Women’s History Month: Cecilia Fire Thunder
In honor of Women’s History Month 2011, I’ve selected one woman to profile every day from March 1st - March 31st, 2011.
Cecilia Fire Thunder: Former president of the Ogala Sioux Tribe (Pine Ridge Reservation), Native American community organizer, co-founder of the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and women’s rights advocate.
We need to start talking about those issues. Americans should be outraged about the number of women who are raped in this country. We need to also speak out for women in places like Afghanistan and other war-torn areas where rape is happening. This is not new. Rape has always been a part of life. Unfortunately, the world is not always a safe place for women.
Ultimately, this is a much bigger issue than just abortion. The women of America should be outraged that policies and decisions about their bodies are being made by male politicians and clergy. It’s time for women to reclaim their bodies.
Women in America have something that women in other parts of the world don’t have. Women in this country don’t appreciate their right to free speech. Women in America can be the voice of women around the world. This is a call to arms by women in the United States. — Interview with Rose Aguilar (AlterNet)
Remember when South Dakota attempted to outlaw abortion way back in 2006? Cecilia Fire Thunder, then president of the Ogala Sioux Tribe, responded to South Dakota lawmakers with a personal promise to “establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.” Unfortunately, President Fire Thunder was later impeached and abortion was banned on the reservation; since her impeachment, she has continued to work tirelessly as a community organizer and activist, focusing on women and families and is awesomeschmaltz in my book.
Just sayin.
Links: Wikipedia page
NPR interview
The Power of Thunder (AlterNet interview)
Bismarck Tribune search results (more current articles about Fire Thunder)
Ogala Sioux Tribe official website
The National Museum of the American Indian: The Voices of Native Women
(PS- This seems like as good a time as any to remind you that you can donate to the Ogala Sioux Tribe:
Ogala Sioux Tribe, c/o Treasurer’s Office, Ogala Sioux Tribe, PO Box 2070, Pine Ridge, SD 57770. This info is available on the the Ogala Sioux Tribe link above via a downloadable .tif)
