RAPID CITY, S.D.(KOTA)- On Thursday afternoon, about two dozen activists and allies gathered at the Journey Museum on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Awareness Day.

Attendees met, performed a Round Dance, and heard the voices of women like Sharon Brings Plenty, a woman who lost her daughter, Tessa, in late 2020.
Brings Plenty describes the event as a “form of healing.”

Brings Plenty shared her memory of Tessa.

Lily Mendoza, leader of the Red Ribbon Skirt Society, which organized the event, encourages direct interaction in native communities.

Mendoza encouraged people to keep both missing indigenous peoples and their families in prayer.

The sound of indigenous song is always distinct.

This was the song played as members of the Red Ribbon Skirt Society and their allies danced to Thursday, along with intra-tribal and Sun Dance songs.

For those outside the indigenous community, cultural items like the Round Dance can be intimidating subjects to approach respectfully.

However, Darla Black, an indigenous advocate, specifically describes it as a social dance.

Attendees of the MMIW Day of Awareness yesterday, regardless of race, were invited to join in the Round Dance.

Black shared her message to those currently outside the orbit of MMIW activism.

Round Dances were held nationwide yesterday in memory of missing and murdered indigenous peoples.