By Jason Green
Event attendees participated by painting and making bead bracelets in remembrance of Indigenous people on National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Women and Relatives on May 5.
The event was red-themed, representing the violence against Indigenous peoples, with red handprints representing an outcry from Native American communities of an epidemic of Indigenous women and girls who are missing or murdered.
Long Beach State students and the community felt the echoes from a ceremonial drum as they honored the lives of past and present Native Americans.
Audiences gathered near the CSULB Speaker’s Platform to hear speeches from Indigenous faculty and staff to kick off the event.
Tribal Cultural Collections Manager and CSULB alum Miztlayolxochitl “Miztla” Aguilera, greeted those in attendance in Indigenous languages from various communities’ she has come across, and in her native tongue, Tongva, before delving into Native American history.
“It did not start within the last 10 years. It did not start within the last 20 years. [Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women] has been happening since the arrival [of Christopher Columbus] in 1492,” Aguilera said.
Her job is helping CSULB return artifacts to Native American communities.
Cindi Alvitre is an American Indian studies lecturer and part of the Gabrieleño nation, originally known as the Tongva Nation.
She is also Aguilera’s elder, a person in the community responsible for passing on the knowledge of their tribe.
Alvitre discussed how her family has been in the United States for over 10,000 years, from Catalina Island to Santa Cruz.
Many prominent figures in her family are women, and she told stories of Indigenous women fighting back against colonization during the event.
CSULB is located on the ancestral, sacred land of many tribes including Alvitre’s, called Puvungna.
“Our presence here on this campus is a result of all of us working very hard together to assure that we have a presence, especially for our students, with the American Indian Student Council,” Alvitre said.
She represented Mother Earth Clan, which provides educational resources for women.
“One in three [Indigenous] women will experience sexual violence in their lifetime,” Eleanor Nelson, AISC President, said. “It’s very important because a lot of Native women also are kidnapped and murdered at a disproportional rate from all the other minority groups and groups of women.”
Nelson said that there are not many Indigenous students on campus, with the population only representing 0.1% of the CSULB student population.
Alvitre also noted that amongst Indigenous students on campus, Native Americans and Tongva represent a small percentage in the population.
A display of red and yellowish skirts hung on a line throughout the event and a red solidarity wall was set up for people to add to.
Some of the messages from attendees on the wall said, “Honor to Indigenous relatives” and “No more stolen sisters.”
To mourn and honor Indigenous ancestors, Jorge Lechuga and his group, Wildhorse Singers and Dancers, part of the Wildhorse Native American Association, played songs on a ceremonial drum.
“People need to understand that we’re still here,” Lechuga said. “We still have our languages, we still have our songs, we still have our dances.”
The Latine Resource Center and Women’s & Gender and Equity Center were also present at the event. The WGEC provided health resources to students.
Posters with QR codes provided information on the red handprint and the movement.
