Quilt hangs to shield women

Gov. Kristi Noem and Jimmy Hallum (back left) join other advocates at unveiling. Right back row (left to right) are Wilfred Keeble and Roland (Yamni) Roach III. Front row (left to right) are Velma Alaniz, Caroline Carlson, Patty Provost, Rev. Dr. Marilyn van Duffelen, Perry Little, and South Dakota Tribal Relations Secretary Dave Flute. (Photo COURTESY / South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem

PIERRE – To raise awareness about the need for shielding Indian women and children from currently unrivaled levels of violence, advocates took part in a quilt-hanging at the South Dakota State Capitol on Nov. 4.
The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Quilt remains on display at the statehouse, a gift to Gov. Kristi Noem for her support of related initiatives, such as a June 2019 horseback ride here when she received it.
“The ride was a solemn time where we mourned the loss of these individuals and reinforced our commitment to address violence against Native American women,” Noem said at the unveiling event. “I’m humbled by this gift and am grateful for the opportunity to display it in our statehouse.”
Native American women are murdered at a rate 10 times higher than any other demographic. Four out of five experience violence in their lifetimes. “Here in South Dakota, I’m hoping we lead the nation in stopping it,” Noem pronounced.
Event participant Jimmy Hallum explained the provenance of the quilt. Organizers planned the ride that Noem joined as a link between today’s unchecked violence against native women with that perpetrated ever since more than a century ago.
It spotlighted the imprisonment of women and children at Ft. Randall on today’s Crow Creek Sioux Indian Reservation in the leadup to the mass execution of their warriors at Mankato, Minnesota, an outcome of the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War.
More than 300 captive women and children died after succumbing to starvation and nearly unspeakable denigration, according to historical research.
Hallum winces at “the horrors the women went through, watching their children die and suffering abuses from the very soldiers sent there to guard them.”
So, his group rode to Pierre, to the capitol, “to bring awareness about the abuses that occurred to the women back then, also to the ones suffering today with all the missing and murdered indigenous relatives,” he said.
The riders asked Patty Provost and the Sto Wahi sewing guild to create an honoring quilt. Sto Wahi means “To Gather”. The guild is based in South Sioux City, Nebraska, and is made up of native women from across Turtle Island. It meets every Wednesday at the Nebraska Indian Community College.
The quilt “really exemplifies what is happening in some communities across the state of South Dakota,” Noem said, in reference to solidarity organizations such as the Red Ribbon Skirt Society of the Black Hills.
The organization backed state legislation that Noem signed into law during the most recent session to educate and coordinate state and tribal agency personnel for policy and enforcement to reduce crimes against Indian women and children.
The quilt’s design is “beautifully intricate and a powerful reminder of the work we have to do to protect this vulnerable population,” she noted.
“You’ll see they have women of all ages displayed on the quilt and then also have some where there’s embroidery that’s just a shadow of a woman, which indicates someone, a child, a woman or a young girl that’s still missing today and that we don’t have answers about what exactly happened to them.”
Citing the dismal statistics, Noem said, “We can’t accept that kind of record. We don’t want to be known for that kind of violence and hurt in our families. That’s something we have to talk about.
“The more we can talk about the story that this quilt tells, the honor it brings to those who are missing and their families, the more that I think we will be able to educate everybody in the state as to how bad the situation is and all that we can do to stop it in the future.”
Hallum thanked the quilters and South Dakota Tribal Relations Secretary Dave Flute for facilitating the occasion.

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

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