JESSIE RENAE WATERS (Oglala Sioux) was pregnant and found murdered April 30, 2015, near her home in Oglala, S.D. Her case remains unsolved to this day. Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind (Spirit Lake) was murdered Aug. 19, 2018, by a neighbor in Fargo, N.D. Her body was not found for eight days. Jessie and Savanna are someone’s daughter, sister, grandchild.
The National Crime Information Center reported that in 2016 there were more than 5,700 reports of missing Indigenous women and girls, a rate much higher than that of other groups of women.
Ashley Loring Heavy Runner (Blackfeet) disappeared from Browning, Mont., located on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, on June 12, 2017. With little help from authorities, Heavy Runner’s family found support from the Blackfeet United Methodist Parish in Browning. On Dec. 12, 2018, the family took Ashley’s story to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. The parish helped with travel expenses, found additional support, and began advocating for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).
Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Saint Paul, Minn., has advocated for MMIWG not only through prayer vigils, but also by hanging a red dress near the church’s entrance as part of The REDress Project, Canadian artist Jamie Black’s response to gendered and racialized violence against Native women.
These two churches are examples of faith communities that worked together to assess how they could position themselves to advocate and engage their communities about MMIWG. They’ve made a longstanding commitment to their Indigenous ministries within their national church.
An evil has been unanswered and ignored for far too long. After decades of silence and oppression, Native women are speaking loudly for everyone to hear. There are many ways to advocate for women such as Amy Lynn Hanson (Navajo), found murdered in Red Rock, N.M., on Nov. 30, 2014—her case is still unsolved.
Thinking differently and using our words to create action requires us to take different positions on what we truly know. As Christians and advocates, we need to open up spaces for new ways of thinking and experiencing. Invite Indigenous women to tell the stories of the countless lost sisters. The roles we play together in the life of the church show how the Woniya (Holy Spirit) works in and around a community gathered to create healing through advocacy.
Our faith communities need leaders who will speak about hard topics and challenge the conscience of our communities. It is not always an easy task. But the murder of Angela Maynahonah Rodriguez (Comanche) cannot go unanswered. Seven years have passed since her body was found near Fox, Okla. Her case remains untouched.
My grandfather, Thomas Conroy Sr., taught me a lot about our Lakota Sioux tribal knowledge and worldview. Sioux values are based upon an accountability that is relational; this helps to bring forward what is most important, which then holds us accountable to Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ(all our relations). This Sioux value produces a style of advocacy that heals in a respectful and transcendent way.
Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ is the complete embodiment of the sacredness of Christian life. When we advocate for MMIWG, our communities can hear, see, and acknowledge that the deaths and disappearances of more than 5,700 women are not just statistics, but a severe epidemic.
My grandfather’s understanding of community and the sacred connections we have allows us to act and be the way we were meant to be as children of God, both within the community and through our individual lives. Indigenous communities deserve healing and justice. When we weigh the cost of advocating for MMIWG, there is only one conclusion: It is worth the risk. Start by saying her name.
Got something to say about what you're reading? We value your feedback!
