‘Town Crier’ – Briefs From the Region (2) – 10/10/19

Pep rally takes alleged jab at Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement

On Oct. 4, a Valier High School pep rally allegedly went to far, according to Native American rights advocates and officials of the Heart Butte High School located on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. A video from the Valier pep rally, held in preparation for a volleyball game against the Heart Butte Warriors, surfaced depicting a girl wearing a red skirt lying on the ground. The red skirt is a “well-known symbol of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman movement, according the KTVQ. “I just couldn’t believe what I saw, especially when I viewed it and I saw the girl with the red skirt, the one that was being murdered,” said Nichole Aimsback, a Heart Butte school board member. “And MMIW, there were all kinds of things going on about that this past weekend and it just totally shocked me.” The game was subsequently canceled, and many questioned Valier High School officials’ inability to recognize racial overtones.