At the annual parade, Native Americans demand action against violence and the trafficking of indigenous women

People participate in the 3rd annual National Indigenous Peoples of the Americas Parade in New York, USA on October 19, 2024. (Photo/Xinhua)

Indigenous Americans pushed for efforts to end long-standing violence and sex trafficking of Indigenous women during the 3rd annual National Indigenous Peoples of the Americas parade in New York on Saturday.

“We are still missing and we are still not reported missing,” Junise Golden Feather Bliss, a member of the Seaconke Wampanoag tribe, told Xinhua at the parade, which was attended by Indians from over ten tribes of the United States, Canada and Central and South America.

In the United States, 40 percent of women who are victims of sex trafficking are identified as Native, and Native women are consistently victims of violence, with 96 percent of cases going unreported, Bliss said.

“We are here to spread awareness about the ‘Red Hand Movement’ that is spreading across the Indian country. … Too many of our women have been missing, missing and murdered since historic times,” Bliss said.

A group of participants held a banner that read “No More Stolen Sisters” and “Healing Prayers.” Bliss said a healing prayer was held in the hope that the next generations could find the clan mothers, traditional elders and resources.

In addition to allocating resources, attention also needs to be paid to policy and data collection to address the problem, she said.

Organized by the Lenape Indians, the half-day parade marched through traditional Lenape hunting grounds from Madison Square Park to Union Square on Broadway. Indigenous Americans performed their costumes, music, dances and stories.

“We honor all the indigenous people of the world. … Anyone who has experienced genocide, anyone who has been crushed by another culture,” said Carla Alexander, chief of the Deer Clan of the Ramapough Lenape Nation.

“We are trying to improve all cultures so that everyone can get along in love and peace,” Alexander said.

Atsila Firebird Graywolf noted that New York City has thousands of native people living on Indian reservations. “People don’t think Native Americans still exist, or we don’t celebrate,” Graywolf said.

“The parade gives us an opportunity to show off our beauty and show that we are still here,” Graywolf added.

A group of Native Americans chanted “We are still here” during the parade. The words were also printed on some participants’ T-shirts.