Medicine Wheel Riders Involved With Local MMIP Event
A good turnout of Fort Peck Reservation residents greeted the Medicine Wheel Riders in Wolf Point on Wednesday, July 30.
The Medicine Wheel Riders raise awareness for missing or murdered indigenous persons. The riders stopped in Wolf Point as part of their motorcycle journey from Seattle, Wash., to Sturgis, S.D. The grassroots movement featuring female motorcycle riders aims to bring national awareness and resources to issues. After an opening flag song by Nakoa Heavy Runner during the event held at the Wolf Point Community Center, Chief of the Assiniboine JoJo Miller provided encouraging words and a prayer.
Miller noted that MMIP has been a long-time concern for Native Americans. He is pleased by the efforts of the Medicine Wheel Riders and other groups.
He said he was taught as a youngster to respect women. He described them as the heart of families. “Women are sacred in our culture. They are the caregivers of our tribes,” Miller said.
Fort Peck Tribes’ chairman Justin Gray Hawk Sr. provided a welcome to the visitors. He said he was honored to ride from Glasgow with the group. He added that people all over this land are struggling.
“There’s understanding, teachings we carry as men of our people,” Gray Hawk said. “As men, we need to make sure our children and women are taken care of.”
He noted women are the backbone of tribal people.
“It’s only right now to put women first again,” Gray Hawk said.
Bruce Bauer welcomed the group on behalf of the Spotted Bull Recovery Resource Center. “We’re proud to have them on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation,” Bauer said.
Stacie Fourstar, Fort Peck Tribes’ chief justice, said the MMIP movement has grown and provided a lot of attention to the problems during the past five years.
Angeline Cheek of the Fort Peck Tribal Courts said, “We still have to keep fighting the federal government to see who we are.”
She noted that a lot of families are still waiting for relatives to be found. Cheek thanked the efforts of grassroots organizations.
“The work needs to continue. It’s good to come here together and pray together,” Cheek said.
Lewis Matthews, chief of police for the Fort Peck Tribes, said technology is definitely improving for local law enforcement, but there remains a shortage of officers. Matthews said automated license plate readers throughout the reservation have been successful in reducing criminal activity.
He said when a missing person is reported, information is forwarded to all law enforcement branches.
Matthews announced that tribal police supports the MMIP cause. “All victims’ voices will be heard,” he said.
