My name is Chayla Jewel R.  I am from the Flathead Reservation in Montana. I am 17 and a junior at Williston high school. Today I wore something very meaningful, something powerful and I needed to share. I wore paint on my face and my arms, the paint represented the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).

I had a red hand mark a crossed my mouth to represent that many Native Americans don’t have much say in what goes on, I wore black paint that ran down my cheeks to represent my pain and my tears, and I had written in red “No more stolen sisters” on my arms to say that every woman who has been kidnapped and murdered are sisters.

The reason why I wore this on Indigenous Peoples Day or Columbus Day as many say, was to bring awareness to this movement that hits so close to home for me and my family. On June 16, 2018, my sister (biological cousin) Jermain Charlo went missing; no one had a clue of where she was and why someone would steal her. It hurts to think of it; it’s hard to face it because it happened and some days we are helpless, we are angry, sad, and frustrated. Our pain is overwhelming.

When I wore my paint and my bead work on that Monday, I was stared at with strange faces and some curious faces. I was afraid of what might happened if someone didn’t agree with my representation; I was afraid of the stares but that’s why I did it, for people to stare, for people to notice this large issue at hand. I’m proud to have done it because people did ask questions and because of that I made people care about it. This issue has been around for more than a 100 years but it’s finally getting recognition after one too many women, girls and children have been stolen from their homes. I hope that I made a difference for people to understand.