fantastic!”
Randi stood on the porch as Lozen pushed through the door, calling out to her daughters.
“May I come in?” Randi asked, and Lozen smiled.
“Yes, please. Girls, come here, I want you to meet our new doctor.”
Two energetic girls in colorful summer shorts and t-shirts came bouncing out of the family room, their braids swinging.
“Hi!” The girls giggled.
Lozen looked at them proudly, “Marianne is thirteen—she’s doing the coming of age ceremony this year, and Marta is ten. Girls, this is Dr. Randi.”
“Nice to meet you,” Randi smiled.
“Why don’t you girls pour your mom and Dr. Randi a glass of lemonade?”
“Sure!” They said, as they bounced on to the kitchen.
Randi laughed, “If you could bottle that energy and sell it, you’d make a fortune.”
“Yeah, I know,’ Lozen laughed. “You just have to make sure it gets channeled the right way. The boys are already sniffing around Marianne and it makes me crazy!”
“Do you worry about them? I mean with the boys?” Randi asked.
Lozen hung her purse up on peg by the door and gestured to Randi to do the same, then led her into the kitchen where two, tall, glasses of lemonade waited. “Have you girls done your chores?” Lozen asked. “Or have you been messing around online?”
They looked a little sheepish and Lozen pointed to the garden, “The weeds await,” she said with a smile, and the girls slipped into some pink crocs lined up by the back door and grabbed some gardening gloves from the counter. “Thirty minutes, you’ll be done in no time,” Lozen called, as they headed out the back door.
“Do I worry? Heck yes, I worry.” Lozen took a sip of her lemonade as she started pulling things from the cupboard and fridge. “The rate of sexual assault of Native American girls and women is way higher than with any other group in the US, and almost 90% of the rapes are committed by non-native men.”
“Whoa…that’s unbelievable.”
“Yeah, like I’m the only nurse at the hospital who is properly trained to do a rape kit. And we have to beg to have them in stock. And the rate of conviction for someone who rapes an Indian is less than half of what it is for a white or black woman in the US. It always involves some confusion about whether it’s under Federal or tribal jurisdiction—or some crap like that,” Lozen spat the words as she mixed up the dough for her fry bread.
“I—I had no idea, Lozen.”
“So this gets us to the story of Lee and Elan and Maggie.”
“Okay, I guess…let’s hear it.”
Lozen started flouring pieces of a rabbit that she’s already dressed and cut up, preparing to cook it while her bread dough rested. “Well, when Elan came back from med school, he and Maggie became an item. She’d been in a few dead end jobs, and Elan encouraged her to enroll at the community college. She worked part-time at the casino as a dealer to help pay for school. Her plan was to transfer to the university to finish up her teaching degree after getting a bunch of basic requirements out of the way. She wanted to come back and teach here on the rez.”
“And then something terrible happened,” Randi said.
Lozen nodded as she put the rabbit over into a hot, cast-iron skillet. “So one night, Elan was supposed to pick her up from work, it was
Randi stood on the porch as Lozen pushed through the door, calling out to her daughters.
“May I come in?” Randi asked, and Lozen smiled.
“Yes, please. Girls, come here, I want you to meet our new doctor.”
Two energetic girls in colorful summer shorts and t-shirts came bouncing out of the family room, their braids swinging.
“Hi!” The girls giggled.
Lozen looked at them proudly, “Marianne is thirteen—she’s doing the coming of age ceremony this year, and Marta is ten. Girls, this is Dr. Randi.”
“Nice to meet you,” Randi smiled.
“Why don’t you girls pour your mom and Dr. Randi a glass of lemonade?”
“Sure!” They said, as they bounced on to the kitchen.
Randi laughed, “If you could bottle that energy and sell it, you’d make a fortune.”
“Yeah, I know,’ Lozen laughed. “You just have to make sure it gets channeled the right way. The boys are already sniffing around Marianne and it makes me crazy!”
“Do you worry about them? I mean with the boys?” Randi asked.
Lozen hung her purse up on peg by the door and gestured to Randi to do the same, then led her into the kitchen where two, tall, glasses of lemonade waited. “Have you girls done your chores?” Lozen asked. “Or have you been messing around online?”
They looked a little sheepish and Lozen pointed to the garden, “The weeds await,” she said with a smile, and the girls slipped into some pink crocs lined up by the back door and grabbed some gardening gloves from the counter. “Thirty minutes, you’ll be done in no time,” Lozen called, as they headed out the back door.
“Do I worry? Heck yes, I worry.” Lozen took a sip of her lemonade as she started pulling things from the cupboard and fridge. “The rate of sexual assault of Native American girls and women is way higher than with any other group in the US, and almost 90% of the rapes are committed by non-native men.”
“Whoa…that’s unbelievable.”
“Yeah, like I’m the only nurse at the hospital who is properly trained to do a rape kit. And we have to beg to have them in stock. And the rate of conviction for someone who rapes an Indian is less than half of what it is for a white or black woman in the US. It always involves some confusion about whether it’s under Federal or tribal jurisdiction—or some crap like that,” Lozen spat the words as she mixed up the dough for her fry bread.
“I—I had no idea, Lozen.”
“So this gets us to the story of Lee and Elan and Maggie.”
“Okay, I guess…let’s hear it.”
Lozen started flouring pieces of a rabbit that she’s already dressed and cut up, preparing to cook it while her bread dough rested. “Well, when Elan came back from med school, he and Maggie became an item. She’d been in a few dead end jobs, and Elan encouraged her to enroll at the community college. She worked part-time at the casino as a dealer to help pay for school. Her plan was to transfer to the university to finish up her teaching degree after getting a bunch of basic requirements out of the way. She wanted to come back and teach here on the rez.”
“And then something terrible happened,” Randi said.
Lozen nodded as she put the rabbit over into a hot, cast-iron skillet. “So one night, Elan was supposed to pick her up from work, it was
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