Letters to the editor for Dec. 12

‘A society based on conquest cannot be sustained’

Indigenous women experience violence at astronomically high rates in a society where it has already reached “epidemic” levels in the general population. Gender-based violence has intergenerational impacts on communities. At its most extreme, it leads to murder. And there is a “silent crisis” of Native women and girls disappearing across North America. Washington state, particularly the cities of Seattle and Tacoma, have some of the highest rates of known missing and murdered indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) in the country.

Colonization introduced a tidal wave of gender-based violence to iIndigenous communities via English common law (which viewed women as chattel), warfare, settler violence, and social norms. In addition to imposing patriarchal frameworks on Native nations, U.S. law impoverished and stripped them of sovereignty in many ways. The resulting “jurisdictional maze” has left Native women and children especially vulnerable to violence.

The 2019 VAWA Reauthorization Act and Washington’s HB 1713 address some pieces of this problem, but do not go far enough to address its root cause. We need a national inquiry, designed and led by the indigenous advocates who have brought this crisis into the public eye. We need to understand the scope of MMIWG and hear from families of the missing what is needed. Taking accountability for the crisis this nation has created may provide the chance for direly needed social and economic transformation. As Ojibwe advocate Winona LaDuke has written, “a society based on conquest cannot be sustained.”

Eviction and homelessness

Basically, there are only three reasons that property owners would consider evicting a tenant:

1. Nonpayment of rent.

2. Destruction of the owner’s property.

3. Offensive behavior: loud music, late night noise/visitors, storing garbage on the property, loud profane language, etc.

Unlawful detainer, i.e. eviction, is an expensive legal process for the property owner. It is a property owner’s choice of last resort.

Evictions are absolutely not the “cause of homelessness!” Almost without exception it is the nonpayment of rent.

Prior to being evicted, the tenant experienced an event that prevented the tenant from paying rent. The real causes of homelessness are among the following:

1. Job loss

2. Medical issues; illness/injury

3. Divorce or separation

4. Loss of a rent-paying partner

5. Transportation issues or auto repair expenses

6. Criminal activity; incarceration

7. Drug addiction

And the list goes on. Prior to any eviction lies the reason for the non-payment of rent.

The real question that should be asked of any homeless person would be: What event occurred in your life which prevented you from paying rent or would motivate a property owner to want to remove you from his/her property?

Once answered, the cause for his/her homelessness will be revealed.