Content area
Full Text
I'M A RECOGNIZED MEMBER OF THE TULE RIVER YOKUTS, KASHAYA POMO, AND Lake County Porno Nations. I am a former prisoner and was housed at the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC), located at Norco. While imprisoned, I was influential in forming the prison's first American Indian women's support group and the first women's sweat lodge built at a state prison in California. Since my release I have allied myself with many American Indian support groups. My focus and commitment has always been to include support for American Indian women imprisoned within the "White Man's" criminal justice system.
In the past, as a participant in conferences that focused on women or people of color, I was amazed by the lack of representation of tribal people of this land. I often wonder, where are the Indian people? Where are our tribal people? Why are they not here speaking? The reason, I realized over the years, is that Indian people are continuously overlooked and forgotten. Let me remind all of you of where you are and whose tribal lands you walk upon; remember us when you begin to plan your conferences, and remember to show respect to the land and to the people of these lands. Our voices are strong and they must be heard.
This essay focuses on American Indian women within the prison system. I will draw on experiences I gained while housed at CRC as prisoner W-20170/OTHER, and from the activist work I have been part of since my release.
Like the military-industrial complex, the prison-industrial complex is an interweaving of private business and government interests. Its purpose is two-fold: profit and social control. As in any industry, the prison economy needs raw materials. In this case, the raw materials are people - prisoners. Punishing prisoners is the one thing prisons do, and they do it well. Prisons strip prisoners of their dignity, their health, and whatever self-esteem they once had. Prisons also punish the children and families of prisoners. Regarding American Indians, the tribes are also punished.
The most brutal methods of social control are directed at a society's most oppressed groups; in this case, those most likely to be sent to jail (and prison) are the poor and/or women of color. In North America,...