By Celeste Lee and Cheryl Welch, Red Ribbon Skirt Society
Are you aware of the epidemic of violence in our nation against Indigenous women? It is so rampant, it has its own title: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women or MMIW.
An extensive study by Urban Indian Health Institute in 2016 lists Nebraska as having the 7th highest number of MMIW cases. The majority of cases are missing or murdered from urban areas, not reservations. Indigenous women and girls are murdered at a rate 10 times higher than women of other ethniciities. Four out of five Indigenous women have experienced violence, while more than half have experienced sexual violence
Lily Mendoza will be speaking at the CSC Mari Sandoz Center on Wednesday, December 8 at 7 p.m. about this epidemic.
Mendoza is the founder of the Red Ribbon Skirt Society (RRSS) in Rapid City and will be accompanied by Darla Black the spiritual leader of the organization. Lily works with MMIW families, law enforcement and community members to support families as they struggle with the missing or murder of their loved ones. She is also the owner of the Bird Cage Bookstore and Goose Creek Mercantile on 7th street in Rapid City, where she hosts the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Children and Two-Spirited Center for Healing, Prayer and Remembrance.
Red dresses, with names of MMIW, are hung in the Center for Healing. One of the names pinned on a red dress is that of Richynda Roubideaux from Mission, SD. In 1997, 11 year-old Richynda was given permission to go to a birthday party of a friend and spend the night. When she did not return the next morning, her mother Elizabeth went searching for her daughter. Eventually, she contacted the tribal chairman, who organized a search party. Richynda was finally found, partially clothed, raped and murdered. To this day, no one has been arrested for this crime.
On Dec. 8, Lily Mendoza will share the history of the MMIW and current statistics, talk about the Red Dress movement, explain the meaning behind the symbolic “red hand”, and how human trafficking relates to MMIW. Most importantly, she will share how we can
take action locally to address this heartbreaking problem. This presentation is sponsored by the CSC Native American Club and the Social Justice Club of CHS.
For more information contact: Celeste Lee, 308.430.2192 or Cheryl Welch, [email protected]