Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Daniel is a runner and an activist with a heart for the people. She is the founder of Rising Hearts, an indigenous-led grassroots group that advocates for justice and creates incredible educational resources. Jordan has run in prayer, with a red hand-print painted across her face to raise awareness of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIW + MMIWG), on many occasions and her running has brought attention to the cause. The hand print symbolizes the voices that have been silenced by the violence of this crisis. We speak with her about her journey to use her whole body to raise awareness and her hopes to unite people across differences.
For more information about Faith, Addie and The Trail Ahead go to https://www.thislanddoc.com/thetrailahead.
Discussed in this episode:
Jordan’s Website and Instagram
Urban Indian Health Institute and MMIW 2018 Report
Billy Mills, Oglala-Lakota-Sioux runner and first American to win a Gold Medal in the 10,000m
Wings of America, Non-Profit Organization empowering Native youth through running
Corinne Rice: Website and Instagram
National Indigenous Women's Resource Center
Alaska Native Women's Resource Center
Faith E. Briggs: Welcome to The Trail Ahead, conversations at the intersection of race, environment, history and culture. We are your hosts, Faith and Addie.
Addie Thompson: We bring on folks from all walks of life to have real, authentic, messy dialogue that can lead to tangible change.
Jordan Marie Da...: It's a big task to dismantle White supremacy and colonization. To decolonize within our own minds and our own bodies, and how we communicate with each other, but I totally think it can happen.
Addie Thompson: Our guest this week is Jordan Marie Daniel. She's a runner and an activist, using her whole body to raise awareness and bring people together. Jordan's activism work centers around healing our relationships with our planet and with one another.
Faith E. Briggs: I first became aware of Jordan after seeing her run in the Boston Marathon in 2019. She had a red handprint painted across her face to raise awareness about MMIW. MMIW stands for missing and murdered Indigenous women. This tragic epidemic is relatively unknown and underreported. In this episode, we're going to talk about some difficult subjects including racial, sexual, and domestic violence. We wanted to let listeners know that this may be difficult to hear. We also believe this is an urgent and essential conversation.
Jordan Marie Da...: Hi, everybody. My name is Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Daniel. I am Kul Wicasa Lakota, a citizen of the Kul Wicasa Oyate of the Lower Brule Indian Reservation in Central South Dakota. And I currently live on Tongva Lands, which is also known as Los Angeles, California. So, when I was nine that my dad had the opportunity to teach as a professor at the University of Maine, Farmington and he took it and I was really excited, but nervous because I was surrounded by my family and culture and ceremony and powwows and dancing and just my cousins, and it was such a new environment. And it just was a big culture shock moving to Maine.
Jordan Marie Da...: I think because as we're young ones, we're naive to the things that are around us that may make us feel different. And that's where I got a firsthand experience of recognizing that I am very different. Nobody looks like me. And just started really struggling to make friends, to fit in, to just adapt to that new environment. And I really became a homebody and really loved spending time with my dad and my mom and I started running at the age of 10. My grandfather took me on my first run. We went back to South Dakota my first summer after our first year out there. And it was just such an honor and exciting to run with my role model and superhero. I'm a fourth generation runner and him being the icon that he is and the big name in the State of South Dakota and the Hall of Fame and just him battling it out with Lala Billy Mills.
Jordan Marie Da...: It was such an incredible experience, and I was looking forward to it. It was two miles and then he lives off the top of a hill. So hit that one mile turn around, had to run uphill, and I hated it. And I was just like, "Why do you like this?" And I felt so awkward because I was like, "Maybe I'm not meant to be a runner, and I feel bad." And I started putting all this pressure on myself, even though my family never put that pressure on me. And they kept telling me you don't have to be a runner, you could do whatever you want. And I started doing swimming and really loved swimming and tried every other sport but just couldn't be coordinated enough. And so, I always came back to running.
Jordan Marie Da...: And so I grew up in Maine with running. And that was the only community that I truly felt accepted in that it was about how you showed up at the starting line. It was about how you showed up at the finish line. And just being on a team together and cheering each other on. That was the only safe place for me. And I was embarrassed and ashamed of having brown skin and having dark hair and being Lakota that I disconnected away from it for a little bit until I got into college.
Jordan Marie Da...: But yeah, it was really hard, and it became abundantly clear that racism exists everywhere in middle school where I experienced a hate crime with a friend of mine who is walking with me from middle school to my dad's office, which wasn't too far away. And these kids in a car just kept driving by back and forth making fun of him, calling him words that I had never heard of. And which I'm really shocked that Maine kids knew about because it's literally only specific to me. It was the prairie N word lover and just other words, and they were really moreso making fun of him for even walking with me. And then they finally parked their car and got out and they had brass knuckles, they had chains, and they had a pocket knife, and they were just threatening to hurt us.
Jordan Marie Da...: Luckily, my friend just saw a moment where he just was like, run, and I ran as fast as I could and got to my dad's office. And then we had to call the police, file a report, they found the kids and they chalked it up to kids being kids. And that's what started the whole identity crisis and just not feeling that connection or wanting that connection to who I truly am, that I am proud to be right now. And then every time I went back to South Dakota for the summers or for holidays because I had that experience and experienced racism for the first time, I saw racism happening in South Dakota. And I saw how they were treating my relatives at gas stations and grocery stores and just having this new perspective. And seeing that I had a unique, I guess, opportunity that I felt like I was walking into worlds of by Lakota indigeneity, and in this other world of becoming civilized, becoming assimilated, conforming to what society wants me to be in order for me to be accepted, which is to totally disconnect from who I am.
Jordan Marie Da...: Once I got to college and took all the Native American studies courses I could, and had amazing Native professors who really invested in me and supported me and saw me struggling, if I hadn't been for Professor [inaudible 00:06:39] suggesting I go to a community round dance at Penobscot Indian Nation in [Orono 00:06:43], which is a tribe just a few miles away. I don't know if I'd be in this spot that I am or on this journey that I had because I was struggling so bad. And being away from my family who moved back to the Midwest at that time during college, and at that time was struggling with an eating disorder, and just was really at a low point, and I took his advice.
Jordan Marie Da...: Luckily, a track teammate was all about it, wanted to support me, and she joined me. And just being there in that setting listening to the drums listening to the singing, listening to those special laughs that I feel like aunties and uncles have and grandparents have in our families and communities that I could hear it, and it reminded me of home. And it reminded me of my own grandma's that it just was like, "Jordan, you've got to stick to you. You have to be proud of who you are. This is who you are. This culture, these communities are what you're part of." And I felt safe, I felt comfortable, I felt ready to get back on that horse, I guess, and just stand up for myself, and just be proud, and shut down anyone who isn't in my corner. I kind of in that moment, in that evening reclaimed who I was and who I meant to be. And still am so proud to have this brown skin, to be Lakota, to be Dene, to be in these communities, and to be continuing this journey.
Faith E. Briggs: Thank you for sharing that story with us. I am so sorry that that happened, and it's not an unfamiliar story. And I think people don't believe that that is our world. People don't think that there's still such clear acts of racism happening in every part of the country. Maine isn't the South. And I think it's really easy for people to say, "Oh, those backwards people in South Carolina or those backwards people in Texas," and it's not. And we can't say those thugs over there.
Jordan Marie Da...: When they say those comments of this is not who we are, that's not the America that we know. That's just whitewashing, and that's totally erasing all of the trauma and the pain and the violence that we've been experiencing every single day in our communities. Just sadly, we don't hear about everything that's happening.
Faith E. Briggs: A few things I wanted to ask you about. One, when I first became aware of you it was through your running of the Boston Marathon with Wings of America and you had a red handprint painted across your mouth. You were raising awareness for murdered and missing Indigenous women. And I think a lot of people are still not aware of that, the MMIW movement and what exactly that is all about. So I'm wondering if you can tell us something about the murdered and missing Indigenous women and how you ran Boston, why you ran in that way, and how that's important to you?
Jordan Marie Da...: I first learned it in my college class where they mentioned and referenced The Highway of Tears, which is in Highway 16 in Canada. And it was just the stories that I heard about the injustice and the lack of care and support for the families and the communities that have lost loved ones along that highway, who were hitchhiking or traveling, or who are found on that highway. But I started learning about this even more back in 2014, when I attended my first rally to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. I heard a woman speak about man camps along the pipelines and the high rates of violence that come with that. Domestic abuse, sexual assault, especially speaking to these cases happening in the Bakken oil fields in Canada along First Nations Reserves. And just speaking about this violence and this issue happening here in the United States, and that has been happening with these dirty fossil fuel projects being proposed and created and built that inspired me to learn more about it.
Jordan Marie Da...: So, anytime I saw something about this epidemic, and especially in connection to environmental injustice, and man counts, I shared it, I tweeted about it, I blogged about it, tried to talk about the Violence Against Women Act, and how that can also help support and protect our communities and our relatives. But it got to a point where I feel like only Native people were seeing and understanding the devastating impacts of this violence, this silent crisis. And I was getting really frustrated with the fact that it felt like no one else cared that hundreds of us are disappearing, or being murdered, and just no justice, and the family is hurting, and in fighting for that justice, and having to grieve and mourn, and not being able to move on, or move forward, but just needing some sort of solutions or answers to stop this.
Jordan Marie Da...: And with the death of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind in 2017. That was the tipping point for me where I needed to hold myself more accountable and being more proactive in my education. And just doing a lot of outreach, reading a lot of reports, talking about this epidemic, talking about the high rates of violence that our communities are experiencing on reservations, but also in our urban communities. And I wanted to do more, so I just started organizing a prayer vigil for her. I started speaking about this epidemic when I was invited to speak at the Me Too rallies when I moved to Los Angeles in 2017. And also talking about historically bringing in Matoaka AKA Pocahontas. I mean, the fact that she's our first Me Too, she's our first MMIW that we can trace back to. And just speaking about this in a much larger context, and trying to have these conversations outside of indigenous circles really just felt like a new calling for me.
Jordan Marie Da...: And especially having experienced violence in past relationships and seeing my mom at a young age be in a domestic violent relationship. And knowing that I have other relatives who have experienced this, that it's very prevalent, just really sparked this new passion for me. Then in 2018, at the San Diego half marathon after organizing an educational forum with my sister, Cheyenne Phoenix, we created toolkits and packets, and had Annita Lucchesi, the Executive Director of Sovereign Bodies Institute who wrote an incredible report talking about this. I just felt like I want to give more visibility to this issue.
Jordan Marie Da...: So, 2018 in March, I ran the San Diego Half Marathon and dedicated my bid number rather than having my name to the hashtag MMIW, hoping that it would spark these conversations, and it did with just a couple people, but it had nowhere near the impact that I was hoping for, even though I had no real expectations or standards I was trying to achieve, but I just felt disappointed in that moment. So the rest of the year goes on and still organizing and talking about this. The following year happens, 2019 San Diego Half Marathon happens again. I do the same thing. MMIWG, missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, but it didn't have the reaction I was hoping for.
Jordan Marie Da...: And then brother Dustin Martin reached out to me saying, "Hey, do you want to run the Boston Marathon, help fundraise for Wings of America, and be a chaperone to the youth in Boston?" I was like, "Yes." I only had a month to prepare because I ran that half marathon and was going to take a month off from racing and start a new cycle. And I was just like, "Well, I know I can finish so yes, I'll do it." It came to the night before the marathon, and I had asked my parents to find me red handprint, face paint type stuff, and just to bring it with my mom when she came up. And I just kept sitting with this idea of I've seen prayer run, I've learned about them, I've participated in one. And this isn't a race for me, this is just a really great opportunity just to be here. And I wanted to take this opportunity to be intentional and to create space for giving visibility to this epidemic, and to the people who are still missing.
Jordan Marie Da...: I didn't tell anyone what I was doing, but my partner drove me to the Hopkinsons buses to get me to the starting line. As he was driving me I just... I didn't know what I was doing. Naturally, my fingers just started doing what they were doing. And I just realized I'm painting these letters on my legs, then I started putting the letters on my arm, MMIW. And then my partner helped me with putting the red handprint on my face, which symbolizes the voices that have been silenced by this violence and this crisis. It was literally, it felt like the weight of this epidemic. And that's when it became really heavy emotionally and spiritually. And at the same time, I was so excited, though, and just ready to go to that starting line and to run for them.
Jordan Marie Da...: I had 26 names of Indigenous women and girls who are missing, who were murdered. A few of them were missing. But within a couple of days after that prayer run, I have no idea if prayer run had even anything to do with it, but luckily they were found safe. And so, they were back with their families. But it was just an opportunity to honor them, to remember them, to offer my respects, to offer my prayers. I said a prayer for them at every single mile. I said their name out loud to put it out into the universe for creator to hear and said a prayer for them, said a prayer for their families, said a prayer for their communities and for all of our people that are having to deal with this sort of injustice and this pain, and this heartache.
Jordan Marie Da...: And then I tried to enjoy the remaining mile of just being on that course. It's the second time I've run it. It's such a great atmosphere and great energy, and it's really exciting. And then I would start the whole thing over again until I got to the finish where the last point to the finish was for my grandfather who'd passed away a couple years prior from cancer. And so, that's what that prayer run in Boston meant for me, and I just had no idea it was going to have the attention that it did. I just assumed no one would care. But I didn't care that they wouldn't care. This was about them. This was not about running a fast time or having a goal. This was just being able to honor them and remember them in this way. And so, that just brought to light this new journey for me of intersecting advocacy and running and being able to use that as a platform for calling attention to this injustice and other things that I advocate for as well.
Addie Thompson: You recently did a prayer run this year as well. We want to ask, actually, if you could talk a little bit about that as well as how you feel when you're running in prayer. What does that feel like to you?
Jordan Marie Da...: It's a weird thing to explain, but it feels very light. But at the same time very heavy because who I'm running for is no longer just for me. It's about others. And it's that pain, it's that trauma, it's the stories, it's the research that I did to find their names, to find what happened to them. It's very surreal. It allows me to connect to some sort of higher power. It allows me to connect with my surroundings much deeper. And it's just this new, I don't know, it's just new form of running, this new bubble that surrounds me that I feel is protecting me at the same time, but also is allowing me to feel everything in that moment. And all of 2019 I had several more races that year and I kept running for justice.
Jordan Marie Da...: It got to the point where I started experiencing insomnia and nightmares and panic attacks, anxiety attacks, and mental health took a toll big time. I was suffering from depression and carrying the weight of all that I was doing and running for and learning what happened to them. I had no way to decompress from that. And I was going into races exhausted already mentally. I started getting injured towards the end of that year and we had to pull out of me going for the California International Marathon to get the Olympic Trials Standard because I was just suffering really badly and had an injury at the same time.
Jordan Marie Da...: So, 2019 was incredible, but it was also a big moment for me where I realized I need to work on my own self care and wellness. I need to find new ways to figure out how I can do this in a good healthy way and not have to feel this way every single time. And so, that led me to getting an Indigenous therapist that led me to taking two months off from running at the start of 2020, which I've never done in my entire life. I hardly even take a day off. And I just told myself, you're going to run when you're ready to run. And it took me two months to feel that moment to do it again.
Addie Thompson: Faith, I have to admit, the Patagonia Strider Shorts are my new favorite, and this time I got these because you always wear them and I was jealous. So now I think we're even.
Faith E. Briggs: It's true. I love these shorts. The elastic band makes them a comfy fit, and the little pocket in the back is perfect for a phone or some snacks. And so far no chiefing, which is a very real thing for me.
Addie Thompson: Oh, so real. They're also so light. They're Fair Trade Certified sewn and made with a mix of recycled materials. Where have you been running these days?
Faith E. Briggs: I've been staying close to home checking out back alleys and nearby trails that I hadn't explored before the pandemic. And I'm really glad it's warm enough for shorts again.
Addie Thompson: Totally. Patagonia, in the business of saving our home planet and making the best trail running shorts ever.
Addie Thompson: Okay, Faith, what is the Merrel Hydro Moc? I've started to see them popping up all over Instagram.
Faith E. Briggs: I could try to answer that question. But I think it makes more sense to ask one of the coolest people I know, a staple of the New York City Run Community, Jeb [Helado 00:22:03]. So, I got the scoop from him.
Jeb: Hydro Moc, love them. In the summertime in the woods a lot, I go camping. I can hang out at the lake and they just seem like the perfect because they're ventilated and they're waterproof. I just did a 50K. Probably the last 10 miles I was like, "I just can't wait to get these shoes back on there just to let them breathe and recover.
Faith E. Briggs: You heard it from the source, an NYC sneaker head, marathoner, ultra runner, and one of the most stylish people I know. Thanks, Jeb. The Merrel Hydro Moc, walk, don't run to get you a pair.
Faith E. Briggs: When we say playing outside, what does that make you think of? Where do you go?
Jordan Marie Da...: I feel like now playing outside has a new context or a new meaning that I feel takes away from our deeper connections to our surroundings, to that need of protecting the lands and the spaces that we have access to, especially if you have those privileges and accessibility to be in those outdoor spaces. But acknowledging really that every single part of the lands that we have access to that we get to run on, walk on, recreate on, that we get to visit are still on indigenous lands. And that has just become a huge part of my life. And my learning and talking about indigenous lands. And having this conversation is probably one of my favorites because I really like challenging others to be able to see a new perspective. And that coincides with a program that just launched with Rising Hearts.
Faith E. Briggs: Oh, will you tell us more about that?
Jordan Marie Da...: Yeah. So it's been a long month and a half of building out a whole new website for Rising Hearts, which is an Indigenous grassroots led group that I founded back in 2017. And one of our new programs as we've been building this new platform, really trying to bring Rising Hearts in the direction of sustainability so that maybe one day I can be able to hire people to help me because right now it's just me doing it all for free. But we've been spending a lot of time just developing this website, creating these programs.
Jordan Marie Da...: One of them is called Running On Native Lands Initiative. It's basically a call to race directors, event coordinators, planners that are hosting these events on Indigenous lands to get them to take the pledge and to commit to the first ask which is to implement allowed acknowledgement. And the toolkit and page goes into detail of why this is needed and to build this understanding and supplementing justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in all the work that is going into it to this day, and to help make the running and outdoor spaces and communities more accessible, more supportive, and inclusive and visible for so many that may not feel included.
Jordan Marie Da...: There are five other asks, but they're asked to commit to at least one other or commit to all six. And the rest of the asks are anything from providing X amount of combed entries to Indigenous participants at those races and Rising Hearts serve as a networking arm to be able to put them in touch with Native organizations or communities in that surrounding area to get them to start building community and relationships and holding these entities, these organizations accountable, and being able to give back to the community. And they're just a variety of steps that they can take. And having a better understanding of the lands that we are on, that we need to protect them, that we also need to acknowledge that Indigenous peoples are the original caretakers of these lands, and that they were forcibly removed. And that indigenous peoples are still here today.
Addie Thompson: I feel like some people might not be familiar with the term, Two Spirit, which you use in your mission statement for Rising Hearts as well. I was just wondering if you could tell us more about what that means.
Jordan Marie Da...: I can't really fully speak to it. But just the definition, just embodying both genders, but also not necessarily having that Native person just being identified as gay. It is a term that embodies both male and female, and sometimes can be intersex individuals who combine activities of both men and women with those traits to their unique status. So it's another term, another identity that I feel should always be included when we speak about LGBTQ plus non binary, voices and people and bodies. I think it needs to be included, and something that I've been really advocating for in terms of other running companies and groups that are labeling themselves as being LGBTQ friendly and supportive.
Jordan Marie Da...: I don't want anyone to be exclusive in terms of their language because language does matter. And it can set the standard of someone feeling included or not included. But Rising Hearts is committed to dismantling White supremacy and racism, to elevate indigenous Black, Brown, Asian, Muslim, Jewish, immigrant, two spirits, LGBTQ plus non binary relatives and relatives with disabilities. I think when there comes a time where our communities and our bodies are no longer facing this violence, and this injustice, this racism, this oppression, the inequities where we finally feel like we are always included, and have a seat at the table, and are no longer pitted against each other. Maybe there'll become a time where we won't have to list all of the bodies, all of the communities that have been impacted by colonization and White supremacy, that are still being impacted to this day.
Faith E. Briggs: There's so many words that we use that are so offensive because they hold so much trauma to them. I think let's powwow about this real quick is one that people say all the time. And then one that I think for me when I first started to understand some of this, which was in grad school, Native American cultural appropriation in fashion was the subject of my thesis film. And it's when I really started to understand how when people are saying, "These people are my tribe," how offensive it was.
Addie Thompson: Oh, my gosh.
Faith E. Briggs: I don't know, do you have reflections and thoughts on that?
Jordan Marie Da...: I mean, this is another fun conversation I like to get into is that those kinds of words contribute to the ratio of Native people and paint us as a figure of the past and not in the present. And it also normalizes and perpetuates the stereotypes and the ongoing racism that we experience every single day. And it's just about reframing how we think, how we view our perspective, and being able to get a better understanding and learning from indigenous voices about these experiences. But that all comes down to the nonnative person, listener, being able to have an open heart and an open mind and being ready to listen.
Jordan Marie Da...: And so, this is a really great conversation. It can be a little bit toxic and dangerous at times. But that's when you just have to know who your audience is, who you're speaking with, you got to set boundaries to protect yourself in those kinds of spaces and conversations, but it's one definitely worth having and meeting. And luckily, we have amazing Indigenous content creators like Corinne Rice. She puts out lessons all the time talking about cultural appropriation, talking about medicines, talking about the use of the word tribe when it gets heavily popularized, especially in the wellness community.
Faith E. Briggs: In all of this, I feel so grateful to be a part of this conversation that such a complete privilege to be here.
Jordan Marie Da...: Even as me being Indigenous, I am learning so much. It's not just for non POC communities or anything like that. It's literally for everybody. And we all need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and not being afraid to ask questions. But coming into those spaces or asking those people who are more informed and can help you in your learning to respectfully ask them in a good way, in a non triggering way, if you can compensate them, compensate them. But this is all part of this movement that we are seeing, this transformational change for a better future of us coming together as communities. And I can truly say that ever since I was little and just how I was raised and my Lakota name that was given to me during my ceremony, my coming of age ceremony. I always thought I could never live up to that, which was basically it translates into being able to bring our people together. And I thought that's such a huge task. I'm never going to live up to that.
Jordan Marie Da...: And in 2016, when I started organizing the run for water rally to welcome the Standing Rock youth who ran over 2,000 miles to D.C. that was where I committed myself to and holding myself accountable and to doing more, rather than just being a blogger, rather than just being a Native working in D.C. on policy are these other initiatives, I needed to involve myself deeper and more rooted in community and uplifting voices. And that's where I felt I finally had earned my name.
Faith E. Briggs: You sign your emails, all my relations, can you speak a little bit about that?
Jordan Marie Da...: Being raised the way that I was raised and how I was taught, Mitakuye Oyasin, you're all related, or all my relations just encapsulates how we view the world and how we view ourselves and connection to the world and to each other. At the end of the day we are all related, we are all connected, we are all Unci Maka grandmother Earth's children, and we need to be there to care for her and to care for each other. That's the message and the energy that I want sent out there when I'm communicating with people to be welcoming, to be comforting, I hope, and to have that message be there of I want to work with you, to collaborate with you, to build something, to build a better future that we can work together and to be able to work with each other and learn from each other.
Faith E. Briggs: I guess that leads me into this question about social media, what has it meant to you? And has it sometimes meant a community created virtually that maybe isn't there physically necessarily?
Jordan Marie Da...: Personally, I'm going to say is I hate social media. It may not look it, but I do appreciate having the platform to be able to talk about these things with those that support me. I hate saying the word followers. I call them supporters. But it's an incredible tool. It leads to so many informed discussions and conversations and is having so many that are willing to be open and to learn to be proactive in what we're putting out there in terms of content, and who we share of offering other suggestions, other voices that people should be getting to know, that should be learning from, or compensating these voices, and amplifying their work, too. And this is also a way that we're also able to be compensated, especially it can lead to opportunities to write op eds, as I've had the opportunities to do while also strongly advocating to these companies and these entities to compensate our voices that we can't and should not be doing anything for free.
Jordan Marie Da...: I think now since we've been in this pandemic, I've also seen that it's just a great opportunity to bring community together. I've been able to use it to create a Zoom platform community with Rising Hearts. We have Indigenous Wellness Through Movement which offers all of these classes free. It's donation based, classes that are from powwow yoga, to gentle yoga, to salsa and bachata dance lessons, to partner therapeutic massage because I want to see me. I want to see someone that looks like me in those spaces, especially when it comes to the wellness industry.
Addie Thompson: For people that want to get more involved, for nonnative folks, or for anyone that didn't have as much awareness around this, you've mentioned quite a few people and organizations already. But I was just wondering if you could continue to touch on some entry points that you might think are good places to start or resources that you'd encourage folks to go follow or research or educate themselves with?
Jordan Marie Da...: Yeah, I can first say you can visit my website. I am always constantly updating the resources. I always do call outs on Instagram for asking for people's suggestions because I'm not always going to know the answers and the best resources. But I've compiled books to read but also prefacing, it doesn't end with just a book. It doesn't end with just a land acknowledgement. It doesn't end with just a podcast. You have to be really proactive in your learning, and to be self sufficient in your education, that it's okay to ask questions, but reaching out to those voices coming from those communities and what they stand for and fight for should be the last option before you try to ask them for their time and energy to explain something to you.
Jordan Marie Da...: I would highly suggest reading the report Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls by the Urban Indian Health Institute. That report came out in November of 2018. And just some of the statistics that came out of that was back in 2016, 5,712 indigenous women were identified as missing, and only 116 were documented in the Department of Justice database. So just having that information, you can see the injustice just right there, statistical injustice right there. The fact that our indigenous knowledge keepers and advocates are able to compile all of these resources and information and the government is not upholding their federal trust responsibility to indigenous peoples and to nations is really sad, but I would rather learn and support the indigenous folks that are doing this. And so, Urban Indian Health Institute has an amazing report. It highlights these statistics coming from over 70 urban cities, and noting that data is not being compiled from just reservations, that it's being compiled from the urban cities.
Jordan Marie Da...: Other resources, and the home of the MMIW database is happening with Sovereign Bodies Institute, and they have an amazing staff and team. They're all supporting and really care about supporting the families. That's their biggest focus. They also work with legislators, they work with other advocates and lawyers and nations to advocate and creating policy, good sound informed policy, and advocating that families are a part of those task forces that are being developed statewide across the states or task forces being implemented at the federal level.
Jordan Marie Da...: National Indigenous Women's Resource Center is absolutely amazing. You got Alaska Native Women's Resource that's absolutely amazing. Yeah, and then you can also visit risinghearts.org. It's fairly new, we're still adding to it, but we do have several programs on there. Yeah, I think that's a lot of resources for right now. [crosstalk 00:38:45]. Yeah, I would definitely start with those.
Faith E. Briggs: Jordan, thank you. We are going to link to them on our episode page, obviously, with your site right at the top because it's full of resources. And because just the work that you're doing is incredible. Thank you so much for your time.
Jordan Marie Da...: Thank you so much. As corny as it sounds, those Miss America pageants of like, "I want world peace." But that's truly how my outlook has been my whole life of I want our communities to be able to understand each other, to work with each other, to support each other, to show up for each other that we can get there. Luckily, the communities that I am part of right now and all that we're organizing and fighting for. I feel like it is happening. I feel like we are connecting more. We are doing that outreach outside of our own circles to build community. And like I said, that's the most important thing to me.
Addie Thompson: Jordan, thank you. This was an incredible conversation and a gift.
Faith E. Briggs: To learn more about Jordan, you can follow her on Instagram @nativen_LA. You can also visit her website jordanmariedaniel.com. We'll provide additional links to her work in the show notes and on our website, thislanddoc.com/thetrailhead.
Addie Thompson: Huge thanks also to folks who have been leaving us reviews on Apple Podcasts. It's so great to hear from you. Thanks to Bimma, check out his podcast Claimer Stories, [Iza 00:40:19], Mike from Top Top, Later Drop, Gil, and Kendra, we appreciate you. Please say hi and consider giving us a review. They help other folks discover us. Thanks friends.
Addie Thompson: The Trail Ahead is created and hosted by us Faith E. Briggs and Addie Thompson. It's produced by Lantigua Williams & Co. Jen Chien is our editor. Elizabeth Nakano is our producer. Sound design and theme music by Cedric Wilson.
Faith E. Briggs: Our podcast art is by Shar Tuiasoa. Check her out on Instagram @punkyaloha. Special thanks to our amazing teams from Merrell, Adam Kepfer, Lauren King, Will Pray, and from Patagonia, Bianca Botta, Sasha Tenedy, Clare Gallagher, and Whitney Clapper.
Addie Thompson: Big thanks also to Trail Butter and Outdoorsy, and thanks to our team on the visual side, Tyler Wilkinson Ray, Fred Gorus, and Monica Medellin. Thank you for listening and for spreading the word. Follow the Trail Ahead on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. See you next episode.