Red Lake Nation vigil mourns children lost, amid questions about child welfare program
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Dozens of people gathered Monday evening on the Red Lake Nation for a candlelight vigil to remember several children who have died in recent years while in the care or supervision of the tribe’s child welfare program.
The vigil at the Red Lake Nation Boys and Girls Club, north of Bemidji, was the first public event to honor those children since Red Lake Nation members learned in detail why the federal government took over the tribe’s child welfare program last month.
A document released by the federal government last week alleged some of the deaths were due in part to a pattern of inaction on the part of the program’s leaders.
Thomas Barrett, the Boys and Girls Club’s chief executive and the Little Rock district representative on the Red Lake Nation Tribal Council, hosted the vigil. He said he was asked to organize the event by fellow community members, and said he felt like it was a place where Red Lake Nation members could channel their grief.
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“By feeling all of the feelings that this is creating, we’re honoring everybody we’ve lost, because only feeling that great pain is what’s going to make us realize that we have to improve,” Barrett said. “We have to be there for our children in a much better way, and I think it’s going to make us all take a really good look at ourselves too, and that’s necessary.”
The Bureau of Indian Affairs took control of Ombimindwaa Gidinawemaaganinaadog, the tribe’s child welfare program, on Sept. 10. The 11-page document released last week alleged that children in the program were “neglected, abused, and malnourished,” and also alleged that program officials refused to cooperate with federal investigators.
The Red Lake Nation Boys and Girls Club is a hub for Red Lake Nation youth. Barrett said more than 100 kids have come through its doors every day since the school year started. On Monday afternoon, about 75 school-age kids bustled around over an after-school snack, noisy and playful. That cheerfulness gave way to a more solemn scene an hour or so later.
People gathered for the vigil outside the center, where small candles were handed out. The crowd included families whose children attend programs at the center. After a prayer, three young men with hand drums sang a pair of honor songs.
Among the mourners was Dan King, president of Red Lake Nation College and one of Red Lake Nation’s seven hereditary chiefs.
“Our tribe has an indomitable will, and we will come through this,” King said. “So, I think it’s important for us to come together and to acknowledge what happened and to start to work to make sure that something like this never ever happens again.”
A symbolic step along a healing journey
The youth singers and a dozen members of the Red Lake Nation Youth Council led mourners on a half-mile smudge walk. The walk is modeled after spirit runs that the youth council has hosted, most recently for the Labor Day powwow. The singers led the way as the youth council carried a smudge bowl of burning medicinal sage. Each step is thought of as a symbolic step along a healing journey.
AriYunah Strong, a youth council member, said she had been feeling down before the vigil. Being together, she said, made her feel “ten times better.”
She said she believes her community won’t be defined by its most difficult moments.
Kat Kelly, another youth council member, said the vigil was “a good opportunity to get together,” not only for the council, “but the community and people who want better for the kids and for the community.”
Repeatedly, youth and adults at Monday’s vigil called for the community to support one another. Red Lake Nation Secretary Robert May joined the walk.
“As Anishinaabeg people, we’ve always placed our children above everything else,” May said. “So that’s what we’re doing here today, is to honor our children: those who have passed on, those who are still here with us, and those that’ll be here in the future.”
People at the vigil said Monday’s gathering was a first step in what they believe is a much longer journey toward healing.
On Tuesday evening, Red Lake Nation members will have an opportunity to question elected leaders about the child welfare program at a community-wide meeting, held at the Oshkiimaajitahdah Event Center in Redby.
