Hundreds, many dressed in red, marched through Riverfront Park beating drums and chanting in a powerful demonstration of unity during Salem’s first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons awareness event on Saturday, June 1.
The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Walk, organized by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, hoped to bring awareness to the epidemic of Indigenous people who are murdered or who go missing at alarming rates.
Saturday’s event is part of a larger movement to bring widespread attention to the issue. It also demands governments and law enforcement do their jobs to bring justice in cases involving Indigenous people.
Gov. Tina Kotek joined the federal government in declaring May 5 as Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day, and vowed to commit government resources to addressing the systemic crisis.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates there are currently 4,200 unsolved cases of missing or murdered Indigenous people across the U.S.
Cheryle Kennedy, the chairwoman of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, spoke to the crowd ahead of the march. She said three of her family members have either disappeared or were murdered.
Kennedy said the crisis is part of the larger systemic way Indigenous people are treated. She said the issue is rooted in violence, the widespread removal of people from their lands, and termination – the process of ending federal recognition and support for tribal entities essentially nullifying treaties negotiated with the U.S. government.
The Grand Ronde was terminated in the 1950s and remained so until 1983 when tribal rights were restored, Kennedy said. Kennedy was part of that long struggle for restoration.
“I think about those who are missing and who are gone. That now their message is what causes us to be inspired and to fight for what is right,” Kennedy said. “Our spirit is beautiful, our spirit is full of love. We need to do more in the way that gets the message out so that people will hear us and listen to us and be compelled to join in this great fight that we have.”
Kennedy said the continued fight for justice is primarily a fight for the generations to come.
“That they (the future generations) be safe. That they be able to feel secure in this land that was given to us, and now we share,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy then told the crowd to raise their hands together to the sky.
“Sky knows what happened to all of our loved ones. Sky knows. Sky was made by Creator. Sees all things,” Kennedy said. “We don’t stand alone here. We need to put our prayers together, and our beliefs together. That this thing will be a thing of the past. That we no longer have to suffer like this. And become fearful.”
Kola Shippentower, of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, also spoke at the event. Shippentower is a professional mixed martial arts fighter, and said she got into fighting as a way to protect herself after becoming a victim of domestic violence.
“I am here as a gentle reminder of who we are…we are not weak and we are not vulnerable. We are strong resilient people. We are natural born warriors,” she said.
Love Richardson, a tribal strategist in Oregon and a tribal council member for her nation back in Massachusetts, was in the audience on Saturday.
She told Salem Reporter that she is a survivor. When she was nine years old, she went missing for four days after her friend’s parents kept her down in their basement against her will. It was Richardson’s sister who later found out where she was, resulting in her freedom.
The people who kept her captive were charged in court, she said. That experience was a trauma that motivated her to speak out on such matters.
Richardson pointed out that many participants in Saturday’s event had a red handprint across their faces. The handprint represents their personal experience with the issue.
“Always remember. This is not a fad. You may be sitting next to a survivor or a relative who has had someone who has gone missing,” Richardson said. “My teaching, in my community, is that you only wear the red paint on your face if you are a survivor or it is your relative that has been missing.”
Richardson pointed out that while earlier on in the movement, many events were focused on women and girls, the movement has expanded to take into account the Indigenous men who have suffered the same fate.
“The amount of male presence here is really refreshing. And it’s really amazing because the rate of missing Indigenous men is almost as high as the women,” Richardson said. “They are missing at alarming rates as well.”
After the walk, Aaron Weldon was sitting to pray, as dozens of people chanted, waved ceremonial staffs, burned incense, and beat drums together nearby. Weldon, who is Indigenous and Mexican, came to the event from Portland with his family. Weldon said he came to support his wife, a victim of abuse, and his daughter, who he hopes will grow up in a better world.
“Originally this was for women and this has evolved into missing people in general. Indigenous missing people. And it is more than that. It is people who have been abused. Sexual violence, sexual assault, physical violence,” Weldon said. “That red hand that goes across the face, it represents a man telling a woman to shut up. That is what it symbolizes. It is basically women speaking out, men speaking out, people speaking up against violence.”
Weldon pointed to a feathered staff next to him as he rolled a ceremonial tobacco cigarette and explained some of the many forms of Indigenous expression on display at Riverfront Park on Saturday.
“In another way of being, those are our war staffs. Our weapons. We pick up arms this way,” Weldon said. “In modern times, this is what we call war…This isn’t the only thing we call war. But this is what we call war in our modern time. Without actually going into battle and fighting. This is political war.”
Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.
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Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.
