Lac du Flambeau youth issue call to march against abuse

Wednesday, October 19, 2011  

A message from the youth of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation in Wisconsin.

October is Domestic Violence awareness Month. Domestic Violence is defined as “an act of violence or abuse against a person living in one’s household, especially a member of one’s immediate family.”

The seventh grade class at Lac du Flambeau Public School is organizing a march to share our message that it is time for domestic abuse and violence to stop. It is bad. It is wrong. We do not want people in our community, people in any community, to be hurting each other anymore. We are asking for your help.

Several weeks ago we learned about a tragic event that resulted in two very young members of our community being severely injured. These two little kids were victims of abuse.

As a seventh grade family, we were very upset and decided to do something for these two kids. We wanted to give these two kids, and all kids, adults and elders who are victims of physical or emotional abuse, a VOICE. We want to speak up for anyone who has ever suffered as a result of mistreatment, violence, or abuse.

We are marching to the Tribal Center at 2 pm on Thursday, October 20th, to let everyone know that we are tired of people being treated unfairly and we are not going to put up with domestic violence anymore.

We will be marching with 2000 paper cranes. In Japan, one thousand cranes is a sign of hope, and represents one wish. LDF Middle School students have worked together to make 2000 cranes in honor of the two little kids who inspired us to begin this project. We are marching our cranes from the LDF Public School to the Tribal Center. There, Chairman Tom Maulson will speak, along with Betty Lou Wayman representing the Domestic Abuse Center. There will also be a drum circle.

We will meet at the flagpole area at the school just before 2 pm. Students should organize by grade level. If teachers of little kids want to partner with older kids so they have a buddy to walk with, please contact a teacher to see if their class can help.

Parents and family members are encouraged to join us!

The news media will be coming so a lot of people are going to see our march and hear our message. Don’t forget -- it might be cold, so dress WARM.

Please march with us! We would greatly appreciate your support!

Sincerely,
The Seventh Grade Family
Lac du Flambeau Public School