Violence prevention and victim advocacy services across Indian Country are dealing with disruptions and cuts at the federal level, including those in Oregon.
A recent report from the Urban Indian Health Institute says more than 200 programs and organizations have lost funds or cut back services since President Trump began his second term. Whether through the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” (HR 1) –or initiatives against programs the White House deems “DEI” or “woke” – many Native services are seeing support eroding. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they were “substantially impacted” by funding cuts since January 2025, with 60 percent of unmet need requests for safe housing support.
UIHI director Abigail Echo-Hawk said this will exacerbate issues for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and the MMIP crisis.
“They’re staying in their cars, they’re becoming homeless, they’re in shelters with their children, then having to move from one shelter to another,” said Echo-Hawk. “And in the worst case scenarios – that I know is happening – they’re going back to the people that are abusing them because they don’t want their children to become homeless, or they’re in such desperate circumstances, they have no other choice.”
State Rep. Tawna Sanchez, D-Portland, has worked on MMIP and other Native issues. Of Shoshone-Bannock and Ute descent, she’s worried about how the Trump Administration’s continued implementation of HR 1 will affect marginalized communities and vulnerable populations.
“The larger issue, right now, obviously, is: how do we value human life? Any life,” said Sanchez. “And we have only begun to feel the effects of HR 1. The real effects are coming. And they’re going to be hard.”
Some Native advocates including Echo-Hawk say educating lawmakers can help. She said some anti-DEI initiatives have been reversed as tribes are political entities, not DEI.
Another advocate, Desireé Coyote, is the family violence services program manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. She said there is an obligation from the federal government to honor all treaties signed with tribes.
“This is part of what they agreed to do with us as tribal nations to help us ensure and protect our community in regards to public safety,” said Coyote. “I look forward to when the tribal nations - in regards to their sovereignty, as a way of ensuring intimate partner violence, sexual assault, dating violence, missing and murdered - are addressed quickly and in a meaningful way that benefits the people we serve.”
The report, titled “Sacred Responsibility: Protecting Our People” – which includes recommendations for tribal and federal agencies - can be found online at the Urban Indian Health Institute’s website.
