Natives and allies gathered in front of the Big Horn County Courthouse to remember the fathers, mothers, daughters, brothers, and sisters whose deaths have gone uninvestigated and unsolved.
Right outside of the courthouse where a group of indigenous people came together for a call to action of the sheriff's department and the federal government to support native lives and ask for justice for missing and murdered indigenous people.
The rally in front of the courthouse was organized by members of Kaysera Stops Pretty Places family.
Stops Pretty places went missing on august 24, 2019 and her body was found four days later.
The Montana State Medical Examiner's office returned an undetermined cause of death to the county after an autopsy, but her family continues to cry out for justice to anyone who will listen.
“Image if your daughter was murdered and law enforcement wouldn’t even talk to you for a full month – finally they agreed to tell you the family – but basically, they told the family they would not be investigating and they have ruled her death natural causes even though it's pretty clear she died under very suspicious circumstances. Say Mary Kathryn Nagle, attorney of Stops Pretty Places.
Other women at the rally i spoke to, say they're still picking up the pieces after losing loved ones…
Kinsley Walksalong, of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation says, “my niece and my other women folk we are already targeted and that’s why like I feel like this is my first time doing any interview. I've been kind of more behind the scenes, but that fear, if I have to stand here and use my voice to seek justice, then so be it.
“It's hard, it's really hard, I think about him every day. I can't buy all his favorite foods, I can't cook them; I haven't been able to cook or sleep or eat it's really hard. Somethings I kind of forget myself and I have to catch myself to be stronger to move forward.” says Rachel Williamson of Crow Agency
Right now, there are almost 50 missing indigenous people in Montana, 22 of which have been missing for more than a year. Today indigenous people across the nation are demanding not only justice, but to be seen and heard.
