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Lisa Brunner
White Earth Nation Domestic Violence Advocate
White Earth Nation advocate who fought for domestic violence resources and jurisdiction reform in Indian Country; where Native American women face murder rates 10 times the national average
Overview
Lisa Brunner is an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation (Ojibwe) and a prominent advocate for domestic violence resources and legal reforms in Indian Country. She has been a leading voice in the movement to address the crisis of violence against Native American women; who are murdered at a rate more than 10 times the national average and experience domestic and sexual violence at rates significantly higher than any other demographic group in the United States. Brunner's advocacy has focused on the jurisdictional gaps that leave Native women without legal protection: under the Supreme Court's 1978 ruling in Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe; tribal courts were stripped of criminal jurisdiction over non-Native offenders on tribal land. Because the majority of violence against Native women is perpetrated by non-Native offenders; this jurisdictional gap effectively created a zone of lawlessness on reservations. Federal authorities; who hold jurisdiction; often decline to prosecute; with declination rates for violent crimes in Indian Country reaching as high as 52% in some years. Brunner was instrumental in advocating for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization in 2013; which partially restored tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Native domestic violence offenders on tribal lands; a historic but limited reform. She has testified before Congress and the United Nations about the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) and the structural failures that enable it. Brunner serves as Director of the Sacred Spirits First Nations Coalition and has worked with the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center. Her advocacy builds on generations of Native women's activism to address the ongoing consequences of colonialism; forced removal; and federal policies that systematically undermined tribal sovereignty and justice systems.
Key Affiliations
Controversies & Concerns
Not a perpetrator; Brunner is an advocate exposing the crisis of violence against Native women (murder rates 10x national average)
Fought to overturn Oliphant v. Suquamish jurisdictional gap that stripped tribal courts of authority over non-Native offenders
Federal declination rates for violent crimes in Indian Country reached 52%; leaving many violent crimes unprosecuted
VAWA 2013 reauthorization; which Brunner advocated for; only partially restored tribal jurisdiction over non-Native domestic violence offenders
Related Investigations (1)
Known Associates & Connections
Mary Kathryn Nagle
Fellow advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and tribal jurisdiction reform
Sources & Documentation
2 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports
Personal Information
Education
Key Timeline
1978
Oliphant v. Suquamish strips tribal courts of jurisdiction over non-Native offenders; creating jurisdictional gap exploited by violent offenders
2013
VAWA reauthorization partially restores tribal jurisdiction over non-Native domestic violence offenders after advocacy by Brunner and allies
Ongoing
Continues advocating for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) at national and international level