Women of All Red Nations

Part of a series on
Native Americans in the United States
Native America
History
Culture
Wars
Political movements
Religion
Groups
Ethnic subdivisions
Languages
Demographics
Geography
by region
by state
Lists
WARN logo

Women of All Red Nations (WARN) was a Native American women's organization that fought for Native American civil and reproductive rights. It was established in 1974 by Lorelei DeCora Means, Madonna Thunderhawk, Phyllis Young, Janet McCloud, Marie Sanchez and others.[1][2] WARN included more than 300 women from 30 different tribal communities.[3] Many of its members had previously been active in the American Indian Movement and were participants in the 1973 Wounded Knee incident. The inaugural conference took place in Rapid City, South Dakota.[3]

Women of All Red Nations (WARN) championed the health of Native American women, the restoration and security of treaty rights, the elimination of Indian mascots in sports, and the protest against the commercialization of Native American culture. Additionally, WARN emphasized the high rate of health issues like birth defects, miscarriages, and deaths on Native American land from nuclear mining and storage.[4] WARN also expressed concerns about the forced sterilization of Indigenous women and the adoption of Indigenous children by non-Natives.[5] In their annual newsletter, WARN published “The Left of Life” to draw attention to the ongoing forced sterilization of Indigenous women. In 1979, the article was reprinted for the National Indian Civil Rights Issues Hearing, which was held in Washington D.C. as part of the United States Commission on Civil Rights.[6]

A 1974 WARN study reported that, during the 1970s, 40–50% of interviewed Indigenous women believed they had been sterilized, although a subsequent study indicated this estimate was too high. Estimating the prevalence of sterilization is difficult, as the population did undergo growth during this period, while many of those who underwent the procedure already had three or four children.[7] As a result of the efforts of WARN to bring attention to these practices, in 1979 regulations governing sterilization were issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.[8] In 1980, WARN issued a report indicating a statistical correlation between the high levels of pollution on Pine Ridge Reservation and an increased incidence of birth defects, abortions and cancer. This region had been used for uranium mining, served as a military gunnery range and had been subjected to herbicide and insecticide contamination from off-reservation farms.[9]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference josephy_nagel_johnson1999 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference marie was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ford2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Ford, Lynne E., ed. (2008). Encyclopedia of women and American politics. Facts on file library of American history. New York: Facts On File. ISBN 978-0-8160-5491-6.
  5. ^ Sonneborn, Liz (2007). Chronology of American Indian history. Facts on File library of American history (Updated ed.). New York: Facts On File. ISBN 978-0-8160-6770-1. OCLC 70866951.
  6. ^ Stefanie, Schmahl (October 2017), "United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women)", Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/law-epil/9780199231690/e2195, ISBN 978-0-19-923169-0, retrieved 2024-04-03
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference malott2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference bataille_lisa2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference anderson_berglund2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).