The image on the left is a piece I did for a V-day gallery showing. V-day derives from Eve Ensler's documentary, called the Vagina Monologues. V-day, is a time for a woman's voice to be heard. I loved participating in this showing because I learned a little more about domestic violence. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the average annual rate of rape and sexual assault among American Indian Women is 3.5 times higher than all other races. I was quite surprised to find out that Native Americans were the highest ethnic group in the U.S.A. to suffer from domestic violence. I was surprised because my perception of indigenous people were of a peaceful nature. The majority once were, however, the U.S. has corrupted many of these cultures.
There are a few factors that are weighed into this equation. Alcoholism, economic disparity and culture clashes are big contributors. Think about it. The U.S. strips the Native Americans of their land and forces them to live on crappy reservations. How can Native Americans survive when the majority of Americans are saturated in commercialism? Casinos. Sounds like a good money maker doesn't it? It is, unfortunately with great success comes big consequences, especially because casinos bring in a tremendous crime rate. Because Native Americans also have their own set of tribal laws, there have been some problems with the police force and state jurisdictions when domestic violence is actually reported. Native American women are not protected by their tribal leaders or the police. Considering everything I have stated so far, it is no wonder why domestic violence is an endless cycle in their culture. Which is what one Native American woman has spoken about in "The Crooked Braid." I just took a little piece of the excerpt that states:
"Now he calls me the middle
of night
weeping,
He didn't mean to beat his wife
He didn't mean to batter her
He's suicidal
He knows what his mother went through.
But he can't stop, my son.
They took our land.
They took our ways.
They took our men.
We want them back!"
I tried depicting this in my illustration. The pennies, the smashed beer bottles and bloody stones all represent corruption. The crooked braid is the victim's small salvation; she is able to gain power over her abuser for making him look like a fool. Sadly, the cycle of violence continues which is evident in this work, because there is no true path to complete justice and freedom.
I recommend watching this excerpt. There are many resources (universities, some Unitarian churches) that can tell you when and where the next V-day celebration will be held. If you can't make it you can catch it on youtube.com; special thanks to Nichalia from Kansas City for putting up this video.
Art by JMV Illustrations
Welcome to the Stop Apathy Now (S.A.N.) Page
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The Crooked Braid: D.V. in Native American Culture
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
wow that's a great picture did you paint it? I found you off blog catalog btw
Thanks! Yes I did create that piece.
We are a group of American Indians and friends that know and worked with Joy Loftin while she was employed at the Vanderbilt YMCA here in New York City. During the length of her employment, several extremely disturbing incidents occurred that cause us to be concerned and call into question the motives and the integrity of Shan Colorado Finnerty, Hortensia Colorado, and Elvira Colorado.
On several occasions, Joy came to work with visible bruises on her neck and arms. She eventually explained to us that Shan had punched, beaten, and choked her and she asked us for help. As wardens for the community, we tried to place Joy in women’s shelters around the city in an effort to mitigate the abuse. However, at the urging of Shan’s mother and aunt, Hortensia and Elvira, she returned to their apartment and refused to press criminal charges against Shan Colorado Finnerty. The abuse continued and one day, she came to work very early, visibly distressed and crying, with more bruises and abrasions. She said that Shan had verbally abused and beaten her once again; that she wanted to return to California, and that she was going to quit her job and reunite with her family. She tendered her resignation later that week. Out of concern for her safety and in an effort to find out what happened to her, we requested an officer from the domestic violence unit of the 5th Precinct conduct a welfare check at their home on Kenmare Street. However the officer was unable to find anyone at the apartment, and therefore could not verify that Joy was safe. We realize that she is suffering from battered women’s syndrome and may be unable to help herself due to the isolationist environment that the Colorados have formed around her. Abusive men are often enabled by their family, while the victim is persuaded to believe the abuse is her fault, and the pattern of emotional and physical trauma continues. Taking into consideration what has happened to Joy Loftin, it is especially deceitful that their display “Altar: El Llanto De La Resistencia” at the American Indian Community House was in part dedicated to victims of domestic violence.
In light of these events, we are dismayed, disappointed, and outraged to know that members of the American Indian Community would commit, condone, and perpetuate domestic abuse and violence, while simultaneously conducting workshops, writing and performing plays, and displaying works and art that would have the public and those who support them believe otherwise. It is a vulgar and offensive misrepresentation of American Indian Culture, and further support of Coatlicue Theater, Hortensia Colorado, Elvira Colorado, Shan Colorado Finnerty and their work is tantamount to supporting domestic abuse and violence. Considering their duplicitous behavior, having them represent American Indian Culture is an insult to the dignity of American Indians and an affront to human beings.
We are therefore informing you we will not attend nor support any Coatlicue Theater productions or events where they will be featured. We will be encouraging others that might consider attending, participating, or funding them to do the same. Our actions are warranted, and to be associated with the aforementioned individuals and Coatlicue Theater would be equivalent to enabling and contributing to such offensive behaviour.
We urge you to reevaluate your support of Coatlicue Theater and the Colorados, and question the individuals concerned. Until the responsible individuals are held accountable and measures are taken to verify that the abuse is no longer occurring, we will continue with our boycott, and will strongly urge others to do the same.
Thank you anonymous, I haven't heard of this story before, but it isn't surprising that abusers display deceitfulness. I'm going to look into the Coatlicue Theater and publicize what can be done because domestic violence is an issue that cannot be kept silent and should not be enabled! Thank you!
Shan Finnerty also does album covers and video promotions. He recently did an album cover and promotional video for Davie Allan. Let Davie Allan know that a known domestic abuser did the album cover and video for his newest release. Don't let 37 year old Shan Finnerty and his family get away with beating and abusing a 20 year old girl. Email Davie Allan at melodicgrunge@yahoo.com and tell him to either change the album cover or face a boycott of his albums.
The loss of money speaks louder than words to most. Have you contacted this person yourself, and can you share with us the response?
It was most unfortunate that Mr. Allan (who lives in California) did not know that he had hired a domestic abuser to do his album cover and promotional video. It was not known to him and we are sure that had he known, he would not have hired him. In fact, Shan Finnerty was 2 months late with both the album cover and the video, so Mr. Allan deserves our sympathy as well. If you do purchase this album, please make a donation to a women's shelter in Mr. Allan's name, throw the cover away, and make your own album cover for the CD.
Post a Comment