These past few months have been a busy time for the Alliance of Tribal Coalitions to End Violence (ATCEV). Recently this past July, we were able to attend the Women Are Sacred conference, hosted by the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The ATCEV presented a session titled, Advocates in Action: The Role of Victim Services in Consultation, which provided attendees with a general overview of the upcoming 20th Annual OVW Government-to-Government Tribal Consultation. We discussed the historic and legal foundations of Consultation and highlighted the importance of Tribal victim service providers in supporting Tribal leadership in the Consultation process.

In addition to the Advocates in Action presentation, the ATCEV co-presented alongside our partners in the Capacity Building Consortium. The Capacity Building Consortium includes the National Network to End Domestic Violence as well as the NIWRC, and is a project funded by the Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services. This presentation was titled Strengthening Collaborations to Enhance Safety and Services and was focused on strengthening collaborations among state funding administrators, territorial/state domestic violence coalitions, local domestic violence programs, Tribal programs, and other key partners to enhance services and safety for survivors.

We at ATCEV leave experiences like these with our hearts full, renewed and determined to continue our mission of providing support to Tribal Coalitions/Tribal communities, advancing Tribal sovereignty, and supporting equal justice for survivors of violence.