Indigenous civic and spiritual leaders hold public memorial for Renee Macklin Good
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Indigenous civic and spiritual leaders held a public memorial for Renee Macklin Good in Minneapolis on Saturday, exactly one month after a federal agent shot and killed her.
The event was titled “Wokiksuye” — a Dakota and Lakota word meaning “to remember” or “to call someone back into presence,” according to an event handout.
Gaby Strong, vice president of the NDN Collective, said her grandmothers were the first witnesses and survivors of state violence.
“This is a generational burden that we carry, and we're seeing that burden again today,” she said, adding that Good was “the example of what it means to be a good relative, to be a good neighbor, to stand up for people beside you.”
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An organizer estimates over 5,000 people attended the memorial at Powderhorn Park. Good’s family was also present.
In introductory remarks, Nick Tilsen, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, said organizers wanted Good’s family and the public to grieve together with the medicine of ceremony.
“Us grieving in a public way and doing this from our hearts is, in fact, an act of resistance itself,” said Tilsen.
Chief Arvol Looking Horse, a spiritual leader and keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe and Bundle, led the ceremony. It included a reading of names of people killed by federal immigration enforcement across the country.
While attendees mourned the deaths, many also found solace in gathering.
“Events like this really, really give me hope,” said Kristine Dubey, a St. Paul resident. “It brings out the good in people. You realize you're part of a community, and community is worth celebrating.”
Brianca Smith, a Minneapolis therapist, attended with her friends. She still feels “pretty raw” a month after Good’s death, but said it was healing to be among others.
“If we don't stick together, we will fall,” said Smith. “So I think that this is a really important thing, that we all come together.”
Other Minneapolis community leaders and artists later took the stage, including poet Junauda Petrus and a group with In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre.
Renee Good’s sister, Annie Ganger, also spoke.
“We who don't live in this area of Minnesota see this powerful work that you're doing, despite the pushback, and it encourages us to dive into our own communities,” said Ganger.
“We are so proud of how you show up for each other. My family is so grateful for you. Thank you for being my sister's home.”
