By Barley Lewis-McCabe
About two dozen people dressed in red marched through campus and sang traditional Indigenous songs. Some held signs and others were drumming with the spirits — all demanded change. The march was held on May 5, the national Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People (MMIWP) day of awareness. It began and ended at the Brero House, went through the SAC quad and down LK Wood Boulevard.
“We have a crisis in our Indigenous communities of women, children, men, elders, [and] Two-Spirit people going missing,” Student organizer Covin Sigala said. “That’s causing harm. It’s not a recent event — it’s been going on since colonization began.”
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, one in three Native women will be assaulted in their lifetimes. On some reservations women are murdered at a rate 10 times above the national average.
“We’re walking for awareness,” Maudesty Merino, one of the organizers for the event, said. “[We] walk to carry their spirits and walk with them. We’re also raising awareness for the Violence Against Women Act.”
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is a law that addresses sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking and dating violence directed towards women. The VAWA has several special provisions for Indigenous women due to disproportionate rates of abuse on reservations, as well as hesitation from the federal government to prosecute these cases due to jurisdiction disputes.
The VAWA has had five amendments addressing violence against Indigenous women since it was enacted in 1994. One amendment from 2013 affirmed Tribal courts’ right to prosecute non-Indigenous peoples who commit these crimes on reservations.
The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021 reauthorizes VAWA grants-which go towards strengthening the courts’ capabilities to prosecute offenders, and survivor support networks. It also calls for the end of impunity against people who come onto reservations and commit sexual crimes. It also addresses the need to support Native Alaskan Tribes who were previously excluded.
“Even with these acts and laws over the years we continue to see more and more missing and murdered Indigenous peoples,” said tribal forestry student Evauna Grant. “The injustice of our people goes unnoticed and is a main reason why we do the awareness march.”
A marcher described the march as a day to honor lost community members with song, to carry the spirits with them and bring those energies out; they discussed how everyone has a song to sing. Some of the songs were passed down from generation to generation, and some were just simply from the person’s heart.
The marchers chanted and sang under the shade of a tree along LK Wood Boulevard. At one point when they stopped, the wind rattled the trees and released a flock of chirping birds. The songs shook the Earth with resounding passion. After finding a caterpillar on one of the singers’ hats, someone shouted something very apt.
“We’re waking up a lot of spirits today.”
Barley isn’t just the grooviest guy around, he’s also an untraditional reporter, photographer, and — of course the photo editor!
Yurok MMIP Tip Line: 1-833-YRK-MMIP
Hoopa Tribe MMIW (530) 625-4261
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