Tankashilah! Hear our cries. Have pity on us. We have strayed so far from Your original plan. We have made ugly the great gift You gave us. Hear our cries. We have abused this Mother Earth You placed in our care. We have stripped and degraded her. Hear our cries. We allow abuse and fear to go on each day. It is so much easier to look the other way. Hear our cries. Help us to relearn and follow Your Sacred Ways! Omakiya! Onsimala!

This page is dedicated to all those out there that have gone through, are going through or will go through abuse.  I too have felt this fear, I know many who have felt the fear and I pray that the Creator will send others for me to meet, to share and to try to help heal.  This weekend my best friend got kicked and bruised by her husband.  The man that promised to love and honor her many years ago, kicked her in the head with steel toed boots.  Forgive me for being sarcastic here, but that is one hell of a way to love and honor another human spirit. And when I saw him after he got out of jail, he walked right up to me and tried to tell me that it was an accident, that his foot slipped.  He then tried to make me feel guilty, said that I should tell her that because of her he was looking at 7 years in prison. Then he turned around and started laughing with his friend. When the Creator set our spirits here in human form, I know it was for us to love and respect each other and the rest of Creation. We were not placed here to rule another by fear. Yet this is how this world has turned. And the extreemly sad and pitiful thing is, that the status quo is to look the other way....to not speak about it....to just go on with your life....because after all it isn't YOUR problem right?.... WRONG!! It is all of our problems. Whether it is someone you care about very much, the neighbor next door, a person down the street...or someone across the world. When we allow this kind of behavior to go on and do not step in...we are showing the children and all of the generations to come that this is the way we should treat each other. So many people ask why the youth are turning out as they are. And that is because of abandoning them, forgetting about them, and showing them the way we "accept" actions that are so very wrong. If we want to change the future...if we really want to make this place a better world for our future generations...then we each have to stop, and when we see abuse do something!!

"What can we do?" you ask?...Plenty. If you know someone who is in an abusive situation...be there for them. Let them know that you know what is going on, and you do not respect them any less because they don't have the strength yet to get out. Be there to listen to them, be there to hold their hands when they feel that they can't go on. And let them know that if they want to get out that you will be there no matter what to stand beside them and help be the solid rock that they need to begin again. Go with them to the courts to get the restraining orders, go with them if they need to get divorce papers done. Help them to find a safe place to stay if they need it. And continue to keep your ears, eyes and hearts open to them. Let them know that it is hard to get out of abusive relationships sometimes. Because alot of times the person is there because they have had something bad happen to them in childhood. They started this life with very low self esteem. And alot of times they feel that they don't deserve to be loved or treated right. Let them know that you understand that they are going to have a hard time getting out. Basically, don't shut your eyes and ears to what is going on...hoping that it will get better. Because most times it won't. If you don't try to help...there is the very real posibility that instead of getting a phone call saying there was another beating...it will be a call telling you when the funeral will be.

If it is someone that you don't really know..it will be harder..but don't turn your back. When you hear that there is a beating going on...call the cops, call social services...no matter how many times it may take. The person will probably not want to talk to you right away...they are afraid...they don't want to be beat but they feel like that is something that just happens in life...like breathing. So they will probably feel like you are intruding on them. Just realize that some times persistance and patience can help save a life. Just please...do not look the other way or think that it isn't your problem.

1-800-799-7233

This is the number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Please if you are being abused or if you know someone who is...call.. they are there 24 hours a day 7 days a week to get help to/for you. They have interpreters for 141 languages and care and want to help.

The following URL's are links to some good sites that deal with abuse. Please visit them and learn what you can...and remember: Don't turn away! National Domestic Violence Hotline Silent Witness Program