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“I currently work for Southern Plains Tribal Health Board (SPTHB) in Oklahoma City. As part of acquiring experiential training, I was assigned to the American Indian Criminal Justice Navigation Council (AICJNC) with the founder David LittleSun, who served 20 years in prison and now travels and shares his story of success. The vision of our board is focused on empowering high levels of self-worth and eradicating shame and barriers through opportunity. Our mission is dedicated to educating offenders, families, and communities while partnering with federal, tribal, state, and county officials, identifying opportunities while eliminating gaps in criminal justice reform. The purpose of the organization is to inform American Indian offenders of their rights, roles, and responsibilities, and as a result, become active participants in their own cases to lower recidivism within tribal communities. This works to lessen the financial burden to state and tribal communities and lower the overall crime rate. Offenders work closely with our “Navigators,” who are ex-offenders who are now success stories within their own tribal communities. Because of our groundbreaking program, we recently received our 501(c)(3) non-profit status and are looking for funding.
I do this work because I understand the struggles that every incarcerated offender goes through, as well as the family that must endure it as well. I believe the mass incarceration problem in Oklahoma can be decreased with the help of nonprofits like the American Indian Criminal Justice Navigation Council. It’s going to take participation from all sectors — from federal, state, tribal, county, and individual advocacy — to help decrease the issue Oklahoma is currently facing. I believe my state of Oklahoma has the ability to combat the currently high numbers of incarcerated American Indians. If not, the generational cycle will continue for other young children who face the same challenges I did. Without the help of my family, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Alpha Pi Omega, Southern Plains Tribal Health Board, American Indian Criminal Justice Navigation Council, and Center for Native American Youth, I wouldn’t be able to continue my advocacy work to help create a better place for those who will come after me.”
– Teen Vogue, Mass Incarceration Is a Huge Problem for Indigenous Peoples in Oklahoma. Here’s What I’m Doing to Help.
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Download the 18″x24″ poster (.pdf), Indian Country 52 #38 – Mass Incarceration.
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Indian Country 52
Indian Country 52 is a weekly project by David Bernie that uses the medium of posters that promote issues and stories in Indian Country.
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This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
