Bobcats to honor
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement
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The
Ignacio High School girls basketball team did a team photo
shoot in December to honor the Missing and Murdered Indigenous
Women movement. Ignacio will host Nucla on Saturday at the
SunUte Recreation Center and all proceeds will go to Voices
of Our Sisters, an organization that brings education and
awareness to the issue. Courtesy of Shasta Pena
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IGNACIO Justa Whitt entered the gymnasium at Ignacio High
School to take an extraordinary team photo back in December. What
she saw sent chills down her spine.
Each coach and player on the girls varsity basketball team had
a red or black handprint painted over their mouths that extended
to their cheekbones. They lined up in their uniforms with a basketball
in hand, put on a stoic expression and posed.
The reason behind the photograph was to show solidarity for the
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement, which marked the
beginning of a season-long effort for the Bobcats. Whitt said 80%
of the players on the team are Southern Ute tribal members, or of
tribal descent, and she believes Saturday will help shed more light
upon the issue.
Ignacio (7-5, 5-0 2A/1A San Juan Basin League) will host Nucla
(3-10, 2-3 SJBL) at 2 p.m. Saturday at the SunUte Community Center
in a game to honor the women that have gone missing or murdered.
There will be pregame festivities before tipoff, including a drum
circle, an opening prayer and a speech by Southern Ute tribal Chairwoman
Christine Sage. Fans are encouraged to wear red.
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The
Ignacio High School girls basketball team did a team photo
shoot in December to honor the Missing and Murdered Indigenous
Women movement. Ignacio will host Nucla on Saturday at the
SunUte Recreation Center and all proceeds will go to Voices
of Our Sisters, an organization that brings education and
awareness to the issue. Courtesy of Shasta Pena
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The red handprint, which has been used by Native American athletes
from the Pacific
Northwest to the Dakotas,
is multi-faceted. In Native American culture, red is the only color
that spirits can see. By painting it over their mouths, it gives
a voice to those who are gone, as well as to the athletes.
Proceeds from Saturday's ticket sales and concessions will go to
Voices of Our Sisters, a grassroots organization that is bringing
awareness and education through artistic movement. Whitt, who is
part of the organization, said she wanted to bring an uncomfortable
conversation to the forefront.
"We want to have the continued exposure with our girls, playing
through the end of season," Whitt said. "Maybe we can carry this
with us as we go deep into the season to help bring awareness to
the entire state, not just our little corner. That's the main thing,
to make sure that all of these young girls are aware that this stuff
is going on, and not to be blind to the fact that this is a real
problem. They need to be aware of their surroundings, who they are
with and who they may put themselves in company with, whether that
may be good or bad."
According
to a November 2018 report from the Urban Indian Health Institute,
5,712 cases of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls were
reported in 2016, but only 116 were entered into the U.S. Department
of Justice database. Colorado did not provide statistics, but the
Southwest had the highest number of reported cases with 157. With
78 cases, New Mexico had the most cases of missing and murdered
women, while Arizona was third with 54. Albuquerque was the second-largest
urban area in the data that featured 18 cases. Gallup, New Mexico,
had the highest number of cases that were not on law enforcement
record with 20, while Farmington had nine.
The crisis has personally impacted the team. Senior captain Makayla
Howell had an aunt that was murdered when she was little. The case
was never solved. Senior Helaina Taylor had an aunt go missing in
Oklahoma. Whitt also is a domestic violence survivor. She suffered
from verbal abuse many years ago. With tragedy striking so close
to home, Howell said joining the movement now was more important
than ever, and she hopes the game will spark the Southern Ute Tribe
to take a more active role in the issue.
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Varsity
sophomore guard Monika Lucero ensures a poster will stick
as the Ignacio girls basketball team decorates SunUte Community
Center Wednesday afternoon in advance of Saturday's game versus
Nucla. Joel Priest/For The Durango Herald
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"To me, it means a lot because we all grew up on the rez," Howell
said. "Not all of us are Native, of course, but it's a really big
cause to us because you see women getting taken everyday and going
missing. You see these cases not being closed because we can't figure
out what's going on, and that just makes it 10 times harder. ...
It's one of those things where it's so close to home that you don't
think it's going to happen to you until it does."
Whitt said she approached school officials at the beginning of
the season about the idea and received support. Her task then was
finding the right outlet to connect with the entire student body.
"There were a few kids that kind of had some objections when they
first saw pictures of this floating around, and I think it was lack
of understanding of what we are trying to do," Whitt said. "We're
not trying to promote a picture on a wall here. We're promoting
what the real problem is and that's the missing and murdered women.
That's where the handprint comes into play, and even though not
every person on the team is of tribal descent, they are still part
of the team and are still part of the support that we are giving
to this."
In preparation for Saturday's game, the team put up a collage at
the beginning of the year across from the entrance to the gym with
articles, statistics and a sign that read: "NO MORE STOLEN SISTERS."
They also decorated the Community Center on Wednesday and put up
posters of women who are still missing.
Sophomore guard Monika Lucero said the phrase has stuck with her.
She said it rings true for all women, not just Native Americans.
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Varsity
junior guard Ebonee Gomez tapes up a missing person notification
as the Ignacio girls basketball team decorates the SunUte
Community Center Wednesday afternoon in advance of Saturday's
game versus Nucla. Joel Priest/For The Durango Herald
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"That phrase means that everyone came from the same person," she
said. "We are all sisters and everyone is included, and it means
that we don't want anyone to go missing anymore. We don't want to
be taken, we don't want to be murdered. Nobody wants that to happen.
I'm hoping that people will start recognizing that we are putting
it out there and that it will help us and our community show that
we are aware and we are here to help if anything happens, especially
if a family member goes missing. There are people that you can contact
and talk about it."
Daisy Bluestar, founder of Voices of Our Sisters, said the game
is one of the cornerstone events of the year for the organization
and will provide a platform for other events supporting the movement.
She said getting the word around the community has sparked other
activists to play a larger role moving forward.
"I think we opened a whole new door that even we didn't expect,"
Bluestar said. "The artistic part of the movement paved ways for
other ideas. We have formed partnerships in Towaoc, Durango, and
are looking to keep the message moving forward. It's a work in progress,
but we've began to make a powerful statement, and I would want our
follow-through after Saturday to be just as effective."
The group plans a children's pow-wow in April to bring awareness
to the issue. It will all lead up to May 5, the National Day of
Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native American Women.
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