Vice President Joe Biden took his “It’s On Us” campaign to Native American leaders this week to present his “definition of manhood” in order to combat what he called the “epidemic” of domestic violence on tribal land.
The vice president's message came during the White House Tribal Nations Conference, which in part addressed the rate of domestic violence among Native Americans, currently the highest of any group in the country. Biden underscored the need for intervention, community action, and personal responsibility to address the widespread issue.
Cautioning that he was not talking about "vigilantism," Biden told the Native American leaders that what this was really about was the true definition of manhood:
It's not about vigilantism, it's about intervening. To me it's the definition of manhood. It's not standing by and saying, "Well, it's a family affair."
Tribal authorities have been given new authority by the Violence Against Women Act to prosecute non-Native Americans involved in domestic violence on tribal lands beginning next March. With this new authority, Biden said, it’s time for the tribes to “stand for the women who have for too long endured not just injustice, but indifference."
During his remarks, Biden recounted stories he heard during his visit to the National Domestic Violence Hotline and apologized to the tribes for the changes taking so long to be enacted:
The most horrific prison on earth is the four walls of an abused woman's home. And far too many Native American women, for far too many, that's a daily reality. I apologize for it taking so long, so many women damaged in the meantime.
Biden was followed by Attorney General Eric Holder, who said that the pilot programs in three tribes have already charged more than 20 outsiders in domestic violence cases and led to tighter relationship between the federal government and tribal authorities.
