There are nearly 200 missing and murdered Indigenous women in South Dakota, according to the Sovereign Bodies Institute. Most of those cases are unsolved. On Wednesday, about a dozen advocates and relatives spoke on the steps of the state Capitol Building in Pierre to call for protection and justice.
Bernita In The Woods is a Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe council representative. She says every woman lost leaves a lasting impact on her family and community.
“Their lives change. They raise their children different. It changes how they work, where they work. Their dreams change. Everything changes. Children are raised without mothers, aunties, grandmothers. But we lose even more than that. We lose our dancers, our singers, our cooks. We lose our leaders.”
In The Woods praised the state legislature for passing a bill to create a liaison for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons within the Attorney General’s Office…but she says further action is needed from all levels of government.
Speakers called for stronger laws and community diligence to protect women from domestic abuse and human trafficking.
The Native Women’s Society of the Great Plains hosted the event.
