YAKIMA, Wash. -- Sinixt Arrow Lakes Nation Activist, Yvonne Swan, will kick off the Diversity Series at Yakima Valley Community College with a presentation Thursday.

The event, “Indigenous Reflection on the Historic Repression of Women, their Progress and Current Issues,” will begin at 7 p.m. in the Parker Room of the Deccio Higher Education Center.

The event is free and open to the public.

Swan (formerly Wanrow) was charged with and convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree assault after shooting an intruder in August of 1972. The intruder tried to molest her son and threatened the life of her and her children.

This conviction was later reversed during appeals. Wanrow then became a cause célèbre of the feminist and American Indian movements, when her case reached the Washington Supreme Court. 

Referred to as the “Wanrow Decision (January 1977),” the victory has helped countless women claiming self-defense argue their case. Drawing from this experience, she has continued to be involved in law and justice by working as a legal advocate, legal defense committee organizer and spokesperson in Tribal Court.

— Erin Snelgrove