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Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center


The Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center (NAWHERC) is a non-profit organization that provides health resources to Native American women and also advocates for women's health, reproductive choices, economic issues and land and water rights. NAWHERC is first organization dedicated to women's health to open up on an Indian Reservation in the United States. Its agenda is "consistently broad" because NAWHERC does not separate women's issues from community issues.

The organization was founded by Native Americans who lived on the Yankton Sioux reservation.Charon Asetoyer is the executive director and one of the original founders of NAWHERC. The organization is located in Lake Andes. NAWHERC has been a Ms. Foundation for Women grantee. NAWHERC also collaborates with the Indigenous Women's Network, and is part of the Sistersong Collective.

Charon Asetoyer and her husband, Clarence Rockboy set up the Native American Community Board (NACB) in 1985 on the Yankton Sioux reservation. Others involved with the initial founding were Everdale Jackie Rouse and Lorenzo Dion. The NACB was first located in the basement of Asetoyer's house. Asetoyer attended a conference in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the National Women's Health Network where Luz Alvarez urged her to seek donations to help create a larger center. In 1988 NACB created NAWHERC. A building was purchased on the reservation to house the center. The center for NAWHERC opened in February 1988. The NACB acts as the governing board of NAWHERC.

The NAWHERC first tackled the issue of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) because of the high rate of FAS in the community. In 1990, NAWHERC organized "Empowerment Through Dialogue," a gathering of 30 Native women representing 10 Nations in Pierre. From the three day gathering, an "Agenda for Native Women's Reproductive Rights" was created. This part of NAWHERC became known as the Reproductive Rights Coalition and by 1994 included 150 women from 26 different tribes.


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