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Feminists Around the World: WARN and Madonna Thunder Hawk · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and Uncle Stephan. Never
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: told your prediction of iHeartRadio.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: And welcome to another edition a Feminist around the World.
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  Speaker 2: And you know what, there's been a lot of things
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  Speaker 2: happening recently, and as we have successfully gotten through Thanksgiving,
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  Speaker 2: I like to call that like the portion one of
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  Speaker 2: holiday season, or as we will call it, Native American
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  Speaker 2: Heritage Day, we thought you would take it some time
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  Speaker 2: to talk about activists and members who of the Native
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  Speaker 2: peoples and what they have been doing and continued more
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  Speaker 2: than they have done. And you know what, we wanted
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  Speaker 2: to talk about a woman who has been a fierce warrior,
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  Speaker 2: an advocate for her people and the First Nations people
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  Speaker 2: here in the US and BT. She was included in
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  Speaker 2: our portion of When Women Rise in our newly released
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  Speaker 2: I guess not newly this year? Is it still newly released?
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  Speaker 1: I don't know any worse. It feels like ages.
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  Speaker 2: Ago, everything does. I pulled it up recently, our manuscript,
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  Speaker 2: so the way we were working on it, I was like, wow,
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  Speaker 2: this feels like forever. Why it is still in here?
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  Speaker 2: But yes, in our book that we did release in
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  Speaker 2: August that we've been working on for ten thousand years
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  Speaker 2: and that has just kind of come and gone, I guess.
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  Speaker 2: But we did talk about her and her organization in
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  Speaker 2: that portion and with the organization she co founded known
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  Speaker 2: as WARN or Women of All Read Nations, and as
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  Speaker 2: in fact, we wanted to read a little excerpt from
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  Speaker 2: the book. Yes, any I think you've read this part
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  Speaker 2: in our audiobook, didn't you.
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  Speaker 1: It also feels like a very long.
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  Speaker 2: It was one of us, obviously, because the two of
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  Speaker 2: us were the ones who did it, so I can't
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  Speaker 2: remember if it was you or me.
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  Speaker 1: I think you.
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  Speaker 2: Who knows, but hey, if someone's listened to the audio version,
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  Speaker 2: let me know. But I'm going to read it for
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  Speaker 2: this fortune. Uh huh, sorry it is. After the founding
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  Speaker 2: nineteen sixty eight, then subsequent splinter of the American Indian Movement,
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  Speaker 2: veterans of the movement and others came together to create
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  Speaker 2: another powerful group. The Organization of Women of All Red
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  Speaker 2: Nations or WARN. WARREN was created in nineteen seventy four
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  Speaker 2: by Janet MacLeod and Madonna Gilbert thunder Hawk, who, after
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  Speaker 2: seeing that for the most part, Indigenous women were being
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  Speaker 2: ignored not just in the movement but in society, overall
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  Speaker 2: because they were seen as powerless. These women recognize the
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  Speaker 2: fact that they needed a space to come together safely,
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  Speaker 2: especially during a time when the Indigenous community was being
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  Speaker 2: placed on watch lists and considered threats by the government.
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  Speaker 2: Warren began as an organization that focused on the knees
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  Speaker 2: of Native women and issues affecting them, but they soon
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  Speaker 2: expanded to include issues of prison reform and the overall
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  Speaker 2: culture of imprisonment for indiation as people. The group has
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  Speaker 2: also been tirelessly protesting the exploitation of the Native communities
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  Speaker 2: and land in an effort to protect their own lands, resources,
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  Speaker 2: and the environment. They have helped to stop the uranium
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  Speaker 2: mining corporation that was polluting the South Dakota waters and
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  Speaker 2: have been a part of the protests to stop the
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  Speaker 2: Keystone x Line pipelines. Warren has been a leader in
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  Speaker 2: advocating for the rights of Indigenous women, as well as
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  Speaker 2: the fight over a number of other issues, including improving healthcare,
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  Speaker 2: expanding reproductive rights, and seeking to end violence against women.
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  Speaker 2: So very short, I wish we could make it bigger,
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  Speaker 2: and we are going to talk a little more about them.
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  Speaker 2: When we talked about the book process on an earlier episode,
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  Speaker 2: we mentioned that not only did we have the hard
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  Speaker 2: task of choosing who or what we would cover in
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  Speaker 2: the book, but after deciding that, editing down the amount
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  Speaker 2: of content we had, which included this section and even
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  Speaker 2: this specific topic. Yeah. Like Anie and I went through
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  Speaker 2: things and they're like, we're going to cut this part out,
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  Speaker 2: but we like.
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  Speaker 1: It, but that's important. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So literally, we pulled specific women we talked about, we
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  Speaker 2: pulled organizations that we wanted to talk about. They're like,
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  Speaker 2: it's getting to Wikipedia. I'm like, okay, that's kind of fair.
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  Speaker 2: We just want to talk about them, which is what
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  Speaker 2: I like to do. So we did have a hard time,
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  Speaker 2: and obviously we took the section and made it much smaller.
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  Speaker 2: So we wanted to talk about the impact the organization
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  Speaker 2: has had since its inception and how today thunder Hawk
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  Speaker 2: continues to make impact on her community, including with our children.
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  Speaker 2: So one was created out of the much needed attention
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  Speaker 2: for the women in marginalized group within the Indigenous community.
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  Speaker 2: With so many issues happening during a tumultuous time within
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  Speaker 2: the Indigenous community during the nineteen seventies and during the
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  Speaker 2: Wounded Need occupation, the women leaders came together with several
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  Speaker 2: hundred women from over thirty different groups and tribes, So
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  Speaker 2: a lot of women came together realizing, hey, we're not
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  Speaker 2: part of this anymore, like they're not paying attention to us,
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  Speaker 2: they think that we're powerless. And including the fact that
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  Speaker 2: many of the men who were in leadership were being
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  Speaker 2: arrested and or hurt and definitely being watched by the FBI.
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  Speaker 2: And just so you know, so was Madonna. She and
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  Speaker 2: the women who were seen as medics that were part
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  Speaker 2: of the occupation were also under a watch list. So
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  Speaker 2: very very very pointed. But it was mainly the men
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  Speaker 2: who were being detained and arrested, so oftentimes there was
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  Speaker 2: no one there to take up the leadership. These women did,
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  Speaker 2: and during this time, they not only took up the
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  Speaker 2: leadership of their communities, but also helped bring focus on
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  Speaker 2: the injustices that affected the women specifically, including the forced
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  Speaker 2: sterilization of many of the indigenous women during that time.
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  Speaker 2: And there's a lot of conversation we've talked about it,
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  Speaker 2: as in fact, my first episode with Behind the Bastards
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  Speaker 2: talked about eugenics and for sterilization of women, specifically with
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  Speaker 2: bad types of birth control and or coerced surgeries, all
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  Speaker 2: these things that were obvious ways to control a population.
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  Speaker 2: And yes, it's not a conspiracy theory. They actually did
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  Speaker 2: this to a lot of marginalized groups, especially to the
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  Speaker 2: Native indigenous groups here in the US. So they said
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  Speaker 2: specifically in uh Wikipedia, sorry, so this is all I'm like,
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  Speaker 2: this is altogether here, so I'm going to put it here,
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  Speaker 2: but I didn't want to read this it says. In
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  Speaker 2: nineteen seventy six, the US General Accounting Office found that
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  Speaker 2: from nineteen seventy three to nineteen seventy six, three thousand,
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  Speaker 2: four hundred and six Native American women underwent co sterilization
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  Speaker 2: procedures in just four of the twelve IHS service areas.
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  Speaker 2: Out of these three thousand, four hundred and six women,
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  Speaker 2: thirty six of them were under the age of twenty one.
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  Speaker 2: These thirty six young women were sterilized in direct violation
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  Speaker 2: of a court order stating the minimum age of sterilization
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  Speaker 2: procedures to be twenty one. The total number of conilizations
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  Speaker 2: during the period across all twelve IHS areas was estimated
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  Speaker 2: to be a roughly three thousand per year, and so
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  Speaker 2: a lot of this conversation was happening after the fact,
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  Speaker 2: and there are people noticing things were happening, why this
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  Speaker 2: was happening. And this doesn't even include Native children being
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  Speaker 2: taken away from families and being put into very white,
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  Speaker 2: very non native homes for a reason. And then that
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  Speaker 2: also doesn't involve some of the schools that were created
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  Speaker 2: way back when that still existed in many of the areas,
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  Speaker 2: especially in the northern areas, to keep children away from
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  Speaker 2: the Native communities for a reason. So one of the
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  Speaker 2: things that Warren did was specifically work to get this
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  Speaker 2: report out and to fight against it. And they even
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  Speaker 2: talked about the fact that they had to educate their
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  Speaker 2: own people to about what was happening, that this was
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  Speaker 2: should be against law, and they were all being silenced
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  Speaker 2: and quietly coerced into doing these procedures that they did
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  Speaker 2: not want. Obviously, being under the age of twenty one,
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  Speaker 2: there's a lot of questions about what is happening and
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  Speaker 2: who's doing it, and why they're doing it. And with
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: those different types of things that they looked into, they
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  Speaker 2: also again worked in the mining system, trying to stop
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  Speaker 2: the pollution of their land and taking of their resources. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: they are a part of the protests and political actions
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  Speaker 2: that include the Wounded Knee occupation which killed several people,
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  Speaker 2: including FBI agents. And there's still a big debate about
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  Speaker 2: people who are arrested and falsely arrested possibly and then
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  Speaker 2: the treatment of those people who are arrested up until
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  Speaker 2: the present day, I believe. So there's a lot of
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  Speaker 2: conversation about what Warren was doing and how hard they
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  Speaker 2: fought for this, and I believe they're still around. Obviously,
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  Speaker 2: some of these incidents happened in twenty twenty, so not
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  Speaker 2: too long ago, so I believe they are still technically
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  Speaker 2: active dot dot dot. But that is there because people
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  Speaker 2: from Warren, So we'll go with that. And then here's
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  Speaker 2: a quote about what she's been doing since then. It
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  Speaker 2: is from a twenty twenty two interview with Women's innus
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  Speaker 2: dot org. It says as she moved forward, her work
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  Speaker 2: as a frontline protester and reformer evolved. She doesn't like
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  Speaker 2: the word activists, saying it's overused. She co founded Women
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  Speaker 2: of All Red Nations WORN, which focused on Native women's issues.
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  Speaker 2: She also co founded the Black Hills Alliance to fight
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  Speaker 2: uranium mining on Sacred Lakota land. She helped establish a
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  Speaker 2: survivor school and alternative to government run schools where culturally
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  Speaker 2: relevant teachings about topics like tribal sovereignty where the norm.
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  Speaker 2: She currently works as a tribal liaison for the Lakota
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  Speaker 2: People's Law Project, which quote partners with Native communities to
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  Speaker 2: protect sacred lands, safeguard human rights, promote sustainability, the reunite
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  Speaker 2: indigenous families, and much more. And this is a quote
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  Speaker 2: from thunder Hawk. Your work changes as you age. I'm
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  Speaker 2: still busy. These issues are still there. There's land based
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  Speaker 2: issues and water issues, and I thought, if you want
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  Speaker 2: to go back and read that she has Actually she's
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: on the podcast. I'm sure you can listen to that
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  Speaker 2: as well. She has been working still like she's at
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  Speaker 2: eighty three. She is still trucking with her activism, which
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  Speaker 2: she does love, but you know, with her work and
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: continued fight for that. She has been doing this four
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  Speaker 2: years and been very loud and proud about it. And
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  Speaker 2: of course she's been recognized for her work, including being
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  Speaker 2: written about, including in our book U, but also in
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  Speaker 2: documentaries and film, including a documentary that was released in
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty one titled Warrior Women. And here's a quote
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  Speaker 2: about that. Now, forty years later, Madonna is moving into
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  Speaker 2: the twilight of her life, fighting the inevitable slowing she dreads.
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  Speaker 2: She constantly worries aloud who she will quote pass the
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  Speaker 2: torch to warrior women, veils not only the women's perspect
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  Speaker 2: on history, but also real life activism, echoing far beyond
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  Speaker 2: news events into generations to come. And then it's pretty
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  Speaker 2: much a movie about her and her daughter and the
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  Speaker 2: continued activism that they do today and their work they
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  Speaker 2: do today and her passing it on to her family,
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  Speaker 2: which is beautiful to see. And yes, so earlier this
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  Speaker 2: year was the fiftieth anniversary of the Wounded Knee occupation.
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  Speaker 2: She has several interviews and several articles talking about her
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  Speaker 2: memories there and what happened there, and apparently she's still
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  Speaker 2: very cautious about what she says rightly, So there's a
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  Speaker 2: lot if you look into the article, because when we
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: were researching for the book, there are things I was like, oh,
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  Speaker 2: this is kind of iffy, this is controversial. I'm not
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  Speaker 2: sure what we can include what we can't. But also
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  Speaker 2: remembering that the nineteen seventies had a lot of right
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  Speaker 2: wing tactics and like we can do we know it
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  Speaker 2: today still like what we see is propaganda versus what
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  Speaker 2: was the truth and how slowly things are coming out,
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  Speaker 2: especially during a time that didn't have a lot of
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  Speaker 2: social media or didn't give voice to Native communities and
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  Speaker 2: native people, So trying to decipher through all of that
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  Speaker 2: is a whole issue. So and I'm sure she is
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  Speaker 2: still concerned about her safety and being watched.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was one of those things where, Yeah, when
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  Speaker 1: we were writing this book, there were so many people
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  Speaker 1: that we wanted to talk about and we wanted to
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  Speaker 1: talk more in depth about because that is I'm glad
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: other people are, you know, doing a book while aren't
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: doing a documentary. I should say about just her because
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: we couldn't do it, but it deserves the whole thing,
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  Speaker 1: deserves its own book. But yeah, yes, as always, listeners,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: if you have any suggestions for this, any resources for us,
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: please send them our away. You can email us at
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Stephanie and Momsteff at Iheartmnia dot com. You can find
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: us on Twitter at mom step pod cast, or on
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Instagram and TikTok at Stefan never told you. We have
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: a tea public store with merchandise and We have a book, yes,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: where you can read more about other women that week
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: put in there. Thanks as always to our super producer
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Christina or executive producer Maya and your contributor Joey. Thank you.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: Thanks to you for listening. Steff I ever told you
• 13:23
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