"In light of the 57 who have died in mass shootings in the past month in America, it seems an appropriate time to address the issue of law and order in Indian Country.

In fact, that's what national leaders have done this past week as the Senate and the U.S. Department of Justice announced legislation and additional funding for tribal law enforcement and justice.

It's a conversation whose time is long past due.

Consider these statistics:

• The violent crime rate in Indian country is nearly twice the national average and more than 20 times the national average on some Indian reservations.

• Thirty-four percent of Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped in their lifetimes, and 39 percent of Indian and Alaska Native women will be subject to domestic violence.

• Alcohol and drug abuse are factors in more than 80 percent of crimes committed in tribal communities.

These have become facts too easily accepted in Indian Country.

We shrug our shoulders when hard-drinking husbands abuse and murder their wives. We shake our heads and then try to forget it when we're told yet another child has been sexually abused or has died in a car accident. We grit our teeth but do nothing when yet another perpitrator of a violent act walks away with nothing more than a wrist slap."

Get the Story:
Kevin Abourezk: Violence in Indian Country in the Spotlight (RezNet News 4/10)

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