Deborah Parker | |
|---|---|
| cicayalc̓aʔ [a] | |
| Born | 1970 (age 53–54) |
| Nationality | Tulalip |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | University of Washington (B.A.) |
| Known for | Activism |
| Board member of |
|
| Spouse | Myron Dewey (died 2021) |
| Children | 3 |
Deborah Parker (born 1970),[1][2] also known by her native name cicayalc̓aʔ (sometimes spelled Tsi-Cy-Altsa or tsicyaltsa),[a][4] is an activist and Indigenous leader in the United States. A member of the Tulalip Tribes of Washington, she served as its vice-chairwoman from 2012[5] to 2015[6] and is, as of July 2018,[update] a board member for Our Revolution[7][8] and the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center.[9] She is also a co-founder of Indigenous Women Rise.[10][11]
During the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, Parker successfully campaigned both for the reauthorization and for the inclusion of provisions which gave tribal courts jurisdiction over violent crimes against women and families involving non–Native Americans on tribal lands.[12][13][14] She also served in the 2016 Democratic National Convention as one of the platform committee members representing Bernie Sanders,[15][16] where she "helped to ensure that Native policy initiatives were ultimately rolled into the party's larger platform."[17]
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Deborah Parker (1970– ). Former vice chairwoman of the Tulalip Tribes; leading advocate for expansion of the Violence Against Women Act to include protections for Native American women; appointed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, to the 2016 Democratic National Convention's Platform Committee.
'It's tough coming forward when you're a victim,' said Deborah Parker, 43, the vice chair of the Tulalip Tribes in Washington state. 'You have to relive what happened. ... A reservation is like a small town, and you can face a backlash.'
'At times, my spirit's down. At times, I hurt,' said former Tulalip Tribes vice chairwoman Deborah Parker, whose Native name, tsi-cy-altsa, goes back seven generations on her mother's side of the family.
Board member Deborah Parker did not run for re-election.
Deborah Parker, Vice-Chair – Native American Leader
'What triggered that move was having three Our Revolution board members at Standing Rock' said [Larry] Cohen: the actor and environmental activist Shailene Woodley (who was actually arrested protesting the pipeline), Native American activist Deborah Parker, and Jane Kleeb, incoming chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party.
Deborah Parker, Tsi-Cy-Altsa (Tulalip/Yaqui), was elected to the Tulalip Tribes Board of Directors in 2012. As a board member, Deborah brings to Tulalip leadership nearly two decades of experience as a policy analyst, program developer, communications specialist, and committed cultural advocate and volunteer in the tribal and surrounding communities. [...] Deborah lives in Tulalip with her husband Myron Dewey (Paiute/Shoshone) and their five children.
Most recently, Deborah Parker was named to the Democratic National Convention's Platform Committee. She is a trustee for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, Vice Chairwoman for the National Our Revolution Organization, Board of Trustee for the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center and Co-Founder for Indigenous Women Rise.
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization passed the U.S. House on February 28 by a vote of 286 to 138. In a major victory for Indian country, it mirrored the already passed U.S. Senate provisions that allow tribal courts to prosecute non-Indians who commit violence against women and families on Indian lands. [...] The Senate agreed with [Deborah] Parker's position this year on February 12, and the higher chamber last Congress also voted in the affirmative on the tribal provisions, but this was the first time that the House had taken such action. [...] 'The hard work of Deborah Parker and all tribal advocates is a big win for all of us,' [Pamela] Stearns said, adding that she looks forward to continuing the fight with them on behalf of Alaska Native women[.]
Deborah Parker serves as the Tulalip Tribes' vice chair. For three years, she flew back and forth between Washington state and Washington, D.C., giving speeches and knocking on doors—an experience that she says felt like 'going to war.' [...] It's an alarming statistic that Parker knows all too well from growing up on the reservation.
Raised on the reservation, an early victim of abuse herself, she [Deborah Parker] said listening to the often-daily survival stories of other tribal members led to a moment of awareness. [...] After meeting certain requirements, the Tulalip, along with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, now have the judicial authority to try non-Indians for certain domestic violence-related cases under a pilot program of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Congress passed its reauthorization last year, and by March 2015, the tribal provision will take effect for all U.S. tribes. Last year, Parker said she lobbied members of Congress about the measure until her "toes bled." And she said she advocated so frequently on Capitol Hill—500 days to be exact—that even President Barack Obama got to know her by her Indian name.
The Sanders selections are all noted progressives: Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Keith Ellison, academic and activist Cornel West (the author of the groundbreaking 1994 book Race Matters and a leading member of Democratic Socialists of America), Native American activist and former Tulalip Tribes Vice Chair Deborah Parker (a key advocate for reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act), and Arab-American Institute President James Zogby (a veteran of many conventions who was an adviser to the campaigns of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Vice President Al Gore and President Obama).
Then last summer, Sanders chose Deborah Parker, former vice chair of the Tulalip Tribes, to serve on the Democratic Platform Committee. Both she and Jodi Gillette-Archambault, Obama's former White House Advisor on Indian Affairs of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, helped to ensure that Native policy initiatives were ultimately rolled into the party's larger platform.