by Nancy Besonen
Vincent Schilling shared his past and present at a Sexual Assault Awareness event Friday, April 22, 2016 at the Ojibwa Casino Hotel in Baraga. Hosted by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community’s Office of Violence Against Women (OVW), the program began with a walk, followed by a presentation from Vincent Schilling via Skype in a casino conference room. Schilling is a St. Regis Mohawk, an award-winning Native American author, a freelance journalist and a childhood victim of sexual assault. Three people opted to join in the walk, wending their way through town back to M-38 and the casino for the presentation. While waiting for their return, OVW Team Leader Cherie Dakota explained how Schilling became a part of it all. “We have a women’s advisory board that spearheads all the programming we do,” Dakota said. “Vincent Schilling writes for Indian Country Today, and one of our advisory board members talked about having him speak at our Domestic Violence program. Since he is a sexual assault survivor, we decided to have him here.” To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.