December 1, 2016

Today the President of AFTA, Jane Bardavid, sent the following letter to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Governor of North Dakota.

Dear Chairman Archambault and Mr. Dalrymple:

As an organization of leaders in the field of Family Therapy, with a long history of focusing on social and cultural context, the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA) stands in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and with indigenous people and people from all over the world in their efforts to protect their/our water, our planet, and sacred burial grounds. We understand the dehumanizing and deleterious effect on family life and the well-being of individual community members of the harsh, militarized response to these efforts.

We support and respect the courage of the people gathered at Standing Rock as they assert their opposition to the destruction of the environment and the shameful disrespect that corporate capitalism is showing for traditions and culture. We see this disrespect as rooted in a long history of racism and of worshipping profit over dignity, over right relationship, and over what’s good for Mother Earth and her inhabitants. We abhor the violence, the harsh, unjustified jailing, and the blatant contempt for the original inhabitants of these lands. We hereby announce our unqualified support for the peaceful protests by Water Protectors at Standing Rock.

Regards,

Jane C. Bardavid, LCSW

AFTA President