Native community holds MMIP prayer walk in Bismarck

After saying a prayer and offering corn roasts to the river, the group began the short walk from Keelboat Park to Pioneer Park. Near the front of the group were people holding posters and signs with the names and pictures of their loved ones. Many of the signs demanded justice. A drum group followed behind, offering songs of prayer.

Melanie Moniz, a Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation citizen and the event’s main organizer, told Buffalo’s Fire that Valentine’s Day MMIP prayer walks began in Canada in 1992. Every year since, cities across Canada and the United States have held a walk marking the day as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Day of Remembrance.

“Indigenous women and girls, Two Spirit and trans relatives disproportionately continue to go missing and be murdered with little to no action,” Moniz said.

Jade Frier-Posey attended the walk in honor of her sister Jemini Posey, who has been missing since early January.

“It’s a way to be able to not forget her,” Frier-Posey, a Spirit Lake citizen, said. “It helps me with my grief and to remember that there’s others out there.”

The prayer walk occurring on Valentine’s Day is meant to symbolize love for relatives, Moniz said, as well as serve as a call to action.

Shani Bordeaux attended the walk for her friend Alexia De La Cerda, whose intimate partner, Derick Wilkinson, was arrested on a number of charges, including second-degree murder, related to her death in 2024. He recently signed a plea deal that could eliminate the murder charge. Bordeaux, who was friends with De La Cerda for ten years, said the plea agreement does not represent justice. She called for others to join her at Wilkinson’s next court appearance on March 2.

“Creating a space for awareness and justice is important,” Bordeaux said. “Love doesn’t expire when someone passes away. For me, coming out on Valentine’s Day, it means a lot.”

A citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe who lives in Bismarck, Bordeaux said she is also here to remember her aunt, who was murdered in 2015 by an intimate partner.

Others showed up as survivors of violence.

“I’m in this movement as a survivor for my own healing,” Moniz said, adding that poverty, racism and colonization all fuel the MMIP crisis. “It’s important we keep raising awareness to this until it stops.”

After those who wanted to share had a turn to speak about their friend or relative, the walk ended with an additional song of prayer to the four directions and hugs of support.

“What brings us together is our love,” Frier-Posey said.