Women’s History Month must honor leadership – and struggles – of Native American women

Many Native American tribes understand the importance of strong traditions. They know the sharing and celebrating of our history says much about our values. Women’s History Month provides us with an opportunity to admire the vast contributions women have made to our daily lives.

For Native Americans, it provides us the opportunity to celebrate the strong women who have worked tirelessly to preserve our cultures and governments.

Since its modern inception, the Habematolel tribal government in Lake County has always consisted of a majority of strong and determined women. Despite our historical disadvantages of being female and Native American, the Creator has bestowed upon our tribe much for which we are thankful. Our disadvantages have fueled our drive to work tirelessly to change the world’s perception of us.

There’s a lot of attention right now – and rightfully so – on the gains women are making in America. Record numbers of women are now serving in Congress, including the historic election of two Native American women. Thanks to the groundwork laid by courageous women, more women today serve on corporate boards. And there is a renewed legislative push to finally close the gender pay gap that has placed women at a continuous disadvantage for generations. This is great progress.

As the leader of one of more than 500 federally-recognized tribes, I would like to take a moment this month to also reflect on the often unrecognized Native American women who shoulder the responsibility of securing the future of our tribes – tribes that have historically been disenfranchised and still struggle with the tragic impacts of colonization and failed federal policies. So, it’s important we not only highlight the contributions of Native American women, but the struggles we continue to face.

Tribal leaders have the responsibility of preserving tribal sovereignty and culture, as well as ensuring a strong tribal economy. Our economic strength depends on self-reliance through opportunities such as e-commerce, gaming and other endeavors unique to tribal jurisdictions.

Despite Tribes having our own governments and laws, legislation approved by other governments, like the State of California, can negatively impact our work if tribal interests are not carefully considered. Halting those impacts without adequate legislative representation often means tribes are left out of important policy discussions, even though we should not be.

Research from the California State Library suggests that, of the 165 women who have been elected to the state Legislature since 1918, none were Native American. That’s cause for concern, given the fact that there are currently 109 federally-recognized tribes in California and 78 groups petitioning for recognition, according to the latest census data.

Women who lead tribes often must expend a great deal of energy just to be recognized. This situation further compounds the problem of inadequate representation.

A groundbreaking report released by First Nations Development Institute shows the largest barrier to public sympathy to native rights is the “invisibility and erasure of Native Americans in all aspects of modern U.S. society.” Tribes – and the women who lead them – also face serious misconceptions about business practices and the work we do to ultimately become self-reliant.

Native American women also experience some of the nation’s highest rates of murder, sexual violence and domestic abuse. Sadly, progress is excruciatingly slow despite federal efforts in this area.

Our council refuses to let this unfortunate reality silence us or our people. We will work every day to advance issues for all women, not just Native women, and to dispel the lack of knowledge regarding tribal sovereignty.

As we celebrate National Women’s History Month, the women of our council ask that others be mindful of – and sensitive to – the unique challenges history layered upon Native women. We can start with the simple acknowledgement that Native American issues are real and should matter to all of us. Our state legislators should certainly grasp this.