AIM Northern Nevada Leads Prayer Circle for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
Matt Hanifan and Enrique Hernandez report on a prayer circle in Sparks, Nev., Monday evening, which was hosted by the American Indian Movement Northern Nevada.
Frightening Numbers
The outdoor event at Lillard Park would have been easy to miss had it not been for a pair of flags held high by two AIM security guards.
Rocky Boice, the co-director of the American Indian Movement, said the event sought to raise much needed awareness. He said local and federal law enforcement have provided little to no help. “The FBI doesn’t care,” he said.
In 2018, FBI officials released a statement called Missing and Murdered: Confronting the Silent Crisis in Indian Country, stating: “The FBI and its dedicated special agent and victim specialists of the FBI’s Indian Country program work hard to partner with tribal communities across the United States to deliver quality law enforcement service. We remain fully committed to our unique role in Indian Country and to our partnerships with other federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies.”
This has been little solace for those in Indigenous communities looking for loved ones. According to many studies, Native American women face a murder rate 10 times higher than the national average.
In the little park tucked away on the corner of Victorian Ave and Pyramid Way on Monday night about three dozen people gathered for the prayer circle. Cars passed from multiple directions, most honking their horns in support, one yelling an expletive as he sped by.
Fearing for their Livelihood
Before the prayer started, attendant and AIM member Kitty Colbert remembered how when she moved to Alaska, a 14 year-old went missing.
Colbert recalled the police officers saying, “she was probably just drunk and wandered off,” because that is the stereotype painted for Indigenous women. Colbert herself isn’t Indigenous, but her children and grandchildren are, and she fears for their livelihood.
An astounding 84% of Native American and Alaskan Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime, according to the United States Department of Justice; 66.4 percent of women experience psychological aggression by an intimate partner; 55.5 percent of Native American and Alaskan Native women experience physical violence by an intimate partner; 56.1 percent of Native American and Alaskan Native women experience sexual violence and 48.8 percent of Native American and Alaskan Native women experience stalking.
Prayers Followed by Communal Fry Bread
In 2016, the National Crime Information Association Center reported that there were 5,712 missing American Indian and Alaska Native Women and girls. However, the Department of Justice federal missing database only logged 116 — or just two percent — of such cases, according to the Urban Indian Health Institute. Murder is also the third leading cause of death among Alaska Native and American Indian women, per The Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
We all began to make a circle and Ray Bacasegua Valdez introduced himself, the American Indian Movement, and a quick run-down on how the circle would work.
We had planned to stand at a respectful distance and observe, but Valdez insisted that we participate. “Sometimes in all this chaos it’s nice to feel good for once,” he said, then the prayers began and drumming commenced.
Almost immediately you could feel the somber mood begin to change for the better. After the initial prayer, Valdez brought out a guest who began to sing, and then we began to rotate. The clockwise two-step was simple but uplifting, despite the harrowing subject matter.
After the prayers were over, each person in the circle took a turn speaking. “We’ve lost grandmothers, mothers, daughters, granddaughters,” Melissa Robles-Dyer said. A few members in the group spoke out about their experiences of being lucky and able to return to their friends and families. It was hard to not get choked up listening to the accounts of so many people.
Some members began to cry. “It’s not just bad men who cross the line, it’s good men too,” one member said. “We have to do something to protect our women.”
The circle began to wind to a close. The AIM Northern Nevada Chapter added a new member to its council and patched a few youth advocates as well. The circle ended on a high, proud note. We all posed for a picture and then Valdez called out, “Let’s eat!” followed by thunderous cheers. As is its custom, the AIM chapter served fry bread after their prayers to those who attended and to the surrounding homeless population.
