Tag: Native Women

Celebrating the Women of the Cherokee Nation

As a matrilineal tribe, Cherokee Nation reveres and prioritizes women in our homes and cultures. Throughout history, women have played a critical role in moving the Cherokee Nation forward.

There are countless stories of women who have, through the sheer force of their will, pushed Cherokee Nation onto a better and more prosperous path. This Women’s History Month, let us honor them and the example they have shown us. They are trailblazers who have earned our recognition, most especially for the impact they have had on opening new pathways to opportunity for young indigenous girls across the United States. 

Idaho Seeks to Redefine Assisting a Pregnant Minor to Obtain an Abortion as Human Trafficking

As if teens seeking to terminate a pregnancy in this bleak post-Roe landscape do not have enough obstacles to contend with, particularly in abortion-hostile states, Republican lawmakers in Idaho recently introduced House Bill 98, which would make it a crime to take a teen out of state for an abortion without the consent of a parent or guardian. On Tuesday, the Idaho House voted 57-12 to advance the measure.

The right of teens to obtain an abortion without the knowledge or involvement of their parents has been constitutionally protected—at least until now.

When Women Are Safe, We Will Finally Be Free

Safety is our most fundamental need, but the U.S. denies it to women—especially women of color. Every attack on our safety stands in the way of our freedom. We need to get serious about the problem with serious policy solutions. 

Securing safety for women is possible. State legislatures across the country are proposing legislation to ensure that people who have committed violence can’t get access to guns, support families who experience domestic violence, improve investigative processes for missing Indigenous people, and fund mental health crisis services.

(This essay is part of The Majority Rules project—an artful essay and op-ed series from Ms. and Supermajority Education Fund.)

Sundance 2023: Indigenous Drama ‘Fancy Dance’ Explores the Complexities of Family, Care and Community

A Native and queer filmmaker, Erica Tremblay—director of Fancy Dance was eager to make a feature film that deals with real issues facing Indigenous women and families, but also one that focused on the “joy and happiness in Indian Country, which often gets lost in mainstream portrayals of our communities.” Reflecting on obligation, family, parenthood and the responsibilities thrust upon us by love, the film asks viewers to reckon with the complex ways joy and grief intertwine and refuses easy answers to any of its necessary questions, in a way that’s as profound as it is memorable.

Keeping Score: Women’s Grammy Wins (and Losses); NYC Clinics to Provide Free Abortion Pills; Navajo Nation Elects First Woman Speaker

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week: The Grammys saw wins (and losses) for women performers and feminist causes; Republicans in Congress call for a nationwide abortion ban; Iowa state rep compares women to cattle; Florida educators reject ban on books in classrooms; NYC city-run clinics to provide free abortion medication; Lisa Marie Presley dies at 54; Biden administration releases plan for renter’s bill of rights; Utah Governor Spencer Cox approves ban on youth gender-affirming care; and more.

Reads for the Rest of Us: The Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2023

I have spent the last few months scouring catalogs and websites, receiving hundreds of books and even more emails from authors, publicists and publishers, reading your book Tweets and DMs, all to find out what books are coming out in 2023 that I think you, my exceptional, inquisitive and discerning Ms readers, will want to hear about. 

Here’s your TBR (to be read) for the year. Enjoy!

As the U.S. Looks to Revamp the Farm Bill, Women Must Be at the Table

While the U.S. has created an omnibus Farm Bill for nearly a century, our mothers—especially when Native or women of color—have never had a say in where our government’s farm support money goes. Not until recently.

Now the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry is under the leadership of U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). Her hearings will mark arguments on the horizon we’d all be wise to notice. A whole new generation of younger, female, Indigenous, Black, Latinx and queer farmers are contending with land prices out of reach, and old attitudes that minimize the healthier, more sustainable production they seek.