(April, 2025) The Oneida Indian Nation’s Shako:wi Cultural Center is once again participating in the Seven Dancer Coalition’s MMIW Ribbon Skirt Exchange. The MMIW movement is shining a light on the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada and the United States.

Several Nation Members created beautiful hand-crafted ribbon skirts to be exchanged with other participating Indigenous communities for display in their respective locations. The seven ribbon skirts received by Shako:wi will be on display at the Shako:wi Cultural Center Spring Craft Festival on Saturday, May 10.

Oneida Indian Nation Members Doris Wilkins-Wilt (Wolf Clan), Brittany Ninham (Turtle Clan), Karen Pierce (Turtle Clan) and Nichola Diaz (Turtle Clan), along with MJ Schenandoah, spent several weeks crafting a total of seven skirts to be exchanged with the other communities in an effort to help bring awareness to this issue that has affected so many.

“Making a skirt in general gives me a good mind. Making a skirt to honor and remember someone is a different kind of feeling, it pulls at my heart strings,” said Doris, who recently moved into a new position as Cultural Programs Coordinator at Shako:wi. “I made three skirts again this year. Each one I made I put positive thoughts in my mind that when the receiver gets these skirts, they are going to feel the positive vibes and peace and unity and love that I thought of while I was making each of them. Every ribbon was placed with a prayer that no more of my sisters will go missing.”

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), within the U.S. Department of the Interior, estimates there are some 4,200 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous and Native people that are unsolved. Most of those missing are female. Historically, American Indian and Alaska Native communities have struggled with high rates of assault, abduction and even murder. As part of a history of government policies of illegal land transactions, forced removal and violence against Native peoples, these unsolved cases have left a legacy felt across Indian Country.

“I have a friend whose sister never made it back home to Tyendanaga Reserve in the early nineties,” continued Doris. “I’ve seen the heartbreak of MMIW. No family should have to endure those feelings. But it is an honor to take part of this awareness. My hopes are that one day MMIW will be of the past and no more of my sisters or brothers go missing again.”

The Shako:wi Cultural Center Spring Festival will run from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, May 10. The center is located at 5 Territory Road in Oneida. The event will feature Oneida and other American Indian crafters as well as Haudenosaunee social dance sessions at 11 am and 1 pm, bringing together talented dancers of all ages for the entertaining traditional dance. The family-friendly event is free to attend.

For more information, contact the Shako:wi Cultural Center at 315-829-8801.