Remembering Cole Brings Plenty

Indigenous people continue to honor the Mniconju actor and call for justice

When actress Lily Gladstone made their debut at the Met Gala on May 6, she chose to use her spotlight to honor Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, specifically fellow actor Cole Brings Plenty.

“It’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s week and I’m wearing braids in my hair for Cole Brings Plenty who passed away recently. He should have graduated from Haskell last week,” Gladstone said in a red carpet-interview. “Braids for Cole.”

When Gladstone graced the red carpet, the Siksikaitsitapii and Nimíipuu actress donned two long black braids in honor of Brings Plenty, whose hair was reportedly cut before he was found dead on April 5.

“Our pȟehíŋ, our hair, is so sacred,” said Candi Brings Plenty, Cole’s cousin. “It’s how we’re connected to our ancestors and to the Spirit. The fact that they cut his hair, essentially, is beyond what in colonial terms is a hate crime. It severed his connection to the ancestors.”

Brings Plenty, a Mniconju Lakota actor from the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota, was most well known for his role as Pete Plenty Clouds in the “Yellowstone” prequel series “1923.” He had also been featured in “Into the Wild Frontier” and “The Tall Tales of Jim Bridger.”

Four days after being reported missing on April 1, Brings Plenty was found dead in a wooded area of Johnson County, Kansas. Brings Plenty was found about 40 minutes from Haskell Indian Nations University where the 27-year-old was a student.

“You can look at any other Indigenous culture and their hair has a big role in our connection to who we are,” said Candi Brings Plenty. “In our Brings Plenty family, our tradition is only your mother or sisters can touch your hair until you’re married, then only your wife can touch your hair.”

A month before the gala, Indigenous people and allies across North America wore their hair in two braids on April 8 in honor of Cole Brings Plenty, and more than 32 different cities held vigils for him simultaneously.

In Riverton, Wyoming, advocates from Wind River MMIP joined in on the nationwide vigil services on April 14 at 4 p.m. Mountain Time.

“It’s not just about the vigil itself or how many people came, it’s about the power of the prayer,” said Wind River MMIP founder and Chairperson Nicole Wagon.

The Northern Arapahoe woman lost two of her daughters, Jocelyn Watt and Jade Wagon, to the MMIP Crisis, prompting her to create Wind River MMIP in 2019.

“We had already been discussing a vigil for everyone we’ve lost here so when we heard the call for a vigil for Cole it worked,” Wagon said. “Because we’re obligated to do that, we’re obligated to reach out and show that you’re not alone in this. We have to make it safe for our little ones and the ones to come.”

The Brave Little Drummers and singers sang and a prayer was said in honor of Brings Plenty.

“We felt like we needed to do this,” said Corrine Tuma, Navajo and a Medicine Wheel Rider who participated in the Riverton vigil. “It’s about the support, there may not have been a lot of us but we prayed for justice. We prayed to show the family they’re not alone and we stand by you. We stand by the Brings Plenty family.”

For many Indigenous people, Brings Plenty’s death hit close to home, especially in South Dakota. Brings Plenty, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, is one of thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous people. In South Dakota, where Brings Plenty was born, 60 percent of all missing people are Indigenous.

Communities gathered in Rapid City and Sioux Falls to mourn the loss of another.

“Even the community becomes a victim when we lose somebody,” said Norma Rendon, Oglala Lakota and a lifelong MMIP activist. “As Natives, we’re really close-knit, we know each other or we’re related or we’re shirt-tail related.”

Candi Brings Plenty organized the Rapid City vigil. Shirts designed by her daughter were sold to raise funds for the family and help honor Cole. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and MMIP advocacy group Red Ribbon Skirt Society both bought shirts to be given away during the vigil.

“We are Lakota, this is what we do as Lakota people,” said Cante Heart, Sicangu Lakota, during the April 14 vigil in Rapid City. “As Indigenous people, we need to support each other. There’s only a small amount of us here but we love each other and always look after each other.”

Rapid City community members gathered under the blazing sun donned in ribbon skirts, ribbon shirts and braids to listen to the family speak.

“I saw so many of my Indigenous activist friends step forward in those moments, that’s just how our culture is,” Candi Brings Plenty said. “Whenever your existing family is struggling the rest of the tiospaye circles them and holds them up. That’s what it felt like, I got to feel that. I did break down in the end because I felt my community show up in a way I never thought I’d feel.”

As of May 8, 7,766 videos were posted to TikTok using the hashtag #BraidsforCole. Within those thousands of videos are Indigenous people and allies of all ages braiding their hair in honor of the 27-year-old.

“He was such a wonderful young man,” Rendon said. “I feel that institutionalized racism is at the root of MMIP, of all of the Native people that are missing and murdered.”

Brings Plenty was an active member of his community and a caring person, his family said. He had a way of lighting up any room he walked into and could make people feel seen.

“We really miss him, he was a gift from the creator and we didn’t take him for granted,” his father Joseph Brings Plenty said in an interview with ICT and the Rapid City Journal. “He knew we loved him and we were very proud of him. He was a warrior from the spirit world for our people.”

Dateline:

RAPID CITY, S.D.