Student stands out for cause
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POLSON – Marita Growing Thunder walks through the Polson High School halls on her way to class, past students dressed in jeans and T-shirts, like she used to wear. But lately, she stands out in the crowd with her long Native American style skirt, the Sioux style moccasins, and her elk tooth necklace.
“This is about making a statement,” she said. The 17-year old senior wants to bring awareness to an issue affecting Native American women.
“Many indigenous women go missing or are murdered every year and it’s getting worse,” she said.
According to the Native Women’s Association of Canada, indigenous woman are almost three times more likely to be killed by a stranger than non-indigenous woman.
“These women are more than a statistic,” she said.
“They are someone’s grandma, aunt, little sister. We need to be talking about this. It hurts my heart to hear that women are dealing with this problem.”
After taking an art class, she decided to use creative expression to bring awareness to the issue and designed Native American style skirts. She is a member of the Fort Peck and Sioux Tribes and Kiowa- Comanche peoples, so her ancestors often dressed in a similar style of clothing. She wore one of the skirts she designed on the first day of school and different ones everyday since.
She wakes up earlier than she used to and starts lacing up the buckskin moccasins. She doesn’t want to be late for an early pre-calculus class so she works quickly.
Marita spent all night sewing the most recent skirt added to the collection that features music notes bordering colorful ribbons sewn in a block pattern with a fancy style stitch.
“This one was inspired by a woman that was abducted on this reservation,” she said. “I met her brother and my heart was just breaking.”
People at school have been mostly positive about her project, although not everyone is supportive. “I think some of them just don’t understand and they don’t ask,” she said.
She is a bit on the shy side so it takes effort for her to talk about her project, although she is willing to be uncomfortable for the cause and answer questions.
“This is a big issue across Indian country,” she said.
“It affects a lot of people and nothing is being said about it.”
Recognizing the issue is the first step towards change.
“Native American women are the backbone of our culture and we need to bring awareness to this issue,” she said.
She is currently working on designing several dresses to represent the missing or murdered women for an art show to be held at a local venue. She has received several grants to buy the material for the project. As excited as she is about the designs, she says her heart feels heavy as she works on sewing the dresses.
“I focus on what these women went through,” she said. She said the project also triggered memories within her family of a relative that is missing.
“We need to do something to change this so it stops happening.”
Marita’s mom, Shannon Ahhaitty, supports her daughter’s work. She said her daughter is staying with the project and wearing her Native American style clothing even through homecoming week when she would like to participate with the other students.
“I’m really proud that she is holding strong and staying true to the project,” she said. Marita has attended school in the Polson School District starting in kindergarten. She plans to wear her Native American style clothing every day until she graduates this spring.
