(lighter flickering)
(gentle drumming)
(singing in Ojibwe)
- My grandmother was kidnapped,
when I was nine years old,
Kinda created fear in me as a child that,
you know, you could be taken.
(crowd protesting)
Our women go missing,
and they are murdered at disproportionate rates.
And you layer that on top of the socioeconomic oppressions,
that our communities often face,
tied with a lack of access to resources,
such as internet and phones sometimes,
it's really easy to get targeted by predators.
I want you to think about the life and the love,
and the energy that this Mother Earth is giving you.
When the verdict wasn't out yet,
but we had a march downtown,
one point we had a lot of marches and walks.
It's a banner for Savanna Greywind.
- Did Savannah die already?
- Yeah, yep she was murdered.
(singing in Ojibwe)
- No, we're not gonna do this, this thing's hard.
- Ayla, I need some help cracking the eggs,
can you help me?
- Okay.
- Ayla's dad likes cracking jokes,
(laughing) huh Ayla?
- That is a joke.
- Jayce are you gonna get up for breakfast?
- Yes?
- I see you have a Chipotle cup in your room,
you like having ants?
Is it busy on the weekends?
- Yeah
- As an artist and a curator,
I'm interested in artwork that highlights issues
impacting the native community.
This is a piece done by James Autio. It's titled Out There. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
This is a piece done by James Autio. It's titled Out There.
It totally brought like a flashback to me of like,
watching my dad when I was a kid,
go out to look for my grandma.
And we were in the car we were driving home,
and he pulled off on the side of the road
and walked out into the woods.
And I remember like watching my dad,
kinda disappear into the woods,
and I was scared because I was afraid
that he would come running back out,
and say that he'd found her body.
That is the role
that families take on when someone goes missing,
they go out and search themselves.
(zipper hissing)
- Oops!
- There,
- Awesome, thank you
(Ruth laughing)
(lighter flickering)
- Women are life givers,
women sometimes run a household.
They're the glue to the family,
being from a matriarchal millennial people,
when a woman goes missing it completely
ends the lifeline for a clan to continue,
so it's big, it's a big deal.
(door thudding)
(footsteps thumping)
(gps speaking in Spanish)
(Ruth laughing)
- I can't figure out how to change it back to English,
'cause I was in Uruguay about a month and a half ago.
(somber music)
How I got involved kind of pushed into the forefront,
of missing and murdered indigenous women,
was when a young indigenous mother,
when she went missing in Fargo.
Police, they didn't jump into action,
when the parents went to them
and told them our daughter's missing,
- That just hit all of us, like just puuur!
We saw the justice system,
fail our community and our family
- Did you turn it on?
- Yeah, I turned mine on. It says one.
- Are these just for the (indistinct)
- One per person. I'm gonna go stand over here. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
- One per person. I'm gonna go stand over here.
Top. Hold it down while you're talking okay,
you do it now.
- (speaking Ojibwe)
- Good.
- Do you want me to make sure people,
don't congregate right in that stairwell area?
- I've been trying to, I can't find my bow horn.
- I'll go take care of it, I'll go take care of it,
girl you do you, I got this.
(crowd murmuring)
- The missing and murdered indigenous march,
that happens here in Minneapolis was first initiated,
by the Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition,
and it was just a march to bring awareness to this epidemic.
- Hi, thanks for coming.
- For years, I've just participated,
there was some incidents that had happened years prior,
and we just wanted to make sure,
that the indigenous community could grieve
and mourn and heal together in a safe space.
(crowd murmuring)
- Oh my God,
I think this isn't a big enough venue now.
Let's try and keep a hole guys,
let's keep it moving, let's keep it moving.
We can't be blocking this people,
need to be able to get in and out,
this is a safety concern.
I don't think the work that I'm doing,
right now is prompted on violence
that was perpetrated upon me.
Somebody I care about very much was gang raped,
by about 12 men. And you know what,
it always hits a little different
when it's somebody you love,
'cause for some reason we don't love ourselves,
as much as we love our family.
(crowd murmuring)
I knew I just couldn't sit and do nothing.
- Angela are you going to be able to march?
- Yeah, I had to get some stuff for my son,
he's coming from his high school.
- Oh cool
- They're coming
- Is his all class coming?
- His Indian Ed class.
- Niiiiiiice
- Yeah, I hope it goes well.
(footsteps thumping)
- I'm heading to the, MMIW march,
and I'm thinking about my grandmother,
and I'm thinking about what my family
went through when she went missing,
searching for her.
Those are the things I think about,
when I go to the march, is to think about,
those women who they were as individuals,
and who my grandma was, not how she died,
but who she was as a person.
(birds chirping)
Yeah, this is the first time that I've been out here,
since I was nine years old.
(birds chirping)
You know, my dad had come, WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
You know, my dad had come,
and said that my grandma Del was missing.
And that was kinda this like shock of like,
what does that mean?
Like how can she be missing?
She's, you know, a grandma.
My grandmother, her name is Delvina Bernard,
and she was my grandmother's sister,
but like in a native way, you know,
she was my grandma and she was a tiny lady.
I remember her being in a wheelchair,
and she liked to play bingo.
My aunt, uncle went to her apartment to check on her,
they found her wheelchair and it was abandoned,
in the back of her apartment building and it was bloody.
And so, you know, that kinda leads you to believe the worst.
(wind blowing)
- Yeah, we are.
- You could go in between your grill here,
with just a piece of fringe or two, keep it rezzy (laughing).
- Heeeeey,
- No, these are all for dignitaries.
- Okay, ready?
(footsteps thumping)
- Alright, hurry, hurry,
the show is about to begin.
(crowd murmuring)
- I love your skirt
- Thank you, It's got pockets.
- Oh, you got a pocket! I want a pocket.
- Oh, it's you (laughing) I was admiring your skirt,
and then I saw like part of your face,
I was like, woo (laughing) how are you doing?
- Good, good how are you?
- Pretty good, it's gonna be a great day.
- What is up with Jayce's face?
- Oh, he had two of the...
- I see
- I was like "the lot's full," and he like kept trying,
he almost ran into me and I was like,
"you can't come in here the lot's full."
And he's like, "is that how you wanna treat media?"
I was like, "you're not special,"
Like these people are special to me.
- But do you want to like announce to have them removed?
- No, no, he's outta here,
but I wanna know who the reporter is,
'cause that's who I wanna talk to .
You come here, gimme that baby,
give me that baby he's mine today.
(crowd clapping)
- Hello, this room is full,
more and more people are in this fight with us,
shoulder to shoulder to ensure,
that our native women and girls,
our two spirit community that we are of value, WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
our two spirit community that we are of value,
that we've deserve to be seen,
and heard and protected.
(crowd clapping)
(lighter flickering)
- When I was 13 years old,
I witnessed my grandmother being murdered,
in front of me,
and I have been a victim,
to sexual assault multiple times.
I was living in rural Minnesota,
there was a disabled vehicle,
I was just trying to help them get home,
and they were supposed to drop me off,
on the way back home and they kept going.
And once they passed the exit, I was like,
well, you can just turn right here.
Just take it right here, I started screaming,
I told 'em to pull over the vehicle and let me out,
one of them said that they had a gun in the car,
and they would kill me.
I think I kinda went into a shock,
two of the men left the vehicle in the garage
while the other one held me down,
and raped me in the truck.
After it was done,
he turned his back to me for a second,
and I pushed him and I ran out,
there was a gas station that was just down the hill.
I ran back to the bathroom,
and I just sat in there and I cried.
(suspenseful music)
- Good evening everyone a family is desperately,
searching for a Fargo woman,
who is eight months pregnant.
- She's been missing for more than 48 hours now,
family believes she may be in danger.
- Many people from Belcourt,
Dunseith and several other cities came to help
with this search all wanting to bring comfort
and peace to Savanna's family.
(wind blowing)
- When Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind went missing,
it really hit home because it was a young native,
American woman, a working mom,
preparing for the arrival of their daughter.
I didn't realize how traumatic that experience was,
Just helping with the search,
until I drove to north Fargo one time.
But yeah, this whole area was the search headquarters.
The family put a call to action on Facebook that week,
and so everybody just showed up here.
(gentle music)
There was a young lady standing,
on top of one of those tables.
I think she was an emergency management student,
they had the map of the whole area.
As soon as you got your search assignment, you just left,
everybody realized the sense of urgency. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
We were coming the river down here,
so we did that till it got dark.
I was asked by two women from Turtle Mountain,
If I would lead the search, the following day.
(footsteps thumping)
When we went out to search,
of course we smudged with it,
but we also stuck small balls of sage in our shoes,
just because we didn't know what,
we were going to be coming across in the search,
we were still hoping that she was alive,
but we were still trying to prepare ourselves,
and protect ourselves.
(instrumental music)
- I wanna welcome all of you here,
and thank you all for coming.
We know that there have been attempted abductions.
If you have, or know of somebody,
that this has happened to in our community,
reach out to a trusted person,
might not be calling 911, it might be calling our,
American Indian Community Advocate or Navigator,
with the police department,
to make sure that our people are safe here.
(crowd clapping)
- All of us have relatives that have been impacted
by this so I'm gonna give a minute,
for us to call out those relatives and just holler it out.
It doesn't have to be one by one,
just call out their names, send them some love.
(crowd yelling out names)
(crowd yelling out more names)
(crowd yelling out even more names)
- Thank you.
We haven't forgotten them,
we'll never forget them and today is for them.
(uplifting music)
- As a culture, as a society, as a species,
we have kicked ourselves into believing
that being extractive and domineering is the way to be.
- Right so make sure to like really,(indistinct)
- We have to learn how to live in harmony,
with the natural world in each other.
- And if you have access to wealth show up,
with your dollars too, okay,
(crowd cheering)
- And I'm gonna invite Mysti Babineau back up to end our day.
(crowd cheering)
- I wanna talk to you about a small place,
called Fort Peck, Montana.
Fort Peck has a population of 218 people, WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
Fort Peck has a population of 218 people,
they had 48 registered sex offenders living in that area.
Fossil fuel infrastructure project came through,
and that town of a population of 218,
went to having 600,
registered sex offenders living in their town.
That is a tribal community.
- When you look at the statistics,
the men who buy sex on average,
they are middle class, white men,
and sometimes that's who these construction workers are.
They get away from their family,
for extended periods of time,
they have an excess in money and time.
Because the government and the oppressors,
don't let us govern ourselves,
we can't do anything about this.
And that's what you're bringing to us Tim.
Can I get a "No, line 3!"
(crowd protesting)
- No, Line 3!
(crowd protesting)
- No Man Camps!
(crowd protesting)
- Okay go inside
(car door thuds)
After we shut down search headquarters,
drove back to our house in South Fargo,
and it wasn't even long when live breaking news came on.
- [Reporter] Savanna Greywind who disappeared
while eight months pregnant,
was found dead wrapped in plastic in the Red River.
- Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind's body was found,
by volunteers that were helping with the search.
At the time she was staying,
with her parents in their apartment,
they stayed in a lower level apartment.
And the people upstairs on the top floor,
were Brooke Crews and William Hoehn.
And that couple was responsible for her death,
her murder, Brooke Crews got life,
and then they amended William Hoehn,
sentencing to kind of be little bit lesser.
I attended the hearings and heard,
like the recording that's on the law enforcement.
And it was very telling that the police officers,
didn't find the couple upstairs suspicious in anyway.
And that they had in turn,
put their focus on the family, told the family,
they couldn't go up past the second floor,
hearing him say, you know,
like that she always goes missing,
which is completely false but whether or not,
that played a part
in police's implicit bias will never know.
- Good morning,
my name is great grandmother, Mary Lyons.
My story began in 1990,
when my baby sister was murdered on New Year Eve,
- My daughter went missing in 1996,
were denied the opportunity,
to file a missing person's report.
- There's not a system to record accurately,
the number of missing
and murdered women in Indian country. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
and murdered women in Indian country.
- The first time I testified I was hopeful,
and motivated to see that at least somebody,
in my state was trying to address this here.
So I told myself I am gonna go lobby,
on behalf of this bill.
I'm gonna share some of my story,
that I haven't shared before.
The woman who gave birth to me disappeared,
when I was two years old,
that flung me into the foster care system.
I had my virginity taken at the age of nine,
years down the road I was 20 years old,
I was kidnapped, I was beaten, I was raped.
I was brought all the way down here to St. Paul,
where I fought for my freedom, and I escaped.
I know there are good police officers,
I know this because I have encountered them.
But on that day, when I flagged down,
the squad card on Rice Street,
to ask for help, he didn't believe me.
You a sweetheart, do you live nearby?
you must, you're very healthy.
There's a family of eagles that lives,
like almost straight across the lake over there.
You can see a lot of wildlife around here.
I've lived in this area for 10 years,
and this is the lake that I've always lived,
closest to since I've lived here.
So I often come here and I bring tobacco to her,
she remembers when you come and talk to her.
This task force bill got wrapped up,
in one of these messy omnibus bills,
that also included a bill,
that would have increased charges
against people peacefully protesting,
near critical infrastructure.
So early it sucked but I had to tell people,
to call and veto that bill.
- This morning I vetoed the omnibus budget bill,
of 985 pages of mostly policy.
(inspiration music)
- These people can come into our reservations,
and inflict atrocities,
and there's nothing we can do about it.
Every time one of us goes missing, we all feel it,
what you call activism, we call breathing.
(gentle upbeat music)
I don't remember much about the actual investigation, WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
I don't remember much about the actual investigation,
but I remember our family searching for her body.
And they knew right away who it was,
It was her neighbor's son who had actually
just gotten out of prison for raping,
and murdering another woman.
And you know, like within two weeks,
my grandma had got missing.
They caught this guy, I guess somewhere
down by Sioux Falls, they found blood
in his truck that matched my grandma.
It was actually my uncle who had went,
to this man in prison and asked,
could you tell us where she is?
And he told him like you're gonna,
be in prison the rest of your life anyway,
like can you just tell us where she is,
so that we can bring her home,
so we can bury her and so the guy did,
he told my uncle where her body was.
And so our family came out here,
where her body was discovered.
There's so many women that go missing,
and their families don't find out where they are,
they are still looking and I think that's the worst part,
to have somebody be missing
and not get that closure to bring them home.
So I think that's one thing to be grateful for,
that our family was able to get that.
(metal chiming)
So, this is how they start out.
Just big, empty white.
That's what people will see from the road.
These are water molecules.
(board screeching)
I use whatever medium the artwork is needing
to be made out of, so this one needs to be made
out of enamel, so I learned how to use enamel.
I was off the reservation for over 10 years
and I was kinda looking for my identity as an artist.
I didn't know like what stories I wanted to tell.
I was kinda being pushed
to do things that were related to my identity
as a Native American, but I wasn't in that place
because I had been away from my home.
(somber instrumental music)
And it wasn't until I was invited to curate
the "Bringer Her Home" show where I connected
my family's story to this larger story of the missing
and murdered indigenous women epidemic.
And I thought, oh my gosh,
my grandma's part of that story.
We're part of that story.
(slow instrumental music)
The goal of the Bringer Her Home show
is to bring awareness to the ongoing epidemic WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
is to bring awareness to the ongoing epidemic
of missing and murdered indigenous women.
But it's also to inspire and advocate for change.
(plastic rasping)
(slow instrumental music)
How about over here, can you stand over there,
Shall we see?
- There we go.
Amber, will you actually hold this side?
- Yep.
- Can you guys come over here so I can see some,
yeah, perfect.
You know, I did not see the male at first.
The way that you had it, when you're talking
about it being a love story, it makes me think
more about the man's a man's role.
as a protector, it's kind of reteaching men,
how to be in relationship with women, you know.
While this is something that happens to native women,
that's not the only thing to know of native women.
Native women ultimately are strong and resilient
and powerful and life givers.
And that strength is what I wanted people
to take away from the exhibition.
- Oh, hi good to see you.
Robert, how was your day?
- (inhales sharply) Good.
- That's good.
- Can we still have ice cream?
- Maybe.
(horn honking)
(all chuckling)
- That food still down there.
We're probably just gonna have to throw it out.
When we get home.
- I forgot about it.
- Fargo's the largest city in North Dakota
and the most populated,
but the native American community has always
been very supportive of one another.
And a lot of us have experienced injustice
within our lifetime, so that's kinda a common theme.
There's still really are gaps
within the justice system,
whether it's intentional or by design.
It is true you, you hear that old saying
if you're not at the table, you're on the menu.
(slow instrumental music)
- [Reporter] 18 newly elected legislators
were sworn into office today.
Among the newcomers is Ruth Buffalo
who became the first Native American democratic
woman elected, in North Dakota.
(inspirational instrumental music)
- I got sworn in December 8th of 2018.
I really didn't put much thought into like
what I was gonna wear, but I did bring
my regalia just in case, WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
my regalia just in case,
I bounced this question and off
with one of my sister friends,
and I was like, blazer, medallion, shell earrings,
or elk tooth dress?
And she responded right away, elk tooth dress.
So I was like, okay,
I'm gonna do the elk tooth dress.
So this is a replica of my grandma's dress.
This was made from a lady
from back home in, Mandaree
I'm used to being uncomfortable or unfortunately
having other people be uncomfortable
by my presence or by wearing a dress
or even with being
a native woman in the legislature, the attacks
are a little bit different.
It's kinda vicious at times
with the Land O'Lakes stuff,
getting rid of the Butter Maiden.
I was getting attacked a lot, like to the point
where I had to get a new number.
Like I have a separate number just for my family.
So that way too, if I need to just take a break,
I could just smudge and clean off, wipe myself off
from things I've encountered
I guess you could say in like the state legislature.
I wanna stay whole and healthy so I can continue
to serve the people in a good way.
- Get that branch down there.
- I know, I see that.
He runs off all the other squirrels
that try to come onto this tree and he's like this big.
- Yeah.
- So we named him Napoleon, yep, he's like.
(squirrel squeaking)
- Ask Napoleon of what he thinks of us here,
on his turf.
- Bye
He's going to hang out with a friend
and a friend ordered him a Lyft to go to wherever
they're going to hang out.
- Yeah.
- Yep.
- That's Jayce.
- Yep.
Nice.
- Yeah, your claw work is the best.
- So I went to public school in Sisseton
and while it was on the reservation, you know,
the public school did not provide, you know, history
on Dakota people in general.
I did not start learning about our history
until I went to college
at this Sisseton Wahpeton College.
And that's where I started to learn about kinda
how we ended up in Sisseton
on the Lake Traverse Reservation.
And so that's where I started learning really
the details about the uprising
and the outcome, the legislation
that made it illegal for Dakota people to who reside
in Minnesota.
Being separated from our homelands
is part of what has caused the historical trauma
that our people are suffering from.
I didn't understand that until I moved to Minnesota,
and I was like, this is home. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
and I was like, this is home.
This is like my home, like the reservation.
That's just where they put us.
- Yeah, there's a couple, there we go.
- Water in it.
- Don't drink that. What's she doing over there?! (laughing)
- When I moved here to Minnesota,
I had access to speakers,
but when I would meet somebody
who spoke the language, that person would speak
to me, and it was like a brick wall
went up in my head.
It was literally like, my ears
would not hear what was being said.
(light airy music)
And I felt so bad because I was like, I'm this artist
that's using language in my work.
Like, why can't I not speak the language?
But it was an understanding
for me of that's part of my trauma.
(somber music)
Back in 2017, the Walker went through like
a reconstruction of their sculpture garden.
And one of the new works that it was going
to be unveiled was called the Scaffold.
- An installation of wooden timbers created
by a California artist,
created a painful visceral reminder
of the largest mass execution in American history.
- [Reporter] Many opposed the piece
because it was inspired
by the hangings of 38 Dakota men
in Mankato in 1862.
- Those are my descendants,
those are my grandfathers.
And it just, you know, a slap in a face,
to many of us.
- And just for a brief moment, I could hear the cries
of the women and the children
as they're being forced
to watch.
Made me angry and appalled
that they would think
that this is something too honor us
as Dakota people.
(instrumental music)
- Good afternoon,
the Minnesota House of Public Safety
and Criminal Justice Reform will come
to order representative Kunesh-Podein..
- Thank you Chair, I would invite Mysti Babineau
to come speak now.
- Welcome Ms. Babineau.
- Mr. Chairman, committee members,
I'd like to start by thanking representative Mary,
for bringing this bill forward.
I beg everyone in this room, everyone
at this committee,
everybody who can hear my voice right now
do not allow this bill to become
a bargaining chip on the table at the end of session.
This bill needs to go for a floor hearing,
and this bill needs
to arrive on Tim's desk and he needs to sign it.
It's been too long, we fought for this bill last year,
we got it into the omnibus bill and due to politics,
we lost it.
Not this year.
I implore you please,
our community too deserves healing.
These women deserve justice. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
These women deserve justice.
This is not something new.
500 years, we've been waiting for this.
My sisters, my people have gone missing
since European settlers set land
here on Turtle Island.
This is time for justice, this is time for healing.
(sorrowful acoustic music)
It hurts every time to stir up and bring those feelings.
It's really painful.
It's almost like ripping a scab off,
but every time we testified,
it seemed like there was one more woman there
to share her story or to share her loved one story.
There was one more person that was sitting
there in the audience, holding us in their hearts.
And it was just really beautiful to see the people,
to be able to come out
and support that and to feel seen,
to feel heard.
- [Reporter] During a trip across the State,
Ivanka Trump highlighted
a new way to solve cold cases.
- The Trump administration had at last ditch effort
to get brown votes signed the Lady Justice bill.
Yeah, and we were just there
to ask to be brought to the table.
- So I think I counted six doors,
she could possibly come out.
I'm thinking they're gonna try and use this one
or get out that other building.
I think they're gonna bring her
in and out of that building next door.
- Okay, do...
- There's tunnel access, it looks like it.
- Where do you want us Mysti?
- We're here to support you guys.
So whatever you guys want us to do,
we'll make it happen.
This is a great example of what it's like.
We're out here fighting for our people.
We're on the ground doing the work,
the bureaucrats, wanna sign bill
so they can come take pictures
and use our trauma as a way to sell themselves.
But yet we're not allowed in the building.
Hello officer?
- Hi.
- Hi am Mysti Babineau.
- Yep.
- I'm just a activist, I just...
- Yeah, you'll have to head over with them off
on the public property.
- I had a question, Sir, I was just wondering
if I could ask you a quick question and then I will go.
- You just to asked one, what else you need?
- Have a great day officer.
And that's how the police treat us
for trying to simply ask a question.
(footsteps thumbing)
- What is this about?
- Nobody knows, the governor has not been notified.
The Lieutenant governor-
- Our women are not for show.
We are not to be used as a political ploy.
We are not to be used as a campaign ploy.
- So I have a request,
we have Mysti Babineau right here.
- If you are interested...
- Do you want us to shut down
the highway if they won't let us in there?
- Why not.
- Well, if you say so I'm down.
The other exit is over here.
This group, we're gonna go over here. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
This group, we're gonna go over here.
So hopefully whichever way she leaves
she'll encounter some of us.
Please do not engage
with law enforcement, simply comply.
They ask you to move off the property
move off the property.
(instrumental music)
(suspenseful dramatic music)
- There she is.
You guys!
(suspenseful music)
She's going that way! other way!
- Don't move just stop for a second.
- She came and went, she's just left.
(heavy breathing)
(music blaring)
(singing Lil'wat Women's Warrior Song)
- The reality in this moment
is that the fact that we are all still here speaks
to the resiliency of so many of our ancestors.
I wanna introduce to you another sister in this fight.
She just heads into the battle
of the North Dakota legislature
as the only native woman to serve there.
Please give it up for my sister
representative Ruth Buffalo.
(crowd applauding)
- I just wanna say, thank you, good people
for welcoming my family, my community,
my District 27, my tribe into your homelands.
It's a beautiful day, and it's a good day today.
(greeting in Hidatsa)
I have my daughter here with me,
she's out in the crowd there, she's 17.
And she is why I do this work.
(crowd cheering)
As many of you know, in August of 2017,
a young indigenous woman went missing.
Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind.
She went missing in Fargo in our backyard,
so to speak right in our community.
And many of us were forced to the front lines
to search for her, and many of us just like you and me
were big sisters and we have no choice,
but to take action.
We didn't wanna waste time
convincing law enforcement,
that we are human beings WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
that we are human beings
and that we deserve rapid response.
(crowd applauding)
So through the trauma that we're all so familiar
with in our indigenous communities,
we took action.
Just like you're doing today.
We formed a local task force.
The task force gave me a list of legislation
that they wanted to see introduced.
I brought those with me to the state capital.
and got them successfully introduced
and passed into law.
(crowd applauding)
So I share that to share
the possibilities, not until we see these possibilities
in front of us, then we know fully
that any one of us can do this,
get within these systems
and fix these systems to work for us,
to honor us as human beings.
- And then the drummers you guys
will being front right behind this black truck.
And then it'll be the rest of the kids.
And then it'll be the rest of the body of the march.
- Get close, get warm.
- Your cameraman tried to hit me with his van earlier.
I don't appreciate that.
- He tried to hit you?
- Yeah.
(slow drumbeats music)
- And after days of protests,
a controversial sculpture
at the Walker Art Center is coming down.
- The Walker Art Center's executive director issued
a statement late this afternoon, expressing regret
and saying that the Scaffold sculpture
should be removed.
- Intentions are to get it sent to Fort Snelling,
where we could burn it.
where we could all get some closure
and some healing.
- I think we need to go a step further
and talk to the Dakota community
about what should take it's place.
- The Walker met to launch a call for art
for an indigenous arts commission
and it took me a while
before I got to a place where I decided like
I'm gonna apply.
- How much should I get one or two?
- Just one.
So today we are driving Sisseton, we're scheduled
to meet with three elders
at the Dakota Language Institute.
We're gonna present the Walker sculpture to them
and ask for their input on the language component
of the sculpture.
So that's why we're bringing some gifts
because we're asking them
to help us with something.
I'm really grateful to you all
for taking the time to meet with me today.
I hope that I can share WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
I hope that I can share
my presentation with you and can tell the story
and the concept behind my work.
it's called Okciyapi.
And that translates to help each other.
And it was advice
that my grandfather gave when asked,
what advice would he give to future speakers?
He would always say, okciyapi.
For me, it's been kind of peeling off
these like layers of trauma, like, you know,
with my grandmother,
with myself, getting the language, the knowledge,
and then we're passing down to our children.
But there's this missing gap of adults like myself,
who just didn't get to be around it at all.
And if you're willing to help provide
your thoughts and recommendation
for the language component of this piece.(laughing)
I'm feeling a little bit like, sorry.
(speaking Dakota)
- How big?
- 40 feet?
- Oh, it's ok, good.
If somebody sees it,
they'll say a Indian made this, that's what they'll said.
(speaking in Dakota)
What was your dream of making a circle?
- They way a water drops into a pond
and how it creates that ripple.
- What I'm hearing is a journey of healing,
which you're talking about, a journey of healing.
There's no end to it, this nation of indigenous people,
we still use them symbols.
The circle is bringing back
the dream and the spirit, that's what it's all about.
(slow instrumental music)
- For me, creating artwork that reconnects me to my culture.
And my language has strengthened my identity
as a Dakota woman, and is part of healing,
from historical traumas and from being displaced
from our land and being separated
from our language, so much that has been done
to eliminate native presence in this country.
Part of that, what goes into
why issues like, MMIW exists.
(calm instrumental music)
I think about like what I can do
aside from kinda the big steps of like,
calling your legislators
and like doing these things.
For me it's raising my kids to know how to act.
(slow drumbeats music)
You know, like my son, I teach him how he needs
to treat his younger sister.
And I've told him like, when he do something
that teases her and she gets angry
when she tells you to stop, you need to respect
what she says, because there will come a time WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
what she says, because there will come a time
when she's older, and she tells, says, stop to a guy.
She needs to know that her answer
is going to be respected.
And she's gonna know that
because her older brother taught her.
(soothing instrumental music)
- Just cute.
- Oh my gosh, mom.
(soothing instrumental music)
- Gonna start crying.
Maya, our oldest daughter is graduating
in a couple weeks and she'll be going
across the river into Moorhead to college.
And my hopes are that she doesn't stay out
after dark because that's when
a lot of bad things can happen.
Calm down.
- I've learned a lot of things from my mom.
She's strong, she's proud to be who she is.
And she has a strong voice that people listen to.
And maybe they can stand with us and help too.
(calm instrumental music)
(footsteps tapping)
- Before I get started, I just wanted to ask you
to explain the significance of the cloth
that you have on the table.
- The skirt was handmade by an individual
by the name of Agnes Woodward,
and they represent our missing
and murdered indigenous women and girls
our sisters.
And the ribbon skirts also represent prayer
because we are a prayerful people.
Hundreds of communities hold stories of truth
from generation to generation,
our communities know which relatives
have yet to return to their families.
We must have those stories told
by giving them tools and resources to do so.
- The members of this committee
may have some additional questions
for the witnesses, and we will ask you
to respond to those in writing.
And just for my personal note, I'm deeply sorry
that we in Congress have not addressed
this for so long.
It is a tragedy and it is a sin that we have done.
And we need to do everything we can to fix this.
- Thank you, representative Ruth Buffalo
for running and winning your seat.
You were meant to serve.
And I'm inspired by the vast amount of work
that you are already done
since you've been in your seat.
So thank you so much for that. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
- So members, I'm asking you to be problem solvers.
I'm asking you to vote green.
- The clerk will take the role on the bill.
(beep)
- When it passed through the Senate,
I was at home watching it on my TV
and I jumped up and I was like, yeah, get it.
So it was a great day, and I think we celebrated
with Eastside pizza that night.
(wind whooshing)
We're at the corner of Chatsworth and Summit.
Do you know where Chatsworth is?
Is that that way?
Oh, there you're, I just trying to figure
out where Chatsworth was like Diego, sorry.
(indistinct)
(horn honking)
Thank you for being here, it's all about that unity.
- Yeah, absolutely.
- Well, come join us team.
(all chuckling)
These cops, not the troopers.
- I don't think so, hello!
Are you the officer in charge?
- Yes. - Okay.
- Now what I've been told by our SOU people
is that everything is gonna stay on the sidewalk.
- Okay, so does like up to the bike lane.
Can we use that space?
- Well that'll be on you then
to protect yourselves.
- Yeah.
Well, hopefully they'll respect
that we're in ceremony
and you don't interrupt, praying people.
- Well, if you are in the public roadway.
I'm not gonna argue about it,
but you know what I'm saying?
I see your side, but I also see, you know,
and I sympathetic that,
but then we gotta also be careful of the people
that are, you know, driving on that,
where they're supposed to be.
- Well, we'll take care of that, thank you, officer.
- Thank you.
(crowd murmuring)
- Do you have a caller?
You want me to be one?
You want me to pull him over?
- I got it. We're gonna get started.
- Okay, you are the caller.
(speaking Ojibwe)
- I wanna thank you all and welcome you
into this space today.
There is so much violence and oppression
that black and brown bodies
have to deal with every day we need that healing.
We deserve that healing,
so that's why we're here today.
(Ojibwe music)
There was a Mide medicine person who had a dream
for somebody that they loved was sick
and they needed that healing.
Four jingle dresses is what this medicine man saw. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:198018,LOCAL:00:00:00.000
Four jingle dresses is what this medicine man saw.
And when he woke up in the morning,
he showed these dances
and made these dresses for the people.
So today we're dancing to bring that healing
for all of us and to manifest this love
and this energy that we have inside of us
for all people here on this planet.
(Jingle Dress song)
(singing in Ojibwe)
(breathing deeply)
(singing in indigenous language)
♪ Sister sister I want you to know ♪
♪ You so strong and beautiful
♪ I gotta know where did you go ♪
♪ I think of you everyday
♪ since away you've gone away
(singing in indigenous language)