{"id":38400,"date":"2025-02-01T05:33:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-01T10:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/cheyenne-river-sioux-mother-advocates-for-housing-rights-after-homelessness\/"},"modified":"2025-02-01T05:34:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-01T10:34:00","slug":"cheyenne-river-sioux-mother-advocates-for-housing-rights-after-homelessness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/cheyenne-river-sioux-mother-advocates-for-housing-rights-after-homelessness\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheyenne River Sioux mother advocates for housing rights after homelessness"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/div>
\"Valerie<\/a><\/p>\n

Valerie Siqueiros regularly attends IPAC meetings, council sessions and events with a smile. Here she and her 14-year-old daughter Christina are pictured participating in a Halloween costume contest at Sacred Pipe Resource Center in October 2024. (Photo by Cheryl Kary)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

BISMARCK, ND \u2013 On a crisp December evening in 2023, Val\u00aderie Jean Siqueiros stood before her community to accept an award for her tireless advocacy work \u2013 even as she and her family were still navigating homelessness.<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old Cheyenne Riv\u00ader Sioux citizen had spent months camping at General Sibley Park be\u00adfore moving to a shelter, all while emerging as one of Bismarck-Man\u00addan\u2019s most powerful voices for housing justice. Her journey from unhoused to housing activist re\u00adflects a growing need in North Da\u00adkota, where more than 700 people face homelessness nightly, accord\u00ading to state housing data.<\/p>\n

In a city grappling with a deep\u00adening housing crisis, Siqueiros has emerged as a uniquely com\u00adpelling changemaker. As secretary of the Indigenous Parent Adviso\u00adry Committee at Bismarck Public Schools and an active member of all six Sacred Pipe Resource Center councils, she\u2019s turned her personal struggle into a catalyst for change.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer raw and very real depiction of the housing crisis in our com\u00admunities leaves an impression on you,\u201d said Ashley Jahner, Sacred Pipe\u2019s director of advocacy. \u201cIt fu\u00adels your fire and sparks emotion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI fell into a little hole of despair. But I chose to just keep going\u2026 just so I wouldn\u2019t have to be worry\u00ading about everything, every single minute of the day.\u201d -Valerie Sique\u00adiros, IPAC secretary and communi\u00adty advocate<\/p>\n

Jahner first met Siqueiros at one of the organization\u2019s events in the summer of 2023, held at their pre\u00advious location in Mandan. When Sacred Pipe relocated to Bismarck in October 2023, Jahner remem\u00adbers Siqueiros continuing to attend events and community council meetings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a complete joy to wit\u00adness,\u201d Jahner said. <\/p>\n

To cope with the daily stress of being unhoused, Siqueiros started attending community events and becoming more involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fell into a little hole of de\u00adspair,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I chose to just keep going wherever I could. Just to get out of the shelter. Just so I wouldn\u2019t have to be worrying about everything, every single min\u00adute of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Siqueiros became so deeply in\u00advolved in the Bismarck-Mandan Indigenous community that in De\u00adcember 2023, during Sacred Pipe\u2019s inaugural winter solstice celebra\u00adtion, she was honored with a com\u00admunity engagement award.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt so good to be able to be named that recipient,\u201d Siqueiros said. \u201cAfter that, I made it a big\u00adger commitment to try to make it to as many functions as I could and to be able to advocate as much as I possibly could, especially for our homeless community and for our arts community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite daily challenges such as transportation and health issues, Siqueiros attends IPAC meetings, council sessions and events with a smile. In addition to participating in local events and council meet\u00adings, Siqueiros became more in\u00advolved with the IPAC. As a mother of 14-year-old Christina, a student at Bismarck Public Schools, she wanted to ensure the best possible opportunities for her daughter.<\/p>\n

In May 2024, she was elected secretary of the IPAC. Since then, she has helped organize the Back- to-School event in August and In\u00addigenous Heritage Night at BPS in December, both of which attracted hundreds. \u201cI knew that if anybody can do this work, then I could,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Jesse Short Bull, one of Sique\u00adiros\u2019 closest friends, describes her as a natural leader. He admires her compassion, intelligence and her qualities as a loving mother and friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s also fierce,\u201d he added. \u201cShe isn\u2019t afraid to stand up for her relatives, tribe and the land. Valerie will step up and make her stance known.\u201d<\/p>\n

Siquieros grew up in Milpitas, Calif., far from the reservation. In search of a better life, her father applied for relocation in the early 1970s from the Cheyenne Sioux River Agency in South Dako\u00adta. Eventually he got the support he needed to move to California, where he met Siquieros\u2019 mother.<\/p>\n

The family lived in Northern Cal\u00adifornia until she was 19. For Sique\u00adiros, it felt like a protective bubble. She said she loved being with her family and attending the Milpitas Unified School District. But when her father\u2019s health began to decline, he required dialysis. Her parents\u2019 social security wasn\u2019t enough to meet their needs, so they ultimately made the difficult decision to move back to the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation, where he could access a dialysis unit.<\/p>\n

Initially, Siqueiros wanted to re\u00adturn to Northern California, but she felt it was important to stay close to her family. In 2007, at the age of 24, her mother died, and five years later, in 2012, her father also passed. She said the loss of her par\u00adents left her feeling untethered but determined to persevere.<\/p>\n

She isn\u2019t afraid to stand up for her relative, tribe and the land. Valerie will step up and make her stance known.\u201d<\/p>\n

-Jesse Short Bull, filmmaker<\/p>\n

At the time, Siqueiros was study\u00ading for a bachelor\u2019s degree in muse\u00adum studies at the Institute of Amer\u00adican Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She had previously earned associate degrees in Literature and Communication, as well as in La\u00adkota Studies, at Oglala Sioux Col\u00adlege in North Eagle Butte, South Dakota.<\/p>\n

When she was 27, she and her partner, Joseph Siqueiros, had a daughter, Christina. Two years lat\u00ader, after being with Joseph for 11 years, they got married. Eventual\u00adly, she returned to Santa Fe with her husband and daughter. After the death of Joseph in 2016 due to illness, Siqueiros said she focused on surviving and raising her young daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt got to be a bit much, with the memories and my single income,\u201d she said. \u201cSo we ended up going back to South Dakota.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, she met Michael, her second husband. Both were com\u00admitted to getting a higher educa\u00adtion, and they decided to return to school at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, where she studied business administration and Michael, general studies. The family lived in the close-knit cam\u00adpus community during this time.<\/p>\n

In 2023, the family faced difficult times once again. No longer attend\u00ading UTTC, they lost their cam\u00adpus housing. Barely making ends meet, they also faced health issues and disability. As students, Sique\u00adiros said they wrestled to balance school and parenting responsibili\u00adties, which left little time for work. When they did manage to work, they weren\u2019t able to save much. For seven months, they were unable to secure housing in Bismarck.<\/p>\n

After leaving their campus hous\u00ading, Siqueiros and her family set up camp at General Sibley Park. Both she and Michael have diabetes, and the conditions soon took a toll on their health.<\/p>\n

Eventually, a doctor contacted United Way, which operates a non\u00adprofit shelter for families and chil\u00addren. For six months, the family shared a room with various room\u00admates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat whole time, we were pounding the pavement,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was looking for jobs. He was getting little tiny spot jobs every\u00adwhere he could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Siqueiros, who uses a wheel\u00adchair, faced difficulty finding an apartment after receiving support from North Dakota Rent Help, a state housing stabilization pro\u00adgram. They needed a ground-floor, two-bedroom unit, but none were available. They finally found a sec\u00adond floor apartment with an eleva\u00adtor in January 2024.<\/p>\n

Siqueiros joined Sacred Pipe\u2019s Tenant Rights Association back in September 2023. Since then, she has been vocal about her story.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer lived experience is invalu\u00adable,\u201d Jahner said. \u201cShe is truly an expert when it comes to under\u00adstanding the struggles of what our people face on a day-to-day basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

This fall, around 30 individuals testified at a Bismarck City Coun\u00adcil meeting in opposition to an or\u00addinance that would ban encamp\u00adments of the people without homes. Despite their efforts, on Oct. 8, the council, including Mayor Mike Schmitz, approved the ordinance, which prohibits camping and the accumulation of property in public spaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had hoped that all of those people coming together and giving us testimonies would have stalled it at least,\u201d Siqueiros said.<\/p>\n

Others in the community are also proud of Siqueiros\u2019 progress. \u201cI really hope she continues being an advocate in our community and is seated at the tables of change, where she belongs,\u201d Jahner said.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one systemic barri\u00ader Siqueiros would eliminate, it would be the challenge of access\u00ading resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe you don\u2019t have a phone all the time and you\u2019re trying to get a hold of somebody, but you keep getting the runaround and that gets frustrating, which leads to huge trust issues,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In the future, Siqueiros hopes to return to IAIA to finish her degree in museum studies. Most recent\u00adly she began working at Torrid, a national plus size retailer. In the meantime, she encourages the community to stay engaged and get involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what position you\u2019re in, keep moving forward,\u201d she said. \u201cNo matter how dark it is, there\u2019s always that little silver lining that\u2019s going to lead you back to a good place.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Contact Adrianna Adame at adrianna@imfreedomalliance.org<\/a>) <\/p>\n

The post Cheyenne River Sioux mother advocates for housing rights after homelessness<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Visit Original Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/div>

Valerie Siqueiros regularly attends IPAC meetings, council sessions and events with a smile. Here she and her 14-year-old daughter Christina are pictured participating in a Halloween costume contest at Sacred Pipe Resource Center in October 2024. (Photo by Cheryl Kary) BISMARCK, ND \u2013 On a crisp December evening in 2023, <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> February 1, 2025<\/p>\n

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