"Cowboys and Angels": A free northern Michigan benefit concert to battle domestic violence and teen suicides on one of the poorest American Indian reservations in the U.S.
(Munising, Michigan) - A free benefit concert for the nation's first Native American domestic violence shelter on an American Indian Reservation will be held on December 15 in northern Michigan.
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.
The concert entitled "Cowboys and Angels" 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."
"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."
"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.
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.
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Related websites:
White Buffalo Calf Woman Society, Inc.
http://www.wbcws.org
Turtle Island Project main website:
http://www.turtleislandproject.org
Turtle Island TV (blipTV)
http://turtleislandtv.blip.tv/
Turtle Island TV (youtube)
http://www.youtube.com/MunisingWhiteHorse
Turtle Island (myspace)
http://www.myspace.com/TurtleIslandProject
Turtle Island Project websites/Blogs:
http://groups.msn.com/WhisperingTurtle
http://turtleislandproject.wordpress.com/
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Rosebud Tribe official website:
http://www.rosebudsiouxtribe-nsn.gov
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WBCWS Director Tillie Black Bear;
PH. 605-856-2317
FX. 605-856-2494
Javier H. Alegree
WBCWS Public Relations Specialist; Media and Education
email:
javier@wbcws.org
PH. 605-856-2317
FX. 605-856-2494
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TIP:
Rev. Lynn Hubbard
Turtle Island Project Co-Founder/Director
Pastor for an ELCA Lutheran Church
Eden Evangelical Lutheran Church
PO Box 360
1150 M-28
West Munising, MI.
49862
wk: 906-387-2520
cell: 906.202.0590
hm: 906-387-5616
email:
TurtleIslandProject@charter.net