Today is the 130th anniversary of the #WoundedKneeMassacre. On December 29, 1890, the 7th Cavalry surrounded a peaceful encampment of Lakota with Hotchkiss guns and slaughtered ~300. They were mostly women and children.

Those killed at Wounded Knee were led by Mniconjou Chief Spotted Elk, who was ill. Many were followers of Hunkpapa Chief Sitting Bull who was assassinated 14 days prior. They were invited to seek refuge with Oglala Chief Red Cloud at Pine Ridge. They were hungry, tired & cold.

The soldiers weren’t satisfied with gunning down the encampment. They chased down those who escaped, including little children & their grandmothers, for miles. Some ran all the way back to the Cheyenne River Reservation, through the night in the freezing cold, with bullet wounds.

Charles Eastman, the 1st western educated Oceti Sakowin (Dakota Sioux) physician, was at Pine Ridge during the #WoundedKneeMassacre. It was right after Christmas. A banner hanging over the wounded said, ‘Peace on Earth.’ The horrors Dr. Eastman saw that day changed him forever.

Those massacred at Wounded Knee were callously thrown into a mass grave. Soldiers proudly posed for photos with their corpses. They were awarded Medals of Honor for their part in the slaughter. Those Medals have never been rescinded, despite public outcry.

News of the remains of 215 Native children being found at Kamloops is devastating, but know that this is not an isolated incident in Canada or the US. My dad was boarding school survivor. He was taken at 4 & recalled severe abuse & other children freezing to death in their bunks.

My uncle was beaten as a child in boarding school on a regular basis because he refused to give up the Dakota language.

What the Canadian & US government did to Indigenous children, aided by the church, wasn’t just depraved, immoral & unconscionable. They’re guilty of genocide.

.@NABSHC is a good account to follow to learn more about the history of Native boarding schools in the US & how we are collectively working towards healing.

Talking about boarding schools & what they did to Native children is hard because even though I wasn’t present—the indoctrination, abuse & murders that occurred there reverberated through my life. It didn’t just hurt the kids taken. It traumatized my family & entire communities.

Savanna’s Act & The Not Invisible Act become law today. These laws start to address the epidemic of missing & murdered Indigenous women. Trump is taking credit for it but their passage is the result of the tireless work of Native women & their allies, including women in Congress.

There is little data available regarding #MMIW & a problem that these laws will help fix. The data we do have is astonishing. Native women are murdered at 10X the national average & it’s the 3rd leading cause of death for Native women age 10-24. Experts say these figures are low.

The Trump administration uses #MMIW as a prop & shield while they plunder Native lands, desecrate sacred sites, forgo Tribal consultation, threaten us, disestablish Tribes & target Tribal sovereignty by attempting to give control of our homelands to states (see EPA letter to OK).

Every Native family on the Reservation knows a Native girl, woman or transperson who has gone missing or was murdered. This has gone on for decades & action on it is a long time coming but give credit where its due—with the Tribes, Native women & Congresswomen who made it happen.

Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act with provisions to help protect Native women! #VAWA4All #SavannasAct #NotInvisibleAct #MMIW