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MAY 15, 2023
7
Tribe remembers the missing and murdered
MISSING continued
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dered Indigenous people with ties
to Oregon, was held. Additionally,
informational posters and laminat-
ed cards containing phrases such as
<women are sacred= and <no more
stolen sisters= were placed nearby.
Warriors of Hope Program Man-
ager Danielle Murrell thanked the
approximately 70 people gathered
for attending.
<Thanks for coming here today to
honor and memorialize the missing
and murdered Indigenous people,=
Murrell said. <I also want to thank
the staff from the Warriors of
Hope program because these are
the people who are doing the hard
work each and every day, serving
our community, and victims and
survivors of domestic and sexual
violence.=
Tribal member Bobby Mercier
gave the opening prayer and then
he and Tribal member Travis Stew-
art performed a drum song.
May 5 has ofocially marked the
national day of awareness since
2017 when two Montana senators,
Steve Daines and Jon Tester, intro-
duced a resolution recognizing it in
response to the murder of Hanna
Harris on the Northern Cheyenne
Reservation and other abductions
and killings of Native women across
the United States, according to the
National Indigenous Women9s Re-
source Center.
Since then, there have been
events at the local, regional, na-
tional and international level to
call attention to and address the
crisis. <These efforts are as varied
as the Indian Nations where they
are being organized,= the website
states. <The silence of tolerance and
inaction is being challenged.=
Murrell said that the day brings
attention to the tragic epidemic
of disproportionally high rates
of disappearances and murders
among Native people. She shared
some sobering statistics with the
crowd.
<According to the National Insti-
tute of Justice, more than four in
ove American Indian and Alaska
Native women have experienced
sexual violence in their lifetime,=
she said. <The murder rate of Na-
tive American women living on Res-
ervations is 10 times higher than
Photos by Kamiah Koch
Former Tribal Council member Tonya Gleason-Shepek, a cousin of Heather
(Haller) Cameron, gives beaded necklaces to Tribal members Sydney Clark
and Dorene Gillespie for their support in raising awareness for Cameron9s
case during the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People recognition event
held on Friday, May 5, in the Governance Center Atrium.
the national average. American
Indian and Alaska men also have
high rates of experiencing violence
in their lifetimes.=
Murrell shared a personal story
of loss, her voice shaking with emo-
tion at times.
<In 2008, my cousin Lisa was
murdered by an alleged dating
partner and she left behind two
young children,= she said. <We don9t
think that9s going to happen here
until it does. This can happen to
anyone. This could be your moth-
er, sister, brother, cousin or any
relative you have. & You might
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hear the frustration in my voice
and the anger because we should
be angry. You should be mad. This
isn9t anything new. It9s been going
on for hundreds of years and we9re
only talking about it now, and it9s
not OK. When does it end?=
Tribal Council member Denise
Harvey talked about the need to
keep awareness alive.
<That9s how we get through this,=
Oregon
Department of
Human Services
Indian Child
Welfare Act worker
Amanda Loveless
turns to show her
red paint handprint
to her colleagues
outside the
Governance Center.
Tribal Council member Denise Harvey shares a hug with Warriors of Hope Program Manager Danielle Murrell before
speaking during the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People recognition event.
Harvey said. <Years back, this was
a pretty silent issue and nobody
really talked about it much and
nobody paid much attention to
(Native people). And it9s because of
us and the young people who have
brought it forward, making the
awareness and getting something
done so we can have the programs
that we have today to help protect
our communities from murder and
violence.=
Harvey recalled marching in a
Washington, D.C., protest in 2018
with thousands of other Indigenous
people from across the country.
<It was so powerful,= she said. <It
was freezing that day and snowing.
There9s freezing rain and still 8,000
people marched to the Capitol. We
all had our signs and our Tribal
nags and nobody really cared about
the freezing cold. We had a mission
to do. We were going to make our
voices heard and that9s what we
did.=
Former Tribal Council member
Tonya Gleason-Shepek spoke about
her cousin, Heather (Haller) Cam-
eron, who will have been missing 11
years on Aug. 18. She disappeared
from a remote area of Shasta Coun-
ty, Calif., under suspicious circum-
stances.
<Heather was 28 years old and
left behind three small children,=
Gleason said. <She had made sev-
eral 911 calls saying that a man
named Daniel Lusby (her ex-boy-
friend) had drugged her and taken
her to the mountains, and was go-
ing to kill her. Two weeks later, she
was onally reported as a missing
person by her (estranged) husband.
There were a couple of searches
done, but the only thing we were
ever able to ond was her EBT card
and we feel that area is probably
where she lost her life. We don9t
know what happened because she
has never been found. & It9s hard
for me and it9s been hard for our
whole family.=
Lusby was interviewed at least
three times by the Shasta County
Sheriff9s Ofoce and remains a per-
son of interest in the case, but has
never been arrested.
When she onished talking, Shep-
ek gifted beaded necklaces to Tribal
members Sydney Clark and Dorene
Gillespie for their support in rais-
ing awareness for Cameron9s case.
Tribal member Naomi Cardinal,
who is Cameron9s aunt, talked
about how her niece9s disappear-
ance didn9t seem to be taken seri-
ously by law enforcement or Tribal
Council at the time.
<Like Tonya, I am grateful for the
new awareness and attitude & but
we can do better,= she said.
Cardinal talked about two ban-
ners that the family created after
receiving a donation from the Tribe:
One will remain in Grand Ronde
and the other will be held during an
MMIP parade in Shasta Lake City,
near where Cameron disappeared
almost 11 years ago.
<This will help keep Heather9s
name and face in the public eye,=
she said. <We have not forgotten
Heather and somebody knows
something. We continue to pray for
answers. & Please help us bring
Heather back home.= þ