On March 7th, 2013 President Obama signed into law the Violence Against Woman Act (VAWA) reauthorization. In addition to instituting critical new protections for LGBT individuals and undocumented immigrants, the 2013 VAWA reauthorization restored tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Native perpetrators of domestic violence on tribal lands. As of today, tribes can prosecute non-Indians who abuse Native women for the first time since 1978.
The Yale Group for the Study of Native America joins in the Native American Law Student Association in welcoming on March 31st a very special event to learn more about tribes’ special domestic violence jurisdiction and the epidemic of violence against Native women.
Written by Cherokee playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle, Sliver of a Full Moon is a play that tells the story of the abuse and rape of Native women by non-Indians and the incredible movement to bring them justice. The cast features three of the courageous Native women who stepped forward in 2013 to share their stories of survival with members of Congress: Diane Millich (Southern Ute), Lisa Brunner (White Earth Ojibwe), and Billie Jo Rich (Eastern Band of Cherokee). The cast also includes students from Yale’s Native community as well as professional Native actors with prominent theater and television experiences. It is directed by Mohegan director Madeline Sayet.
American Indian and Alaska Native women face proportionally higher levels of violence than any other group of women in the United States. Sliver of a Full Moon follows the story of five Native women and two Native men who worked to restore tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Native perpetrators of domestic violence on tribal lands in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. While celebrating this historic victory, Sliver of a Full Moon also emphasizes that this solution is narrow. Consequently the play asks: what will it take to restore the jurisdiction of all tribes to protect the lives of all Native women?
This play has been performed only a few times, most recently done in September 2014 at the UN Chapel to accompany the United Nations World Conference on Indigenous Peoples. The Yale performance will be held in the Yale Law School Auditorium and will include a short talk-back following the performance with the survivors, a reception at the Native American Cultural Center, and a lunch-hour presentation the following day in the Law School.
Please pre-register here and join our Facebook event. Early registrants will be entered into a raffle for Kaplan Bar Review course gift certificates.
Sliver of a Full Moon
March 31, 2015
Doors open at 6:00pm, performance starts at 6:30pm
Levinson Auditorium
The Honorable Judge Fletcher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will offer introductory remarks.
We are also honored to be joined by Lynn Malerba, Chief of the Mohegan Tribe, and Deborah Parker, Vice Chairwoman of the Tulalip Tribes.
Read more about the play and the 2013 VAWA reauthorization at: www.sliverofafullmoon.org.
Yale Co-Sponsors
American Constitution Society; Asian Pacific American Law Students Association; Ethnicity, Race, and Migration Program; Law Students for Reproductive Justice; Lillian Goldman Law Library; Native American Cultural Center; Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights; OutLaws; Program for the Study of Reproductive Justice; Temporary Restraining Order Project; Vice Provost for Diversity; Women of Color Collective; Yale Law Journal; Yale Law Women; Zelia & Oscar Ruebhausen/Debevoise & Plimpton Student Fund.