Washington High student walkout calls attention to missing, murdered Indigenous women
Washington High School student Rosalia Szameit, who is Oglala Lakota, said not enough people know about the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW).
In South Dakota alone, there are 80 active cases of missing Native Americans today. Of those, 47 are women or young girls, according to the South Dakota Attorney General’s Missing Person’s clearinghouse database.
“No one’s going to care if we go missing,” she said as tears welled in her eyes. “It’s unacceptable, and we have to do something.”
Szameit was one of more than 100 students who walked out of classes at Washington High School on Thursday morning and congregated at the nearby Linwood Park to recognize and commemorate thousands of MMIW.
The walkout was over 60 minutes long in recognition of what student leaders said are more than 6,000 known instances of MMIW. The event included moments of silence to highlight the following statistics the students shared:
5 minutes and 8 seconds of silence for the 5,800 Indigenous women unreported to the national unidentified missing persons system;
4 minutes and 20 seconds of silence for 4,200 unsolved cases;
8 minutes and 50 seconds of silence for the 85% of Indigenous women who have experienced violence;
5 minutes and 6 seconds of silence for the 56% of Indigenous women who have experienced sexual violence;
And, 9 minutes and 12 seconds of silence for the 9,120 Indigenous children abused each year.
More: South Dakota’s open cold cases include these missing and murdered Indigenous women
WHS senior Justus Knorr, who is Oglala Lakota, said he feels an indescribable pain deep within him knowing he and his relatives have been affected by this issue in the past and could be affected again in the future. He said it’s important that more than just Indigenous people talk about this issue and care about the cause.
“We shouldn’t have to have a walkout,” Knorr said. “We shouldn’t have to bring awareness to this issue. This issue shouldn’t exist, (but it) exists, and has been neglected for the entire history of the U.S. That’s why we needed to do a walkout.”
WHS senior Maliyah Cartier, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, said the walkout honors MMIW and any other Native American who’s gone missing.
“So many go missing, but half of these women and people don't even get searched for or reported," Cartier said. "We feel like so much more could be done and need to spread awareness to maybe light a spark and make a difference.”
Cartier said most of the people who go missing are her age or younger, and she wants those voices to be heard. She wrote some of the names of MMIW on her shirt and told their stories in a speech at the park.
More: How South Dakota is trying to address the missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis
“They wanted to be there,” Cartier said of the spiritual experience of sharing MMIW’s stories.
WHS student Emma Eagle Star, a citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said she hopes her peers who joined in the walkout come away from the event more educated on the issue of MMIW.
“I hope they learn awareness, how dire it is, and teach others,” Eagle Star said.
In a speech she gave at the park, Eagle Star said everyone who gathered for the walkout was there so the cries of MMIW could be heard aloud.
“How can we accept that our children and women are being abused? How can we tolerate women going missing and being murdered? How can we live in ignorance any longer?” she questioned. We must “go to war against the violence our women and children are facing. We aren’t just (WHS) Warriors, but we are the warriors of tomorrow.”
The students who led the walkout also discussed the need for more, and more accurate, Indigenous representation in history classes. They also spoke about how the Oceti Sakowin Owaunspe class, which covers Indigenous history and culture specific to the Oceti Sakowin people of this area, should count for a history credit and not an elective.
Knorr said there are teachers who are supportive of the students who walked out Thursday, but said their jobs could be at risk for supporting the walkout openly.
In a statement from the district, community relations coordinator DeeAnn Konrad said the WHS students who participated in the walkout "left school property to highlight their cause and did so respectfully and without disruption to others," but did not say if the district supported this specific cause.
"Students, like all people, have constitutional rights to do as they wish as long as no laws are violated," Konrad said. "Beyond those laws are school policy and attendance expectations. Skipping school for any reason is an unexcused absence."
WHS student Melina Ammann said as a non-Native, it’s important she and her peers are educated on the issue of MMIW and speak on it. She said the number of MMIW is three times the population of WHS.
“How can we be the land of the free and the home of the brave?” she questioned, if Indigenous people go missing or are murdered and their cases aren’t investigated thoroughly.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: WHS students walk out of class in recognition of MMIW epidemic
