Lakota women join binational bike rally

The Black Hills Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s Red Ribbon Skirt Society hosted motorcycle riders Lorna Cuny and Lynette RC Roberts in a prayer ceremony at the Racing Magpie as they launched their ride to raise awareness. Courtesy / Carla Douglas

RAPID CITY – The two motorcycle riders representing South Dakota in the Four-Directions Ride for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women arrived on schedule June 14, at their destination in Topeka, Kansas.

“We were very proud of them to take on such a task,” said Carla Douglas, a member of the Black Hills Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s Red Ribbon Skirt Society.

“The more people who know about missing and murdered indigenous women, the better,” Douglas told the Native Sun News Today. “Otherwise, it’s just going to keep on happening.”

Lorna Cuny and Lynette RC Roberts, of Rapid City and Hot Springs, carried sage bundles and MMIW flags on the backs of their motorcycles. They took a list of 70-plus missing and murdered indigenous women, children and two-spirited of South Dakota.

They joined other women cyclists from the United States and Canada, in what was expected to be the largest ever women’s bike ride, covering 12,000 miles of road to raise awareness.

The Red Ribbon Skirt Society held a send-off for Cuny and Roberts on June 12, with a traditional ceremony of Lakota prayer at the Racing Magpie.

Oglala Sioux Tribal Vice President Darla Black presented the riders with an Oglala Lakota Nation Flag on the same occasion.

(Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.com)

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