Photos: Calling back the missing
A photographer captures Indigenous women on different tribal lands to honor murdered and missing Indigenous women.
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Michela Fay Alire (Ute Mountain Tribe) displays her ribbon skirt, which details the story of the murder of Eleanor Laney Ewenin, a 23 year-old Tsuut'ina First Nation woman, on the outskirts of Calgary, Alberta, Feb. 4, 1982. Taken at Sleeping Ute Mountain, on Oct. 31, 2020.
Curtis Ray Benally, Searchlight New Mexico -
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women awareness campaign participants Madeline Lamb (Muscogee Creek & Mojave), Kia Whiteskunk (Ute Mountain Tribe), Maryann Bullhead (Diné & Lakota), Belinda Running Wolf-Metteba (Cheyenne River Sioux), Michela Fay Alire (Ute Mountain Tribe), Gracious Jacket (Ute Mountain Tribe), Kirsten Langmade (Organized Village of Kwethluk/Yup’ik Alaska Native), Cindy Littlefeather (Diné) and Shasta Hampton (White Mountain Apache) at Sleeping Ute Mountain, Towac, Colorado, on Nov. 7, 2020.
Curtis Ray Benally, Searchlight New Mexico -
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women awareness campaign participants Shirleen Phillips-Benally (Navajo) and Shantana Varela (Navajo & Mexican) at Dinétah Main Panel, Crow Canyon, New Mexico, on Nov. 8, 2020.
Curtis Ray Benally, Searchlight New Mexico -
Navajo female veterans, from left: Tasha Soce-Cloyd (U.S. Marine Corps), Katera Kellywood (U.S. Army), Clarissa Wisnoski (U.S. Navy), Glendora Guillen (U.S. Navy active duty) and Dawn D. Lewis (U.S. Navy veteran) stand in prayer behind Irene Shorthair and Marietta Barber holding the vinyl banner for their missing sister Cecelia Barber Finona on Nov. 14, 2020. Cecelia was last seen here at her residence in Farmington, New Mexico, in May 2019.
Curtis Ray Benally, Searchlight New Mexico -
Amara Cervantes, Tunte Baca, Paisley Pike, Pearl Pike, Ember Cervantes, Samantha Kazhe, Alyn Kirgan, Angel Blake and Ramona Fossum at White Sands National Park on November 20, 2020.
Curtis Ray Benally, Searchlight New Mexico -
Amara Cervantes, Tunte Baca, Ramona Fossum, Ember Cervantes, Alyn Kirgan, Pearl Pike, Samantha Kazhe and Angel Blake at White Sands National Park on Nov. 20, 2020.
Curtis Ray Benally, Searchlight New Mexico -
Ariana R. Young, Katalina Kellywood, Constance Torres, Rose Therese Benally, Natalia Hobson, Marjorie A. Benally, Deloria Rose Benally, Gloria Hosteen, Aliana R. Begaii, Destenie J. Nakai, Ashley Tsosie, Kaylyn Bunion, Racquel Bunion, Arianna Yazzie and Katrina Tsosie at Tsé-Bi-Taí (Rock with Wings), Shiprock, New Mexico, on Nov. 21, 2020.
Curtis Ray Benally, Searchlight New Mexico -
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women photo campaign participants paused in a moment of silence in the memory of Ashlynne Mike, an 11-year-old Navajo girl killed on May 2, 2016, near the Shiprock pinnacle. Taken on Nov. 21, 2020. Left side: Aliana R. Begaii and Kaylyn Bunion. Right side, front row, from left: Constance Torres, Rose Therese Benally, Destenie J. Nakai, Ashley Tsosie and Natalia Hobson. Back row, from left: Racquel Bunion, Ariana R. Young, Katrina Tsosie, Gloria Hosteen, Deloria Rose Benally, Arianna Yazzie, Katalina Kellywood and Marjorie A. Benally.
Curtis Ray Benally, Searchlight New Mexico -
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women photo shoot session north of Shiprock, New Mexico, on Nov. 22, 2020: Verna Howe, Wendy Toledo, Jo Ann Draper, Leonina Washee, Leonona Cowboy, Laurinda Warren, Sylvia Clifford, Phyllis ByJoe, Karri Kellywood and Varlena Castiana.
Curtis Ray Benally, Searchlight New Mexico