On the traditional homelands of the Umatilla, Cayuse, and Walla Walla, Indigenous Vision along with The Wisáwca Project hosted the very first ‘MMIW Women’s Empowerment Retreat’ in the state of Washington.
Our two day event was held at the stunning and new Siri Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym located in Pasco and owned by our newest friend and ally, Wesley Cooper. This event was created to provide a loving space for family members, survivors, and friends of our missing and murdered loved ones. Our focus when facing the MMIW & MMIP crisis is ‘prevention & preservation‘.
The #MMIWarriors program is designed to not only empower our Indigenous women and community members, but arm them with the skills and knowledge to keep our bodies safe and our mind and spirit healthy.
Over the course of the event we invited speakers from much of the western states to share their stories, knowledge, healing modalities, and spirits with community members from the tri-cities and surrounding area.
Lea Wetzel joined us from Great Falls, Montana and kicked off our event with her presentation on being a survivor of human trafficking and representing women in recovery who are working towards making our communities safer for all.
Miyo Strong joined us from Salt Lake City, Utah and is the Program Director is the Smart Defense program at the Elizabeth Smart Foundation. Her Smart Defense demonstration was trauma informed and powerful!
Deanna BlackCrow (Lakota Nation) of Her 38 Roses shared her powerful story of advocating for her late Mother, Debra BlackCrow and the work she does in Las Vegas.
From the Hopi Nation we were joined by Val & Brandon Nahsonhoya of Honwungsi Consulting Services who work tirelessly with the Arizona State Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Task Force. Their presentation provided our attendees with information about what to do when a family members goes missing, and some hard truths about the current human trafficking situation in Arizona.
Champion Jingle Dress dancer Acosia Red Elk of the Umatilla Nation closed out over event with her incredible Powwow Yoga & Meditation session where we moved our bodies together and release the heaviness we carry when engaging with MMIW work. We could not have made this event possible if it wasn’t for The Share Fund who generously donated to Indigenous Vision last fall. Thank you to everyone who participated in our retreat, we hope if truly gave you the boost needed to continue the advocacy as we move closer to May 5th and the official MMIW week of action.
Indigenous Vision is proud to be a part of the networking, healing, allyship, sisterhood, and friendships we created this April in Pasco. Our hope is to bring this event back next year as the healing is ongoing. A big thanks to our main host and facilitator Kola Shippentower who was instrumental in creating this event on her homelands.
Please consider making a donation if you’d like to contribute to our MMIW efforts across the US. You donation will go towards any of our upcoming MMIW events and self defense sponsorship for a Indigenous community member.
