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Native women shaping the future: the true champions of the people
Image created using Canva - seagames50/urbazon Getty Images
The 2022 People’s Choice Awards People’s Champion Award truly went “to the people.” The People’s Champion Award, like the other People’s Choice awards recognize people in entertainment and are awarded based on votes by the general public and fans. The awardee, musician Lizzo, came on stage telling the audience that she didn’t even know if she wanted to accept the award. Instead of declining the award, Lizzo called 17 activists to the stage, highlighting their achievements and why they are champions, including one Native woman making strides in the Indigenous community – Crystal Echo Hawk.
“To be an icon isn’t about how long you’ve had your platform. Being an icon is what you do with that platform. Ever since the beginning of my career I’ve used my platform to amplify marginalized voices. Tonight, I’m sharing this honor.”
— Lizzo (Melissa Viviane Jefferson)
The 17 activists honored on stage include a range of ethnicities and causes – with each one having a profound impact on their communities. The honorees included Mari Copeny, Shirley Raines, Yasmine Aker, Emiliana Guereca, Esther Young Lim, Felicia “Fe” Montes, Jayla Rose Sullivan, Kara Roselle Smith, Maggie Mireles Thomas, Amelia Bonow, Odilia Romero, Tarlan Rabizadeh, Sahar Pirzada, Chandi Moore, Crystal Echo Hawk, Reshma Saujani, and Tamika Palmer.
After introducing each honoree and their impact – Lizzo concluded her speech with “Give them their flowers!”
Not only is Crystal Echo Hawk leading the charge on changing history for Native peoples, but other women also join her on the frontline.
Crystal Echo Hawk
Crystal Echo Hawk is a member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma and the Founder, President and CEO of IllumiNative, a Native woman-led racial and social justice organization dedicated to increasing the visibility and challenging narrative of/about Native peoples.
IllumiNative was founded in 2018 to elevate the findings of the Reclaiming Native Truth, RNT, project. RNT is the largest public opinion research and strategy-setting project by, for, and about Native peoples. RNT identified that, as a result of the profound erasure of Native culture, 78% of Americans know little to nothing about Native peoples. illumiNative is on a mission to disrupt and interrupt the erasure of Native peoples and the systemic racism still faced today.
SaNoah LaRocque and Rachel Evangelisto
A recent ICT story covered how Indigenous contestants recently vied for the Miss America and Miss USA crowns. These two indigenous women will join the dozens of Indigenous women in history who have competed in these competitions in past decades – including Norma Smallwood, member of the Cherokee nation, the first Native woman to win the title of Miss America 1926.
Miss North Dakota, SaNoah LaRocque, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, stepped into the spotlight at the Miss USA pageant held on October 3. Although LaRocque didn’t win, she was the third runner-up in 2021 and the first runner-up in 2020. She is also a recent graduate of Harvard College, where she studied Evolutionary Biology with a secondary degree in Psychology.
Rachel Evangelisto, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux, competed in the Miss America 2023 pageant held December 15, 2023, at the Mohegan Sun, owned and operated by the Mohegan Tribe in Connecticut. Although she did not take home the title, she has the honor of being the first Indigenous women to be crowned Miss Minnesota. Evangelisto said that her two main goals during the Miss America 2023 pageant were to have fun and make Turtle Island proud.
“It’s with immense gratitude that I get to shine a light on Indian Country as a whole and I really just want make my people proud.”
-rachel evangelisto
Sarah Deer
Sarah Deer, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma, and a distinguished professor at the University of Kansas is no stranger to headlines. Most recently, she is quoted in numerous publications concerning the Indian Child Welfare Act, ICWA, which reached the Supreme Court – Haaland v. Brackeen.
Deer’s work to end violence against Native women has received national awards, including the American Bar Association and the Department of Justice. She has testified before Congress on four occasions concerning violence against Native women, earning her an appointment as the chair of a federal advisory committee on sexual violence in Indian country by Attorney General Eric Holder. Deer was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 2014 and was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2019.
“Most opposition to the ICWA focuses largely on the flawed assumption that Native people are strictly a racial category, rather than citizens of independent sovereign governments.” – Sarah Deer
Winona LaDuke
Winona LaDuke is a Native American activist, economist, author, and Ojibwe enrolled member of the Mississippi Band of Anishinaabeg and lives on the White Earth reservation in Minnesota. She has devoted her life to advocating for Indigenous control of homelands, natural resources, and cultural practices. Using a combined economic and environmental approach, LaDuke strives to create a thriving and sustainable community for her White Earth reservation, along with other Indigenous populations nationwide.
LaDuke is the Program Director of Honor the Earth and works nationally and internationally on the issues of climate change, renewable energy, and environmental justice in Indigenous communities. She is a two-time vice-presidential candidate with Ralph Nader for the Green Party. LaDuke was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2007, recognizing her leadership and community involvement.
Madonna Thunder Hawk
“First of all, you don’t need anyone’s permission to stand up for something, no matter what it is.”
– Madonna Thunder Hawk, image courtesy of Dawn DeCora
Madonna Thunder Hawk, a Lakota from the Cheyenne River Sioux, may be from the Silent Generation, but she is anything but silent. Her name is synonymous with the American Indian Civil Rights movement and is an early leader in the American Indian Movement, AIM. Thunder Hawk spent most of her early protesting years on the front line of the issues and standing up for treaty rights and Native American injustices.
Joye Braun
The late Joye Braun is known as a “firestorm.” A member of the Cheyenne River Sioux in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, she died in her home on November 13, 2022. She is described as “the epitome of a Modern Day Warrier by Kandi White, the Indigenous Environmental Network’s program director. Braun worked for the Indigenous Environmental Network as the National Pipeline organizer and represented the organization in The People v. Fossil Fuels Coalition, pressuring the federal government to declare a climate emergency.
Braun’s history of community activism includes the fight against Keystone XL, the project resurrected at the same time DAPL was renewed and continues to threaten Braun’s homeland. She was also known for her stand against fracking, Uranium, and gold mining – fighting to protect the Sacred Black Hills. In her efforts to raise awareness and fight injustices, she traveled throughout the northern plains and spoke at Indigenous gatherings across the country and Canada, speaking about the negative impacts the extractive economy has on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Jodi Rave Spotted Bear
Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder-director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance and member of the MHA Nation. Her publication, Buffalo’s Fire, an independent digital news site, is the first Native American news site to become a member of The Trust Project. Spotted Bear is reporting news across Indian Country that others are reticent to share – informing the community of the issues that are impacting them. She is passionate about reporting on the MHA Nation, Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, and surrounding communities.
Spotted Bear is an award-winning journalist and opinion writer, with recognition and awards that arise from mainstream, military, university journalism programs, and the Native American Journalists Association. She was recently appointed to the Society of Professional Journalists Board of Directors for 2022-2023 and is at the helm of the Freedom of Information committee, where she hopes to expand the committee’s reach to Indigenous communities.
References:
Daniela Avila, People Magazine, December 6, 2022, “Lizzo's Mom Presents People's Champion Award to Her at People's Choice Awards: 'So Proud of Her',” https://people.com/music/peoples-choice-awards-2022-lizzo-receives-peoples-champion-award/
NDN Collective, NDN Board of Directors, Crystal Echo Hawk, https://ndncollective.org/people/crystal-echo-hawk/
IllumiNative, About Illuminative, https://illuminative.org/about-illuminative/
Dan Ninham, ICT, September 29, 2022, “Indigenous contestants vie for Miss America, Miss USA,” https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/indigenous-contestants-vie-for-miss-america-miss-usa
ICT, The Wrap, December 14, 2022, “The Wrap: Indigenous candidate begins Miss America competition,” https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/the-wrap-indigenous-candidate-begins-miss-america-competition
Pageant Update, Profiles, “SaNoah LaRocque,” https://www.pageantupdate.info/miss-north-dakota-usa-2022-profile.html
The University of Kansas, School of Law, “Sarah Deer,” https://law.ku.edu/people/sarah-deer
Sara Marcum, Buffalo’s Fire, November 10, 2022, “The Future of the ICWA to be Determined as SCOTUS Begins Hearing Arguments in Haaland v. Brackeen,” https://www.buffalosfire.com/the-future-of-the-icwa-to-be-determined-as-scotus-begins-hearing-arguments-in-haaland-v-brackeen/
Mary Annette Pember, ICT, November 7, 2022, “Supreme Court takes up the Indian Child Welfare Act,” https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/supreme-court-takes-up-the-indian-child-welfare-act
Humans Nature, “Winona LaDuke,” https://humansandnature.org/winona-laduke/
National Women’s History Museum, Mariana Brandman, “Winona LaDuke,” https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/winona-laduke
Women’s eNews, Indigenous Women Speak Out, Mary Kim Titla, “Indigenous Women Leaders Podcast: An Interview with Lakota Elder Madonna Thunder Hawk,” January 20, 2022, https://womensenews.org/2022/01/indigenous-women-leaders-podcast-an-interview-with-lakota-elder-madonna-thunder-hawk/
ICT, Kolby KickingWoman, “Joye Braun, the firestorm, dies at 53,” November 23, 2022, https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/joye-braun-the-firestorm-dies-at-53
Pipeline Fighters Hub, Expert, “Joye Braun Wanbli Wiyan Ka’win,” https://pipelinefighters.org/expert/joye-braun-wanbli-wiyan-kawin/
Buffalo’s Fire, Sara Marcum, “IMFA executive director named to SPJ Board of Directors for 2022-2023,” December 15, 2022, https://www.buffalosfire.com/imfa-executive-director-named-to-spj-board-of-directors-for-2022-2023/
Buffalo’s Fire, Staff, Jodi Rave Spotted Bear, https://www.buffalosfire.com/staff/