{"id":23302,"date":"2022-04-22T18:17:57","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T22:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=23302"},"modified":"2026-02-03T09:31:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:31:02","slug":"young-native-woman-sounds-alarm-about-violence-in-indian-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/04\/22\/young-native-woman-sounds-alarm-about-violence-in-indian-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Native woman sounds alarm about violence in Indian Country"},"content":{"rendered":"\"StrongHearts<\/a>
Photo courtesy StrongHearts Native Helpline<\/figcaption>\r\n
‘I need them to be safe’<\/div>\r\n
Young Native woman sounds alarm about safety in Indian Country <\/div>\r\n
Friday, April 22, 2022<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

“My words as a Crow woman are sacred, for they are the prayers that I\r\nspeak into existence.”<\/em><\/div>\r\n
\r\n
— Tena<\/div><\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nNote: This story contains accounts of sexual assault, rape and predatory behavior.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nFor culturally-appropriate, anonymous, confidential service dedicated to serving Native American and Alaska Native survivors of domestic, dating and sexual violence and concerned relatives and friends, contact the StrongHearts Native Helpline at 1-844-7NATIVE or visit strongheartshelpline.org<\/a> for chat advocacy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.<\/strong>

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<\/p>\r\nA prominent photographer who built a sizable following online with posts featuring Native women and girls is stepping out of the spotlight after survivors came forward with accounts of their trauma.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThis week, two young Native women have publicly shared the trauma they experienced with Adam Sings In The Timber. Both survivors were under the age of 20 when they encountered the photographer, whose social media platform at one point drew nearly 60,000 followers and was filled with images meant to celebrate life in Indian Country.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nBut one survivor who has spoken extensively with Indianz.Com said Sings In The Timber took advantage of her youth. Tena Faith Bear Don\u2019t Walk was only 18 years old when she was first contacted online by a man more than 20 years her senior.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nDespite the age gap, Bear Don\u2019t Walk initially felt safe communicating with Sings In The Timber. With both hailing from the Crow Tribe<\/a>, they began exchanging messages about common experiences, including attending the Crow Fair<\/a> on their homelands. The event is one of the largest gatherings in Indian Country<\/a>, attracting tens of thousands of people to a powwow, rodeo and parade on Crow territory in Montana.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nPhotos from the days-long event have helped bring Sings In The Timber’s work into prominence<\/a>. And as a university student at the time, Bear Don\u2019t Walk developed an interest in photography and videography and hoped to grow her own skills by learning from someone with more experience. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nBut Bear Don\u2019t Walk’s goals of fostering a professional relationship were not shared by Sings In The Timber. In coming forward publicly, the young Crow woman disclosed that she was sexually assaulted and raped by someone she had looked up to, someone she had viewed as a mentor — even as an “uncle” in the cultural traditions of her tribe.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“He can never undo what he did to me,” Bear Don\u2019t Walk said in an interview with Indianz.Com. “He can never take that back.”\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“And he still can\u2019t even admit the truth of what happened,” Bear Don\u2019t Walk said of the incident that occurred on the reservation of the Tulalip Tribes<\/a> in Washington state.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nBear Don\u2019t Walk told Indianz.Com that she disclosed the sexual assault and rape to her health care providers immediately following the incident in November 2019. It happened at the same time as a conference hosted by the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition<\/a>. The organization, commonly known as NABS, had hired Sings In The Timber to serve as the official photographer for its second annual conference, titled “Honoring Native Survivance<\/a>.”\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“We are devastated to learn this week of a report of sexual assault involving a photographer contracted by NABS to document our 2nd Annual Boarding School Healing Conference in November 2019,” the non-profit said in a statement on Friday morning<\/a>. “We condemn the reported actions by Adam Sings In The Timber.”\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“We set a very high standard for anyone we work with and bring in contact with boarding school survivors and descendants,” the organization added. “We have zero tolerance for unethical behavior or impropriety by any participants in NABS events.”\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\"National<\/a>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n
An April 22, 2022, statement from the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. A copy was also posted on NABS social media accounts.<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAnd earlier this year, after feeling safe enough to proceed, Bear Don\u2019t Walk said she reported the sexual assault and rape to the Tulalip Tribes, whose government has emerged as a leader in efforts to protect Native women and girls from violence<\/a> of all forms. Since coming forward, she told Indianz.Com that she has been interviewed twice by a tribal police detective about the incident, which occurred in a hotel at the Tulalip Resort Casino<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nSings In The Timber had stayed in a room at the gaming facility during the boarding school conference, which was held November 19-21, 2019, on the reservation, located about 35 miles north of downtown Seattle. According to NABS, he had worked as a photographer for the organization on just that one occasion.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe sexual assault and rape occurred in two distinct acts at the hotel room, Bear Don\u2019t Walk recounted this week, noting that Sings In The Timber provided her with alcohol he purchased at a Tulalip tribal business and through room service at the casino. A total of three bottles of alcohol were purchased, she said. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nBy this time, Bear Don’t Walk was 19 years old — still under the legal drinking age of 21 in Washington. According to the Strong Hearts Native Helpline<\/a>, a Native-led support organization, being provided with alcohol is a sign of sexual coercion<\/a>, in that it deprives a survivor of the ability to engage in informed consent<\/a>. The rape, she pointed out, happened after she had fallen asleep and was unconscious in Sings In The Timber’s hotel room, again depriving her of the ability to consent. \r\n

<\/P>\r\nAs part of her journey in the tribal justice system, Bear Don\u2019t Walk said she has received services from the Legacy of Healing, a program established at Tulalip<\/a> to help survivors address sexual assault, abuse and other crimes of violence. Through this level of support, she has been able to receive additional resources from a victims of crime compensation fund in the state of Washington.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAnd by speaking out publicly, she said she hopes to ensure that spaces in Indian Country are safe for some of the most vulnerable in tribal and urban communities.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“When I think of the young girls, boys and Two-Spirits who will grow up after me, I want them to be safe,” Bear Don\u2019t Walk said as she shared her story on her social media platform<\/a> on Tuesday. “I need them to be safe.”\r\n

<\/p>\r\n \"Powwows.Com\"<\/a>

A screenshot of a social media post from powwows.com.<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nIn an email to Indianz.Com, Sings In The Timber did not comment directly about the sexual assault that has been reported to the Tulalip Tribes and to NABS. Instead he offered what he described as the “facts” of a situation that has been widely discussed and disseminated online in the last few days.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“I have never been investigated or charged with a crime, in any state,” Sings In The Timber wrote in the email on Thursday afternoon. “I have no criminal record whatsoever.”\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe message was sent from an email account that had been listed on Sings In The Timber’s official photography website, singsinthetimber.com. Indianz.Com sent this first request for comment to the account on Tuesday afternoon.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAfter failing to receive an immediate response, Indianz.Com sent another request for comment on Thursday morning. This second email was sent to an account at the University of California, Berkeley<\/a>, where Sings In The Timber is listed in the campus directory<\/a> as an employee of the Rausser College of Natural Resources<\/a>. His photography work has appeared<\/a> in numerous articles published by UC Berkeley, including those featuring Native students<\/a> as well as the activities of the Native student program<\/a> on campus.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nJust a couple of hours after the inquiry was sent to the berkeley.edu account, Sings In The Timber returned to social media with a post that he labeled as his “last and only public statement.” The post was his first since his once-busy account on Instagram<\/a> went silent earlier this year.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“After much reflection I have made the decision to return to my homelands to seek guidance, counseling, and help from my family, friends, and clan relatives,” Sings In The Timber wrote in the post on April 21.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nSings In The Timber, however, did not outright say in the post whether he will be resigning his job at Berkeley. He did not respond to a third, subsequent request to elaborate about his employment status and his plans to return to his “homelands.”\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\"Adam<\/a> \r\n

A screenshot of a statement on the @singsinthetimber social media account as it appeared shortly after being posted on April 21, 2022. The post has since been edited to include the following caption: “I also want to apologize to all the people I\u2019ve let down and hurt. I don\u2019t know how to or if I can make amends, but I will try.” The account does not allow comments on the post.<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nSings In The Timber also did respond to a request to explain why a prior post went missing from his Instagram account. In February, he denied being a “rapist or predator” after a group of Native youth in Chicago, Illinois, where he previously resided<\/a>, accused him of victimizing “young Native girls and women”<\/a> — including those interested in photography, as Bear Don\u2019t Walk had been.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe Chi-Nations Youth Council<\/a> further accused Sings In The Timber of victimizing young Native women who took part in his photography projects as models. A second survivor who was 18 years old when she participated in one of the photo shoots — which was turned into an exhibit titled “Indigenizing Colonized Spaces” that was hosted at museums, galleries and public spaces across the United States — has has since spoken out about her trauma.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAfter meeting Sings In The Timber on just one occasion for the photo shoot in 2020, she described receiving numerous messages and phone calls of a sexual nature from him. Despite repeatedly rejecting the advances, the unwanted communications continued for two years — only ending earlier this year, she said.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“I now realize that he was trying to groom me, and it makes me sick,” the young Native woman wrote on her social media platform on Thursday. She said the calls and messages stopped around February, around the same time the youth in Chicago went public with their statement.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nWhile Sings In The Timber has remained silent about the accounts of the survivors, he shared details about his personal life in his “last and only public statement.” He said he was ending an intimate relationship with someone he had been involved in the past couple of years — around the same time as the incidents disclosed by the two young Native women.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“My partner and I have also made the difficult decision to separate. Please respect her\r\nprivacy in this difficult time,” wrote Sings In The Timber, whose birth surname is “Singer,” according to public records and longtime associates who confirmed the name to Indianz.Com.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n \"Liz<\/a>

A screenshot of a statement on the @lizhoover social media account as it appeared about 22 hours after being posted on April 21, 2022. The account was initially set to private after being reactivated. It became public sometime later in the evening on April 21. The account does not allow comments on the post. <\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe former partner was not named in the statement. But hours later, another employee at the University of California, Berkeley, reactivated a social media account<\/a> that had been dormant and said she was the person involved with Sings In The Timber.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“The person who has been my partner has behaved in deeply hurtful and inappropriate\r\nways, which I am only learning the full scope of this week,” Elizabeth Hoover<\/a>, an associate professor at Berkeley’s Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, wrote in the post on Thursday afternoon. \r\n

<\/p>\r\n“I want to make it very clear that I was completely unaware of Adam’s harmful interactions with the two women who have come forward, until everything came out on this very public forum,” Hoover added in the only explicit reference she and her former partner made about the survivors.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nHoover is more commonly known as “Liz” from her work on food sovereignty in Indian Country. Her biography on berkeley.edu<\/a> lists numerous publications about environmental, subsistence and natural resource issues in tribal communities across the nation. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nA November 2021 story published in Berkeley News<\/a>, the university’s media arm, described Hoover as a “relatively new Native American faculty member” and said she was one of “one of 11 self-identified Native American\/Alaska Native ladder-rank faculty members at Berkeley.” The post featured a photo of Hoover credited to “Adam Sings In The Timber” but did not otherwise disclose the photographer’s association with the institution or the relationship between the two individuals. \r\n

<\/P>\r\nWith the story, Hoover centered herself as a “cluster” hire meant to diversify the ranks of faculty at an institution of higher learning. However, no affiliation with a tribal nation in the United States, or with a First Nations community in Canada, was provided.\r\n

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