Remember Them - Honoring Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives

By VIVIAN LaMOORE, INAAJIMOWIN EDITOR

More than 25 empty dresses clung to the fence lining a small stretch of U.S. Highway 169 on the Mille Lacs Reservation. The dresses flow and twist in the wind along the highway, giving a presence in their absence of the women, girls, and two-spirits who should be wearing them. The powerful display was installed as a part of National MMIW Awareness Day on May 5, 2022. The dresses remained on display until May 16 to increase awareness of the disproportionate violence experienced by Indigenous women and girls.

The Mille Lacs Band Family Violence Prevention Program hosted an event on the national MMIW Awareness Day drawing roughly 100 community members, friends, family, employees, and media to the grounds of the Health and Human Services campus in Vineland on May 5.

Native American women are 10 times more likely to be murdered and four times more likely to be sexually assaulted than the national average, according to a recent report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Data collection remains difficult because of poor record-keeping, underreporting, racial misclassification, and media coverage. Statistics from law enforcement and media reports create an inaccurate picture of MMIW and MMIR because these reports minimize the extent to which Indigenous women and girls experience violence.

To some, these are just statistics, but to many in this community, these reports are sisters, aunties, cousins, mothers, daughters, grandmothers and great grandmothers. They are relatives. And they are gone.

Violence against women is a national crisis. It is an issue for all women in all walks of life. But Native women and girls suffer disproportionately high levels of attacks, sex trafficking, domestic violence, and rape. In Minnesota, Native American women account for 1 percent of population and account for 15 percent of missing cases.

Juliet Rudie, director of Minnesota’s new Office of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR, a tribal member of the Lower Sioux Indian Community and lifelong Minnesota resident, leads the first office of its kind in the nation. She was a guest speaker at the Mille Lacs event. Her new office will work with the 11 sovereign Minnesota tribal nations; federal, state, and local law enforcement; federal and state agencies; and community-based organizations and advocates. Additional staff for the office will be hired in the coming weeks.

A law enforcement officer for 28 years, Rudie said her own family has been touched by violence against women. “This is very personal to me,” she said citing that she has a cousin missing since 2017, another cousin murdered with no justice, and a friend’s daughter killed by gun violence. “We need to do something.”

Nicole Anderson, Commissioner of Health and Human Services said, “This is a real issue. This is not something that is just happening on TV. It’s not just something you see in the movies. This is happening every day, all around us, all across the nation.” Commissioner Anderson said she will continue to have discussions and open public conversations about the issue of violence against women and other topics like trafficking, harassment, and gang violence. “We need to discuss these things in the open to bring awareness.”

Several community members spoke to remember and honor relatives who are gone.

Monte Fronk spoke about his daughter, Nada, who was found in her Brooklyn Park apartment just one year ago. She was the apparent victim of a murder suicide. After years as a troubled teen, runaway, and victim of trafficking, Nada was finally getting her life back on track when she was gunned down at the age of 24.

Kate Kinard shared a story of her great Aunt Ruby Kegg who was murdered in 1942. She was 16 years old. Kate said the family didn’t speak much of the murder at the time and as far as she knows, there was never an investigation by law enforcement.

Dana Skinaway shared how her daughter Tanya was murdered in 2016 leaving behind two children, Anthony, 5 years old, and Star Love was barely 2 months old. “This has been six years, and it is still hard,” Dana said through streams of tears.

Mary Sam is Dana’s mother, Tanya’s grandmother and great grandmother to Tanya’s children. She spoke of the pain of losing a loved one, but also, she spoke to one piece of the issue that must change, she said. “When we ignore and protect the sexual harassment, sexual violence, domestic violence, initiations, and trafficking occurring here in our community and region, the secrets, the silence, the loyalty we have for one another is killing our communities,” Mary said.

Ahnung Matrious spoke of her daughter Pennie Robertson who was missing and later found murdered in 2019. While all of the incidents shared that day were heartbreaking the pain was palpable leaving a wake of tears flowing throughout the audience as Ahnung spoke about her daughter. “Mille Lacs Band members came to help us search. That’s one thing you never forget. You never forget the screams of your family members.” She tearfully recalled the moment they found Pennie’s body hanging from a tree in a muddy swamp. And while all of the search party had mud-covered shoes and boots, Pennie’s shoes were clean. Her death was ruled as a suicide and the case was closed.

FVPP Advocates stood near the guest speakers to offer their support. Advocates were also available to talk with others if needed.

Community members spoke the names of their loved ones so they would not be forgotten — to give meaning to the tragic deaths and unthinkable violence that happens to Native women, girls and two-spirits on a daily basis. The red dresses hanging on the Highway 169 represent both vitality and the violence and left a powerful message to an estimated 11,300 drivers daily as they passed through the casino corridor. An estimated 52,000 to 54,500 vehicles passed through on the weekend of Minnesota fishing opener alone, May 12 through May 16, according to MnDOT. They will not be forgotten.

(EDITORS NOTE: The red dress installation was created with advanced permission from MnDOT. Traffic count data obtained from MnDOT staff who ran queries and pulled data from the streetlight and automatic counters to estimate traffic counts . Other historic data indicated 11,300 is the daily average over a span of 30 days 24/7 of vehicles passing through the casino corridor reported by MnDOT in 2019, the last time the automatic counter was used at that exact intersection, according to MnDOT.) The Family Violence Prevention Program is appreciative and grateful for the opportunity to spread awareness.