It's been a while since I have let the Daily Kos community know what's going on with the Pretty Bird Woman House shelter project, partly due to a family health crisis, so I thought I'd give you all a little update (and maybe a break from worrying about the primary).

As many people know, last fall we ran a hugely successful netroots fundraiser for the Pretty Bird Woman House women's shelter, which is on the South Dakota side of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Because of the incredible generosity of this community, as well as the other blogs, including the LiveJournal community, we raised $87,000, which allowed the Pretty Bird Woman House board of directors to buy a new house in McLaughlin, SD, this past winter. For the complete history of all of that, you can go over to the shelter's blog.

First of all, I want to express my deepest gratitude to all the Kossacks and other members of the netroots community for your commitment to the survival of the Pretty Bird Woman House.  Helping this shelter has been one of the most gratifying things I've ever done, and some of that has to do with the outpouring of caring and compassion that I witnessed while I was doing this project.

This morning I received an email informing me that the McLaughlin City Council had unanimously approved the shelter's petition to operate in the house it wants to purchase. This was a wonderful accomplishment given some initial misgivings that some of the City Council Members had expressed.

A complete update on that and the fundraiser is below the fold.

I want to update everyone who has been involved in the Pretty Bird Woman House fundraiser on the situation with the house purchase.

After you read this you might also ask: Why isn't anything easy in Indian Country?

While we were running this fundraiser, the City Council of McLaughlin, which exists as a separate entity within the boundaries of the Standing Rock Reservation, passed an ordinance requiring that any nonprofit wishing to establish a boardinghouse or shelter in a residential area get the approval of the City Council first.

This means that  even though Pretty Bird Woman House could have closed on the house on January 4th, they had to wait for a Council meeting on January 7th.

Everyone was certain that after hearing about the shelter, the City Council would just say "of course you can."

Not so.

(Kossack contingent with Georgia: Rob, Betsy, Georgia, Peg)

On Thursday night, Amnesty International held a wonderful event at the Museum of the American Indian in Manhattan. It's purpose was to present their report "Maze of Injustice," which brought the problem of sexual violence against Native American women to our attention, and to raise funds for the Pretty Bird Woman House. It was a wonderful evening. The museum is gorgeous, and should be a stop in any tourist's New York itinerary.