BORN OF LOVE - ANANG OGICHIDAAG

Tanika is a light in the darkness for Turtle Mountain Reservation and its surrounding area.  She is currently collecting the stories of Turtle Mountain Chippewa rape survivors and posting them to her Facebook account, along with photos of the sex predators in that area.  Her Facebook is Tanika Norquay. Raised in Dunseith, North Dakota, Tanika was sexually abused between the ages of 7 and 13 by her brother and cousins.  Her auntie denied seeing anything even after walking in on Tanika's cousin raping her.  After years of sexual trauma, and without her voice being heard, Tanika finally found reprieve through Jesus in faith, therapy, and support of her family and friends.  She has now become the voice of one breaking the silence of shame in order to pave way the path of protection and justice to Ojibwe women and children. www.starwarriors.us

Andrea grew up on Standing Rock Indian Reservation, where she was sexually abused by her mother's friends beginning at the age of 7.  After her mother was brutally murdered, Andrea lived as a teen with her aunt who introduced her to IV drug use and sex trafficked her in exchange for methamphetamine and money. Andrea later left the reservation and moved out-of-state with her children's father, who began pimping her to older couples through Craigslist.  When her relationship ended, and having returned to North Dakota, she became homeless and moved into Bismarck Motor Motel.  Using drugs as a coping mechanism for trauma, it was here that she met M.D., a man she thought was her friend, but who she came to realize was a predator who used the vulnerable state of drug addicted Native American girls to manipulate them into prostitution and other illicit activities. www.starwarriors.us

Duck was physically abused as a child by his stepfather.  After growing up in Denver's 1980s gang culture, he sought a new way of life and moved to Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.  It was there that he returned to his Lakota spiritual roots, finding solace, healing, and understanding through prayer and the five values once held by legendary Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse: Respect / Wisdom \ Generosity / Courage \ Bravery.   www.starwarriors.us

This is the premiere episode of BORN OF LOVE, a podcast that allows survivors of sexual abuse and all forms of violence and trauma - especially within Native American communities - to tell their stories through their own voices.  This episode was recorded with Austin in Wounded Knee, South Dakota on Pine Ridge Reservation.  Austin discusses Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, his niece, Michelle Elbow Shield, being one of them, as well as child sexual abuse, addiction, and healing. www.starwarriors.us