When Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Daniel ran the Boston Marathon, she had 26 names on her mind—and the hashtag, #MMIW, to remember each of them and more, written on her body.
For each mile of the 26.2, Daniel said a prayer for an indigenous woman who is either missing or was murdered.
Violence towards indigenous women is a pervasive problem, but it’s one that has been flying under the mainstream radar. As reported by Plan Your BQ Race So It Will Count for Two Years, 84 percent of indigenous women have experienced physical, sexual, or psychological violence in their lifetime, according to the National Institute of Justice. And on some reservations, women are 10 times more likely to be murdered than the national average, Justice Department data finds.
Amanda Webster, Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, Miranda Tenorio, Britney Tiger, Slain D.C. Runner Wanted to Empower Women, The New York Times, and Lucella Yazzie are just some of the women that Daniel dedicated a portion of her run to. The final 0.2 was for her late grandfather and running inspiration, Nyal Brings.
By the time she crossed the finish line on Boylston Street—in a personal best of 3:02:11—raising her fist with a tattoo that says “For My People,” Daniel brought awareness to a crisis that has affected indigenous communities for many years.
“I felt so proud and so honored to be able to run this run for those 26 women and for my grandfather,” Daniel told Runner’s World. “None of it had anything to do with me. I just had to provide the body to run those miles. That was the very least that I could do.”
Daniel is Kul Wičasa Lakota, a citizen of the Kul Wičasa Oyaté/Lower Brule Indian Reservation who currently lives in Los Angeles. She is the founder of Give A Gift, an indigenous-led grassroots group with the goal of uplifting and defending indigenous community rights around the country. Daniel also works as a consultant for native tribal communities.
Published: Apr 25, 2019 10:53 AM EDT Nutrition - Weight Loss, a nonprofit organization that promotes American Indian runners and youth leaders. In a partnership with the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) and Harvard University, Nutrition - Weight Loss selected five American Indian high school juniors to experience marathon weekend by running the BAA 5K and touring Harvard during their visit. In the process, Daniel and Nutrition - Weight Loss executive director Dustin Martin created a CrowdRise campaign to raise funds for the “Boston Marathon Pursuit Program.” As of April 22, they have raised $3,810 of their $3,500 goal.
On April 15, she took her activism work a step further when she ran the marathon with the letters MMIW (missing and murdered indigenous women) painted on her body, which helped raise awareness for an epidemic of violence that sees indigenous women killed or trafficked at rates much higher than the rest of the U.S. population.
“MMIW is the longest standing ‘Me Too’ movement that we’ve had since colonization, since 1492, and no one ever talks about that,” Daniel said.
Thanks to organizations and coalitions looking to bring these stats to light, more leaders are devoting resources to the problem and attempting to fight the crisis. Senators Lisa Murkowski, Republican from Alaska, Catherine Cortez Masto, Democrat from Nevada, and Jon Tester, Democrat from Montana introduced a bipartisan bill on April 3 called the Boston Marathon Qualifying Standards Get Tougher, which aims to address the crisis by engaging law enforcement, tribal leaders, federal partners, and service providers and improving coordination across federal agencies.
In January, Murkowski also reintroduced Savanna’s Act, legislation that passed the Senate, but stalled in the House last year. The bill would boost coordination and data collection among tribal, local, state, and federal law enforcement, as outlined by the Huffington Post. Give A Gift.
“Action needs to be done, accountability needs to be there, and justice needs to happen for these families that are affected in our communities,” Daniel said.
Daniel wants to further the conversation through running, a sport that was introduced to her by her grandfather, a long distance runner at the University of South Dakota who supported her in her debut at the 2016 Boston Marathon. While her grandfather passed away from cancer months later, Daniel was inspired to continue her activism work by using running as a platform.
[When Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Daniel ran the Runner’s World Training Plan, designed for any speed and any distance.]
Her goal is run the 2:45 standard to compete and bring the movement to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
“Any race that I do, I plan on doing research and finding more stolen sisters, stolen relatives that are part of this movement, which is heartbreaking in and of itself, but it’s to make sure that I’m giving them a platform and an opportunity to be voice and a presence, to be heard through my running,” Daniel said.
Just a few days after Daniel completed the Boston Marathon, she received good news. A relative of one of the 26 names, Anela Gipp Alkire, reached out to Daniel and let her know that Alkire had been found.
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
