Ojibwe jingle dress honors missing and murdered Indigenous people
A jingle dress created by Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe elder Anita Lovelace is on display at the Minnesota State Fair to raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous people, according to MPR News. The black dress features the names of 51 individuals inside red handprints, including three of Lovelace’s family members, and was made with contributions from her daughters, relatives and community members.
Lovelace said the dress is a “living remembrance” and an act of cultural activism to educate fairgoers about the epidemic of violence affecting Indigenous communities. She and her daughter Alita Todd used acrylic paint to add the names and plan to bring the dress to a northern Minnesota powwow next summer. “I want it in the arena to lock in the medicine, collect all the healing thoughts and maybe to help them all heal. They’re not forgotten,” Lovelace said.
- 1.MPR News.
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