Next on Native Bidaské, host Levi Rickert continues a critical and moving conversation on one of the most overlooked atrocities in American history: the forced sterilization of Native American women.
Building on part 1 of this series, Levi is joined by journalists Suzette Brewer and Elyse Wild, whose investigative reporting sheds light on how government policies and medical systems collaborated, formally and informally, to strip Native women, men, and even children of their reproductive rights, often without their knowledge or consent.
Brewer shares powerful accounts from survivors and their families, including:
- A Native woman was sterilized in 1981, years after federal guidelines were supposedly in place to protect Native patients.
- A girl who went in for a tonsillectomy at 11 years old and only discovered in her mid-twenties that she had been sterilized.
These stories reveal the lifelong emotional, relational, and health impacts, from broken partnerships and deep depression to a widening crisis in maternal health and medical mistrust in Indian Country.
Wild situates these experiences within a broader legal and historical framework, including the 1927 Buck v. Bell Supreme Court decision that upheld compulsory sterilization—never formally overturned—and more recent cases of forced sterilization in prisons and ICE detention centers. She underscores a sobering truth: this is not just history; it is an ongoing human rights issue.
Together, Levi, Suzette, and Elyse call for:
- Truth-telling and accountability, including efforts like New Mexico’s investigation into sterilization practices.
- A potential national Truth and Reconciliation process focused on Native reproductive justice.
- Long-term investment in world-class maternal, reproductive, and behavioral health care for Native communities.
This episode of Native Bidaské reminds viewers that this is not just “Native American history” — it is American history. By centering survivors’ voices and connecting policy, law, and lived experience, the conversation insists that awareness must lead to action, justice, and healing.
Watch this powerful episode and revisit part one to understand the full scope of this ongoing crisis and why it must never be forgotten.
Watch the full episode of Native Bidaské airing April 1st at 12 PM ET on Facebook, YouTube, and NativeNewsOnline.net.