Battling Native American teen suicide/domestic violence: Free Dec. 15 MI concert for Rosebud White Buffalo Calf Womans Society

[1]“Cowboys and Angels”: A free northern Michigan benefit concert to battle domestic violence and teen suicides on one of the nation’s poorest American Indian reservations

Plea for counselors falls on deaf ears - Public support needed to stem teen suicide crisis

(Munising, Michigan) - For the second time in four months, a free benefit concert will be held for the nation’s first Native American domestic violence shelter to help battle an alarming increase in teen suicides on the Rosebud reservation.

The “Cowboys and Angels” concert will be held on December 15 in the tiny northern Michigan town of Munising.

Three more Rosebud Teens have killed themselves since the first concert in mid-August.

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The Turtle Island Project (TIP) in Munising is organizing the concert to benefit the White Buffalo Calf Woman Society (WBCWS) in Mission, South Dakota.

The WBCWS battles domestic violence, sexual assault and an alarming increase in teen suicides on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation, the home of the Sicangu Lakota people.

Performing on Saturday, Dec. 15 from 7 - 9 p.m. at the Falling Rock Cafe and Bookstore in downtown Munising, Michigan will be Pastor Lynn Hubbard with John Evans on guitar.

Rev. Hubbard on guitar

Pictured on guitar is Turtle Island Project director/concert organizer Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard of Munising, MI

The concert will include original songs written by Rev. Hubbard and traditional songs of the season.

The WBCWS was founded 30 years ago by a group of courageous Native American women including current executive director Tillie Black Bear.

Rev. Hubbard said women around the world continue to be beaten and murdered every day and the WBCWS “is a beacon of hope in that raging sea of violence.”

“The White Buffalo Calf Woman’s Society and its domestic violence shelter serve a critical mission on the Rosebud reservation,” said Dr. Hubbard, pastor of the Eden on the Bay Lutheran Church in Munising, MI. “The shelter aids women and children with dignity and is trying to get more depression counselors for the teens.”

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“Violence against women and children is prevalent in all segments of society,” said Rev. Hubbard, co-founder of the Turtle Island Project that addresses Native American and environment issues. “This violence crosses all lines - without regard for social, economic, race, and creed of the victims.”

Rosebud feathers

“Generations to come are affected each and every time a child or woman is murdered,” said Tillie Black Bear, WBCWS director. “Tribal people have a sacred responsibility to make sure that we create a world that our future generations of relatives will want to be born in to without fear for their safety.”

Figures from the Rosebud reservation alone are shocking: 21 rapes in the past 18 months; 462 attempted teen suicides and 18 deaths during the past two years - most teenage boys - caused tribal officials to declare a “state of emergency” in March 2007.

Poverty, depression, a lack of jobs, drugs, alcohol and other social problems are among the reasons behind Rosebud teen suicides.

Augusta TIP Concert in Custer SD

The August 2007 TIP concert in Custer, SD raised money for the WBCWS

This is the TIP’s second benefit concert this year for the the WBCWS. Two Upper Peninsula folk groups, White Water and Duo Borealis, held a free concert on August 12, 2007 for the WBCWS at the Custer Lutheran Fellowship church in Custer, S.D.

Aug 2007 concert in Custer SD