The Warrior Women Project team has been busy with important on-the-ground work and travelling and sharing the Warrior Women film, which tells the story of Madonna Thunder Hawk, Marcella Gilbert, and their ongoing activism. We have been around the United States and the world since our last blog entry: Kentucky, California, Utah, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, the Florida Native Reel Film Festival, Indianer Innuit Film Festival (Stuttgart), Black Hills Film Festival, Wounded Knee Liberation Day, World Muse Conference, International Women’s Day, and the Films For Future Festival (Zurich). Our travels have delayed the update of the blog but not the important work of Women of All Red Nations (WARN) and Nazo.

As described by the Warrior Women Project’s founder and historian Dr. Elizabeth (Beth) A. Castle in her article, Women of All Red Nations (WARN) was founded in 1978 by Lorelei DeCora Means, Madonna Thunder Hawk, Phyllis Young, Allene “Chockie” Cottier, Lakota Harden, Agnes Williams, Janet McCloud, Pat Bellanger and many others in response to the reproductive health issues caused by uranium mining as well as the repeated commercialization of Indigenous culture. Today, WARN is still the most prominent Native American activist women’s organization.

In November 2019, Cheyenne Sioux Tribal Members Marcella Gilbert and Dawnee LeBeau got together and began discussing their concerns about the man camps and associated human trafficking and violence against women. Our December 24, 2020 blog highlighted the WARN Ride. Women of all ages rode together leading a riderless horse in memory of relatives who have been taken, hurt, stolen, disappeared, ignored and murdered as part of the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)—also referred to as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIWR). The ride served as a reminder that when man camps come to town the violence against Native relatives—especially women, girls, and 2 spirit people—increases.

These conversations surrounding the violence of environmental destruction grew into the reservation’s first women’s gathering and the creation of Nazo. In the tradition of the Native women’s leadership of WARN, these women are drawn together to protect the land and environment, and stand against violence against women, not only for the local community but for the world. Members of Nazo and other indigenous women have been hard at work drawing attention to the dangers of both the pipeline and the man camps. We want to share a brief update to catch you up since our last blog post.

In early February 2020, Joye Braun, provided an update on the KXL pipeline and the man camps: 10 man camps are planned along the route of the pipeline from Montana through South Dakota and Nebraska; 4 are in South Dakota where two large man camps will house 1,400 men and two small camps will house 600-800 men—this means thousands of men coming into the area. One of these camps is near Buffalo; another is 23 miles south of Opal; another is right outside the city limits of Phillip and will house 1,100 and 300 RV hookups; and another camp outside Colome. The camps are expected to be there for two years; 95% of the workers are men; and their average age is between 20-40 years of age. Men in these camps are often transient, contract based workers who do what they want in their free time. They have no investment in the land, the community, or its future. The police often take care of the men in the man camps rather than the Indigenous people they should be protecting.

Over the last few weeks, people all across the continent have organized demonstrations and actions to awaken the rest of Turtle Island to the interconnectedness between extraction corporations, the state and federal government, the damage being done to the environment, and the associated violence against women. You can see more in the section below about Wet'suwet'en.

On Tuesday, February 18, 2020, the South Dakota House passed a bill that revamped the state’s riot laws with criminal and civil penalties for those who promote rioting. In actuality, this law has been enacted to silence protests against the Keystone XL pipeline. The “riot boosting” bill violates constitutional rights and was passed less than a month after Keystone XL water permits for the KXL man camps were approved by the state. The government is attempting to silence the voices of those who are drawing attention to the dangers of the pipeline and man camps.

On February 23, 2020, Nazo organized a self-defense workshop by the Veterans Service Corps for over 30 tribal members. For a few years now, women who live on Cheyenne River have asked the Veteran Service Corp to provide training. Learning self-defense is the “first step in bringing together a coalition to address human trafficking on CRST.”

Jasilyn Charger shared, “As IIndigenous people, we face things differently. The community stands together. Our women stood behind our men when invaders came to our community. We wielded weapons to protect our women and our children. We bring that essence into our families and our homes. It’s connecting us into our culture and placing our power in each and trust within ourselves.”

Nazo is continuing its critical work on multiple projects, including: witness training; presentations in local schools about human trafficking; and printing educational materials about travel safety tips, posters, etc.

The group is also developing a Whistle Blower Campaign, which will advocate for the responsibility of folks to have each other’s backs and to 1) respond to a whistle by being a witness to whatever crime is happening—go outside and be visible—witness the crime, blow your whistle, etc., 2) be safe; do not engage in a crime; just witness; and 3) report it to police. Nazo is taking this on because it affects the community directly but also for the greater good of the world. Like WARN, Nazo continues the fight of Indigenous women for the land, the community, and the world!

Stay tuned here for more on the work of WARN and Nazo!