Chuck Darwin on Nostr: BIA Files Documented Sterilizations by Indian Health Service After the BIA takeover, ...
BIA Files Documented Sterilizations by Indian Health Service
After the BIA takeover, it was nearly two years before the information on the sterilization of American Indian women was made public, in 1974 by Akwesasne Notes, a newspaper published by the Mohawk Nation.
"Mainstream media, such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, would take another two years to publish an article on the matter in 1976. Their articles appeared after the General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report investigating allegations against the IHS," Morgan Peters wrote in 'Forgotten Women: The Involuntary Sterilization of American Indian Women in the Twentieth Century.'
During the six day occupation of the BIA takeover in Washington, the documents were uncovered that revealed a high percentage of American Indian women had been involuntarily sterilized.
"It would take two years for this information to be published, when Akwesasne Notes published Sterilization of Young Native Women Alleged at Indian Hospital -- 48 Operations in July, 1974 Alone in 1974."
The article focused on the high rates of sterilization at an Indian Health Service facility in Claremore, Oklahoma.
The United States Continued Sterilizations after 1974
The General Accounting Office report shows that even after legislation designed to protect women from forced sterilization was passed in 1974, the abusive sterilizations continued. During six years time, 1970 through 1976, between 25 and 50 percent of Native women were sterilized.
In 1976, the U.S. General Accounting Office said Indian Health Service performed 3,406 sterilizations of Native women in three years, 1973 -- 1976, and continued to be out of compliance with laws prohibiting sterilization.
The victims were in the IHS regions of Aberdeen, South Dakota; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Phoenix, Arizona, the U.S. General Accounting Office said. https://www.gao.gov/assets/hrd-77-3.pdf
Full-blooded Native women were targeted.
In some cases, Native American women went to IHS for other surgeries, and doctors performed hysterectomies without their consent. In other cases, women were told they would lose their benefits if they didn't consent. Girls as young as 11 were victims of sterilization in the U.S., and Native school girls were often targeted at the age of 15 for sterilization. Some never knew they were the victims of sterilization until years later when they were ready to have children.
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/07/indigenous-women-sterilized-by.html
After the BIA takeover, it was nearly two years before the information on the sterilization of American Indian women was made public, in 1974 by Akwesasne Notes, a newspaper published by the Mohawk Nation.
"Mainstream media, such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, would take another two years to publish an article on the matter in 1976. Their articles appeared after the General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report investigating allegations against the IHS," Morgan Peters wrote in 'Forgotten Women: The Involuntary Sterilization of American Indian Women in the Twentieth Century.'
During the six day occupation of the BIA takeover in Washington, the documents were uncovered that revealed a high percentage of American Indian women had been involuntarily sterilized.
"It would take two years for this information to be published, when Akwesasne Notes published Sterilization of Young Native Women Alleged at Indian Hospital -- 48 Operations in July, 1974 Alone in 1974."
The article focused on the high rates of sterilization at an Indian Health Service facility in Claremore, Oklahoma.
The United States Continued Sterilizations after 1974
The General Accounting Office report shows that even after legislation designed to protect women from forced sterilization was passed in 1974, the abusive sterilizations continued. During six years time, 1970 through 1976, between 25 and 50 percent of Native women were sterilized.
In 1976, the U.S. General Accounting Office said Indian Health Service performed 3,406 sterilizations of Native women in three years, 1973 -- 1976, and continued to be out of compliance with laws prohibiting sterilization.
The victims were in the IHS regions of Aberdeen, South Dakota; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Phoenix, Arizona, the U.S. General Accounting Office said. https://www.gao.gov/assets/hrd-77-3.pdf
Full-blooded Native women were targeted.
In some cases, Native American women went to IHS for other surgeries, and doctors performed hysterectomies without their consent. In other cases, women were told they would lose their benefits if they didn't consent. Girls as young as 11 were victims of sterilization in the U.S., and Native school girls were often targeted at the age of 15 for sterilization. Some never knew they were the victims of sterilization until years later when they were ready to have children.
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/07/indigenous-women-sterilized-by.html