“I read the act, and I have to tell you it made me sick to my stomach when I started reading the numbers of our women - our sacred life givers - who had been murdered and were missing throughout Washington state and the entirity of what they call the United States of America. When Garvais Lawrence - a veteran police officer who worked for 9 years on the Colville Reservation - was the assistant chief of police for the Cowlitz Tribe, then-Cowlitz chairman Bill Iyall brought the Savanna’s Act to Gervais Lawrence and asked him to do something about it. The impetus for the trip stems back two years. Danelle Allen aka Nellie Allen - missing from Spokane, WAĢ7.
Kamiah Bird - missing from the Spokane ReservationĢ6. Danielle Wright - 16 years old, missing from Rapid City, SDĢ4. Niomi Little - 12 years old, missing from Rapid City, SDĢ3. Mariah Badmilk - 15 years old, missing from South DakotaĢ2. Tina Spino - missing from Warm Springs, OregonĢ1. Aleata Lynn Scheafter - missing from Great Falls, MTĢ0. Charlotte Ike - missing from Swinomish, WAġ9. Tashing Shepherd - missing from Prescott, AZġ7. Jordan Brown Bull - missing from South Dakotaġ6. Alicia Lara - missing from Humbodlt County, Californiaġ5.
Sharon Baldeagle -17 years old, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux, missing from Rapid City, South Dakotaġ4.
Holly Rene Larvie aka Rosebud - missing from North Dakotaġ3. April Oxendine - missing from North Carolinaġ2. Marissa Ortiz - missing from Fort Totten, SDġ1. Stops Pretty Places - missing from the Crow Nationġ0. Rosa Tinklenberg - 12 years old, missing from Minnesotaĩ. Tina Marie Finley - missing from the Couer d’Alene Reservation in IdahoĨ. Kellie Dolan - missing from Spokane, WAĦ. Trinity Gomez - 14 years old,missing from Billings, MTĤ. Mia Means - 16 years old, missing from South Dakotaģ. They painted the names of missing and murdered indigenous woman and children on the back of their RV. The money is to be donated to the MMIW Organization and Colville Tribal member Earth Feather Sovereign, a MMIW advocate in Washington state. To date, the fundraiser - which can be found here - has raised $1,072. The team launched a Go Fund Me with the goal of $18,609 - a dollar for each of the missing and murdered indigenous women across Indian Country and in major cities across the United States according to the Go Fund Me page. This story was originally published by Tribal Tribune. The run, which was aimed at raising awareness for murdered and missing indigenous women and children, coincided with the 400th anniversary of the landing at Plymouth - and once there - after more than 3,100 miles traveled and several weeks of running and biking, the three danced and sang, said Garvais Lawrence: “We went there specifically because we wanted to sing the ‘Turn Around Song.’ We wanted to turn-around the trauma that our people have endured since that first landing at Plymouth Rock.” Running and biking daily with the name of a missing or murdered indigenous woman or child painted in red on their arms - and with the red hand print that has come to represent Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement painted on their faces - Colville Tribal member Willi Bessette joined tribal descendent Duane Garvais Lawrence and Lakota member Ethan LaDeaux on a cross-country run and bike ride that started at the Peace Arch in Blaine, Washington and ended on the Massachusetts coasts near Plymouth Rock.