Winter 2004

Tillie Black Bear Named as One of 21
 Leaders for the 21st Century 2004

On January 1, 2004, Women's eNews announced its selection of 21 Leaders for the 21'st Century in 2004. Among those honored was Tillie Black Bear, the Executive Director of the White Buffalo Calf Woman Society and a member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation/Rosebud Sioux Tribe. The Society, established in 1978, is the oldest shelter for rape and domestic violence victims abused on Native American reservations. It helps 300 women and 600 children each year to end the violence in their closest relationships.

As a victim of domestic violence, Black Bear attended a 1978 two-day symposium hosted by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on wife battery. After an impromptu gathering in the restroom of the convention's hotel, Black Bear and a group of fellow attendees pledged to give victims of domestic violence a national voice. The group called themselves "the Bathroom Sisters."

That year, Black Bear and other Bathroom Sisters formed the National Coalition against Domestic Violence to educate the public about domestic violence. The Coalition helped to pass the 1994 Violence Against Women Act. After forming the Coalition, Black Bear formed the South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and was a founding member of the White Buffalo Calf Woman Society.