For decades prior, Native women on and off the reservation were entering hospitals and doctors’ offices for other procedures and being sterilized. Some women had no knowledge sterilization was performed; others were coerced into it by medical personnel or asked for consent while heavily sedated. Some were afraid their children would be taken away if they did not agree to the operation, and some were unaware of the implications of the procedure on their future reproduction.

WARN’s public education campaign is credited with helping to bring national and international awareness to forced sterilization of Native women, and it induced the creation of federal regulations around consent and sterilization in 1979.

Emphasizing that “the future is the family,” WARN’s efforts to protect Indigenous culture focused on protecting and educating the youth. Organizers in WARN sharply criticized the removal of Native children from Native communities and placement into non-Native homes. Women intervened in custody battles, appeared as witnesses at court hearings, penned letters and testimonies, and ultimately built the momentum that led to Jimmy Carter signing the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978.

A critical point in WARN’s work was that of the Survival Schools — autonomous Native-run schools with curricula focused on Native history and treaty rights. Thunder Hawk and Young played instrumental roles in the creation of Survival Schools. The program aimed to equip Native children with a sense of pride in their culture and identity, along with the knowledge to confront future assaults on Indigenous sovereignty. Created at the close of the century-long Boarding School Era, Survival School presented a new model for Indigenous education and reclamation of culture and identity. Today, the legacy of Survival School is alive and well in modern Indigenous activism.

WARN’s success in creating change came about due to its constant vigilance and dedication to preserving Indigenous culture via matriarchal leadership. Its work weaved a cohesive front in the fight to combat the many different issues impacting Native women, and it laid the foundation for the Indigenous revitalization occurring in the modern moment.