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Native Peoples

Vigil: Taking a Stand for Our Land and Bodies

Posted in
Date: 
Sunday, February 14, 2021 - 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Location: 
Zoom Event with Livestream

MMIWG2S: TAKING A STAND FOR OUR LAND AND BODIES

Missing Murdered Indigenous WomenFacebook Video ThumbnailA Virtual Rally and Webinar

With Live Rally Participation from Appleton and Madison

If you were unable to participate in the rally, you can now watch the recording on Facebook here

 

Partners: ESTHER, Waking Women Healing Institute, Native Justice Coalition, WCASA, Menominee County HSD Family Advocacy Center, Lorraine Shooter-M.A.D., Native Lives Matter Coalition

Logos of event partners

Kristin Welch Will Receive ESTHER’s Community Leadership Award

We Are Proud to Present this Award to Kristen Welch

ESTHER is proud to present its Community Leadership Award to Kristen Welch a member of the Menominee Nation. She  is a trained Community Organizer with the Indigenous led non-profit Menīkānaehkem, and she is also a lead organizer for the Womens Leadership Cohort MMIW. Her work includes revitalizing traditional matriarchal roles within indigenous communities through identity work, systems change, and advocacy for survivors of violence. 

The Women's Leadership Cohort Combats the Tragedy of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

The Womens Leadership Cohort combats the MMIW epidemic by creating access to traditional knowledge, community organizing, policy change and community education. Kristin helps provide training in advocacy skills, power mapping, policy work, wellness work, and group facilitation, to empower Indigenous women organizers to create meaningful campaigns for social change.

Many Years of Experience in Mental Health Work

She currently sits on the Governors Council on Mental Health and is the co-chair for the Adult Quality Committee.  She has 10 years of experience in mental health, family wrap around care (CST), AODA prevention, and Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault advocacy before becoming a grassroots organizer. 

Work Using Traditional Native American Methods and Approaches

She is a proud mother of three, and a member of the healing society Three Fires Confederacy Midewewin Lodge.  She believes strongly that creating partnerships with both formal and informal supports within tribal communities will help build and strengthen an Ecosystem of Care that is equitable, easily accessible, and sustainable. Her work utilizes Indigenous wellness models that offer alternate pathways to healing and are critical for healing and recovery work within tribal communities and for those who serve Indigenous peoples.

When asked why she chose this work, Kristen replied, “We got started out of a necessity.  So many women and families were impacted directly or indirectly.  We had to make sure that Indigenous women were leading the fight and lifting up our families.”

 

Advocating for the Rights of Nature

Date: 
Monday, October 26, 2020 - 6:30pm
Location: 
Zoom Meeting

Advocating for the Rights of Nature

Mari Margil

A presentation and discussion with Mari Margil, Executive Director of the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights. No charge. All are welcome

Registration required. Zoom link will be sent before the event to all who register.

Register Now

Cancelled -- Racial Justice Talking Circle

Date: 
Thursday, October 1, 2020 - 10:00am - 6:00pm
Date: 
Friday, October 2, 2020 - 10:00am - 6:00pm
Location: 
Appleton Memorial Park, 1620 E Witzke Blvd, Appleton

The Native Justice Coalition, Menīkānaehkem, and ESTHER regret to announce we will be canceling our talking circles in Appleton due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the Menominee Nation, Fox Valley, and the surrounding area. We will not be rescheduling these events in 2020, but plan on doing work in the Menominee Nation and Fox Valley in 2021.

Racial Justice Talking CirclesJoin members of Menīkānaehkem, the Native Justice Coalition and ESTHER in talking together about racial justice.

Update: Both events will be held at Memorial Park in Appleton.

(The similar event planned for Menīkānaehkem in Gresham on October 2 has been moved to the Appleton location due to COVID-19 restrictions on the Menominee Reservation.)

This event will be held outside, and community agreements will be in place that follow the CDC and State of Wisconsin COVID-19 safety guidelines.

Travel assistance is available. Gift cards and lunch are provided.

Please see attached agenda for more information about the event.

Please register in advance at https://www.nativejustice.org/racialjusticetalk. Attendance limited to twenty-five people each day.

Questions? sarah@nativejustice.org

Help spread the word - download and share the attached flier!

Addiction Recovery Coach Training

CCAR Recovery Coach Academy

CCAR Training LogoThe CCAR Recovery Coach Academy© (RCA) is a 5-day intensive training academy designed to provide individuals with an understanding of both the art and science of recovery coaching. The Recovery Coach Academy includes core competencies for recovery coaches with training on ethics, boundaries, medication-assisted treatment, gambling, and more. By focusing on the goals of the individuals being served, participants will learn the key fundamentals of this rewarding work – which CCAR has identified as actively listening, asking really good questions, and treating people as their own best resource, all while discovering and managing their own stuff.

Recognized nationally as the original and leading recovery offering of its kind, CCAR’s Recovery Coach Academy is an innovative new approach to healing people’s lives that is unlike any other training. This training provides 30 CEUs awarded from the Connecticut Certification Board and recognized in WI.

The training will take place digitally via Adobe Connect on Sept 14-18, 2020, from 11:00 am-3:00 pm daily, with additional pre-work assigned daily. (Click here to review the minimum computer system requirements to participate in the training.)

The cost of the training is $200 and includes access to all 5 days of the training, 1 RCA Manual and 30 CEUs. The training is being offered at a reduced cost in part because of grants and other generous contributions. (This training typically costs $850.)

Register Now

This training is being hosted by ESTHER in partnership with Menīkānaehkem and presented by Helios Recovery Services.

Once registered and paid, participants will be asked to create an account on the CCAR Protraxx training system to track attendance and administer the certificate of competition.

For additional information regarding registration, please contact Bill Van Lopik

For information regarding the training, Protraxx, or Helios Recovery please contact Jesse Heffernan: jheffernan@heliosrecovery.com

Justice for Kozee Decorah

Kozee Featherstone MontageAs part of their efforts to shine a light on missing and murdered indigenous women (MMIW), our allies at Menīkānaehkem are asking for the support of ESTHER members and friends to:

  • Sign and circulate this petition regarding the murder of 22-year old Kozee Montana Featherstone Medicinetop Decorah. The petition asks that the charges against the alleged perpetrator be increased from manslaughter to second-degree murder, that five additional charges be added, and that he not be released on bail.
  • Contact the US Attorneys assigned to the case by mail, email or phone (contact info at Read more below) to urge that the charges be modified.

Why are we asking? On May 15th, 2020, Kozee Decorah celebrated her 3-month sobriety anniversary and was working hard to move back home to Wisconsin in the coming months. The very next day she was murdered in Winnebago, Nebraska, by her fiancé, Jonathan Daniel Rooney, who then mutilated her body.

On June 1, 2020, Rooney was charged with MANSLAUGHTER OCCURRING IN INDIAN COUNTRY for the death of Kozee Decorah – a minimal charge given the severity of the killing and the subsequent mutilation of her body.

Seeding Our Future: MMIW Solutions for Wisconsin

Posted in
Date: 
Saturday, May 23, 2020 - 2:00pm
Location: 
Zoom Webinar

This series of webinars is dedicated to finding solutions for missing and murdered indigenous women within Wisconsin through indigenous-led grassroots movements and collaboration across systems.

The same program will be offered at 3 different times, limited to 100 participants each:

Date  Registration Link
Monday, May 18, 3:00 pm https://bit.ly/2KRwomm
Friday, May 22, 6:00 pm https://bit.ly/2Sslis3
Saturday, May 23, 2:00 pm https://bit.ly/3f4XlRv

Topics discussed:

  • Strategic plan for MMIW-WI and feedback from tribal communities
  • Indigenous-led data
  • Toolkits for local efforts

Panelists:

  • Chris McKinney, Director of Government Affairs, Wisconsin Department of Justice
  • Pam Johnson, AIAA (American Indians Against Abuse)
  • Shira Phelps, Crime Victim Services, Wisconsin Department of Justice
  • Kristin Welch, MMIW Women's Leadership Cohort - Menīkānaehkem
  • Dr. Joseph Robertson, Mato Ohitika Analytics

Contact kwelch@menomineerebuilders.org with questions or concerns.

Seeding Our Future: MMIW Solutions for Wisconsin

Posted in
Date: 
Friday, May 22, 2020 - 6:00pm
Location: 
Zoom Webinar

This series of webinars is dedicated to finding solutions for missing and murdered indigenous women within Wisconsin through indigenous-led grassroots movements and collaboration across systems.

The same program will be offered at 3 different times, limited to 100 participants each:

Date  Registration Link
Monday, May 18, 3:00 pm https://bit.ly/2KRwomm
Friday, May 22, 6:00 pm https://bit.ly/2Sslis3
Saturday, May 23, 2:00 pm https://bit.ly/3f4XlRv

Topics discussed:

  • Strategic plan for MMIW-WI and feedback from tribal communities
  • Indigenous-led data
  • Toolkits for local efforts

Panelists:

  • Chris McKinney, Director of Government Affairs, Wisconsin Department of Justice
  • Pam Johnson, AIAA (American Indians Against Abuse)
  • Shira Phelps, Crime Victim Services, Wisconsin Department of Justice
  • Kristin Welch, MMIW Women's Leadership Cohort - Menīkānaehkem
  • Dr. Joseph Robertson, Mato Ohitika Analytics

Contact kwelch@menomineerebuilders.org with questions or concerns.

Seeding Our Future: MMIW Solutions for Wisconsin

Posted in
Date: 
Monday, May 18, 2020 - 3:00pm
Location: 
Zoom Webinar

This series of webinars is dedicated to finding solutions for missing and murdered indigenous women within Wisconsin through indigenous-led grassroots movements and collaboration across systems.

The same program will be offered at 3 different times, limited to 100 participants each:

Date  Registration Link
Monday, May 18, 3:00 pm https://bit.ly/2KRwomm
Friday, May 22, 6:00 pm https://bit.ly/2Sslis3
Saturday, May 23, 2:00 pm https://bit.ly/3f4XlRv

Topics discussed:

  • Strategic plan for MMIW-WI and feedback from tribal communities
  • Indigenous-led data
  • Toolkits for local efforts

Panelists:

  • Chris McKinney, Director of Government Affairs, Wisconsin Department of Justice
  • Pam Johnson, AIAA (American Indians Against Abuse)
  • Shira Phelps, Crime Victim Services, Wisconsin Department of Justice
  • Kristin Welch, MMIW Women's Leadership Cohort - Menīkānaehkem
  • Dr. Joseph Robertson, Mato Ohitika Analytics

Contact kwelch@menomineerebuilders.org with questions or concerns.

MMIW Task Force Bill - Public Hearing

Date: 
Wednesday, March 4, 2020 - 1:00pm
Location: 
Wisconsin State Capitol, Room 412 East, 2 E Main St, Madison

The Wisconsin State Assembly has scheduled a hearing Wednesday on AB 548, which would create a task force on missing/murdered tribal women and girls. This hearing is an important next step in authorizing and creating the task force!

Come to Madison on Wednesday, March 4, to show your support for the bill.

Can't attend the hearing? Show your support by signing this online petition.

The primary purpose of this task force is to reduce violence against Indigenous women, resolve and identify systemic causes and contributing factors of violence, and identify the root causes of gender-based violence against Indigenous people.

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