when a lot of the people see this they act as if it is nothing.. Thank you for sharing this information to all. The members, not all, turn their heads as if it don't happen...

Great reporting, Mariana! I love your work. It broke my heart to see those stories and what has become of the Native Americans. Hopefully this piece will help open the eyes of the federal government and give them the help they deserve!

Alcohol, high fructose corn syrup, and sugar. They will spin you into a violent rage of depression if you are irish, native american of of african desent. I never thought much of my fractional native heritage until I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. now I convinced that processed sweetners are designed to kill tribal peoples. I have suffered from what everyone thought was violent bi polar but come to find out I was sugar crashing. With a good diet I eat more & have lost 20 pounds and I dont cry everyday or start fights! Also as mostly irish our people are diabetic "alcoholic" too. It makes me wonder if this is power of suggestion. All tribal peoples are told we are alcoholic until we believe it right down to our cells. kind of like being told your stupid all the time. Mind over matter baby!!!

Congratulation Mariana van Zeller on your investigative report "Rape on the Reservation". It was an excellent piece. I hope just as "Oxy Contin Express" gained notoriety - so does this. And, I hope that it helps to bring about much needed resolve in order to stop these crimes. I have been watching Current since it's beginning, and you are truly a vanguard journalist. I was happy to see that a female journalist was the one to conduct the investigation. You are bringing justice to these women in the way in which you can; reporting and exposing.

highproof:

"mwah, mwah, trolling this, mwaw, mwah nonsense blah blah." Whatever. Why don't you take your high horse to another trough? BTW, no one would MISS YOU!

One small suggestion... Why not just be happy to get the segues out of the series then back in and not the commercials?

My one small suggestion for you is to stop being so nit picky. The content is FREAKEN FREE!!!

Good work. I recently have had enough of Current News, too much trolling and nonsense to filter through. This type of reporting brings back much needed spirit to Current. I will be continuing to watch the Vangaurd series.

One small suggestion... I disliked the repetition of audio and video in the piece. I'm guessing it was cut like that to allow for commercial breaks, so if a viewer begins watching after a break they get a quick catch up on what they had missed. Seems poorly suited for the online format though. It really bogs down the flow of the story for me.

Thank you for this important documentary.

Kudos to Vanguard for this urgently needed exposure of this horrendous tragedy in Indian Country. I am a survivor of domestic violence, was married to a Lakota from Wounded Knee and saw and experienced first-hand the reality described in this documentary. I went on to become a state-certified dv counselor and advocate and devote much of my life to helping abused and oppressed women and girls.

The root of this tragedy is the long history of genocide of Native Americans and the destruction of their culture, spirituality and way of life. Added to that is patriarchy and the misogyny that is at its root. Patriarchy denigrates females, elevates one half of the species over the other and by creating this imbalance, opens the door to every form of dehumanization, violence, abuse, indignity and hatred. To really understand the dynamic and mentality of these men who abuse and sexually assault women, you must read Lundy Bancroft's book: "Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men." It is considered the "bible" on the subject of abusive men by advocates for victims of domestic violence. As Lundy (who has spent many years working with batterers) says, the root is ownership, the trunk is entitlement and the branches are control.

The culture of male dominance, entitlement and impunity must end.

Why are people surprised by this? Native women and children whether they be on the reserve or in mainstream society are targets of this kind of violence simply because of race and the devalued sense of worth that goes with it: Its the accumulation of the long term inter generational acts of sexual and sociological abuse that occurred against Native people throughout history in relation to colonization. These deranged habits are now a by-product of the morally loose society we were assimilated into,

This is all of our shame what has been done to these people. The Casino's are there and money is being made by a few, just like America. Nine officer's. Natural hunting ground! the young man says. This has been going on long enough.

such atrocities should be brought to light, but you missed the ROOT of the problem....No resources or help from the government or the rest of the world..

what about the town of whiteclay which is 22 miles from the reservations? The town of White Clay was exclusively appropriated to distribute alcohol, and the 12 vendors that are there distribute 99% of the alcohol that enters the reservation, This has been going on for the last few decades, poisoning the LAKOTA, that is at the root of the problem, next to little or no assistance from the GOV or The rest of AMERICA.

We need to Shed more positive and hopeful light on the situation in PineRidge and Wanblee. There is an Initiative to help Stop the suicide, rape, drug abuse and violence on the reservations, its CALLED LYAC and I am in direct contact with the initiators.

READ THE MISSION STATEMENT

"How beautiful is youth! How bright it gleams with its illusions, aspirations, dreams!”

So wrote the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

For many of us, youth was, or is, one of the best times of life -- full of fun, hope and promise for the future.   But it is not that way for everyone.  On many Indian reservations throughout the United States, young people feel they have no future and no way to escape the oppressive poverty, unemployment and addiction that surrounds them.  As a result, many of these beautiful and talented young people end their lives by their own hands.

Suicide on American Indian reservations is a major problem.  A report in March of 2010 stated that suicide rates among Native American tribes are 70 percent higher than for the general population, and the suicide rate among young people is even higher. The Associated Press has reported that, “on some reservations youth suicide rates are 10 times the national average.”
Clearly, something must be done to address this serious problem.

While governmental and mental health organizations seek to provide counseling and treatment for depression and other factors related to suicide on the reservations, efforts must also be made to help young Native Americans realize that their lives have value and that they have talents they can use to enrich their lives and make them meaningful.

The Lakota Youth Arts Center is being established to provide a place where young people on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (in south- western South Dakota) can express themselves artistically, realize the expressive skill that lies within them and learn from artists and craftsmen who are donating their time to help improve their young lives.

LYAC’s guiding light is Lance White Magpie, a Lakota performing artist who grew up in the town of Wanblee, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where he still has family and friends. Lance lost a young family member to suicide in 2008(?) and has resolved to help prevent a similar fate from befalling others on the reservation. Other members of the Oglala Lakota tribe as well as members of other tribes in South Dakota and other friends and supporters are working to help Lance turn his dream into a reality.

LYAC’s mission is to:

Use the arts to promote self-expression in Lakota youth;
Train young people in all forms of contemporary and traditional media and expression, including music, dance, theater, film, writing, photography, painting, sculpture, and indigenous arts and handicrafts;
Strengthen young people’s self-esteem and self-confidence, based upon real artistic accomplishment and mastery of creative skills;
Nurture the development of positive interpersonal skills, such as acceptance, curiosity, consideration, openness and self-expression;
Provide a setting where elder members of the community can pass on their cultural heritage, through traditional language, teachings and oral history;
Develop contacts with the media and performing arts programs in universities and provide guidance in the college and scholarship application process. [over to back]

To achieve these goals, the directors and supporters of LYAC intend to create an interactive learning center for the arts, utilizing and cultivating the natural talents of Lakota youth by connecting them to professionals from around the world. Artists from all corners with different skills and experiences will be welcome to use LYAC as a creative retreat.

Staff and artists-in-residence will encourage Lakota youth to explore different forms of self-expression and find the ones that are right for them. They will tutor, coach and guide aspiring young Lakota artists
to develop their natural creative talents.

LYAC will also provide its young participants with access to informa- tion and training in life skills, to help them succeed on and outside the reservation, including the practi- calities of managing money, finding housing, finding and keeping a job and applying to college. They will also raise their own food and learn about nutrition. [to fold over flap]

[fold over flap]

In addition, LYAC will be a place where young and old can assemble to share experiences and learn from one another. Young people will benefit from the wisdom of their elders, old stories and traditions will be passed along, and the proud history of the Lakota people will be kept alive across the generations.

Your financial assistance is needed to help make LYAC a reality. Please give generously in cash, by check or by money order to:

Lakota Youth Arts Center
Suite L211, 244 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10001
USA

Indian reservations are a perfect example of what Marxism and Socialism does to a society. It destroys it and strips the people of their self worth, we need to quit giving them money and free homes. The rest of America will soon follow with these Obama marxist laws.

Good story. Now investigate what Islam does to their women.

To one who would do such a thing…

What a pitiful and sad miserable little coward one must truly be,
Or perhaps still a child, who would do such a thing
to a mother, to a sister, to a daughter…
only to swell the ego,
how small you must be…
to impersonate a true man?
how very small you must be.
A soulless hollow and foul thing
Force your hate onto another
how small you must be...
To lubricate in blood and booze,
with bottles and fists
keeping the company of evil
and stay to drink up anger,
stay and feast on this hate,
stay and suckle upon the tit of rage
let it fill your belly to bursting
stay and remain soulless hollow and black
stay and display your shame
press down on her
vomit out into the face of your mothers
Stab at the womb in hate and anger
Strangle and maim the fair in malice
See her eyes of tears and fear
still seek to feel her flesh break
Listen to the pleas and whines
how small you must be...
Stand in awe of cycles unbroken
See her now, in your place
We’ve come full circle
So are you a man now?
How small you must be?
To take it out on me…

Well, Mariana, I think your report seriously kicked some butt, and it really provoked my achy, but hopeful, heart.

As 1890survivor says, there is so much more to this story.
(NaMaSte ;^)

Indeed, what is revealed here is a mere reflection of only a facet of a much deeper and more complex truth, a truth shared between the (if you will) 'Old Americans' and the 'New Americans' -together-, a connection that has been forgotten and forsaken that has resulted in much pain, but also harbors great promise.

No matter how I try to write a short response to this, I cannot seem to stop the ink flowing from my pen. For the sake of our healing I really want to invite people to consider this larger picture that I am inferring.

What I think I will do is spare the thread here, and post something on my site and then share an invitation-link here for anyone caring to check it out.

For now I would offer simply...
I am grateful for those who have cared enough to show up, to begin asking, and trying to understand, and telling.
So again, thank you so much, Mariana, to you and your group, for caring enough to witness this story for us. Our people need so much more like this.

My heart goes out to all my relations. I pray for each of us that we may be facilitated in the strength and nurture of what each holds most cherished and sacred deep in their heart.
Blessings and Peace,
NaMaSte.
TwoHawks

I see a disconnect with the culture of their forefathers and this modern age, and this as a product of how the Indian nation has been treated as a whole for so long. It doesn't excuse any of this, but the rates of suicide and violent behavior surely indicate something at a very deep level. A need to return to the old ways which respected the Earth and others. Thank you for bringing this to light.

This is one of the greatest documentaries that I have ever seen, IF NOT THE GREATEST! The stories of these people touched me so much that I had to post it on my blog. People all around the world need to be award of this. Hell, us as Americans need to be aware of this. Native Americans voices are RARELY heard when we talk about national problems...It is because they are excluded from our regular society, and also because in part they don't want to be included either because of what society has done to them. This has opened my eyes to so much. The ways of the past have to be brought back to life in order to improve some of their conditions, the ancestral way as the young man put it towards the end of the video.

Peace

Now this is news. This is journalism.

i am so happy vanguard is back for only like 2 months!!!

i grew up there on the rosebud reservation but i do not reside there now, but i still call it home...everything they talk about is very very true sadly. when you are raised around violence it eventually becomes normal to see it on a weekly basis. there is more to this story...

Wow, the way they speak about these events is so blunt and honest, it's scary. I can't fathom how one can get used to an environment like that.

Vanguard is the bees knees

It is so heartbreaking that the cycle of violence is so strong there. Does anyone remember how great it is to have the feeling of love in their lives? I hope for many of them they learn the right way to communicate their feelings, not through vessels of hate.

12:32 Wow... everytime he goes on call.

Such a strange and different society on the reservation. Such a broken tribal court/federal justice system. The rapists all know they won't be persecuted, that's such bullshit.

The fact that Antonio refers to his dad's girlfriend (or his mom?) as "his dad's woman" says a lot.

Drastically different than even the Indian nations I've always seen growing up in Oklahoma. There's so many hundreds of different tribes in Oklahoma though, not all just one tribe with one set of cultural background and history. I'm pretty sure all of the Oklahoma Indian nations are integrated with the state government. Except maybe Osage county I think it's still a separate nation.

Great vid, very sad but eyeopening. I predicted the very end of the vid right :(