The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan and its Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways opened its newest exhibit on Friday, September 25.

Boontak! (Stop it!): Stolen Daughters of Turtle Island is an online community-curated exhibition that addresses missing and murdered indigenous women and girls (MMIWG). The exhibition features 94 portraits by Saginaw Chippewa photographer Marcella Hadden and her granddaughter Christina Benz as well as several pieces of original artwork, including quilts, dresses, paintings, sculpture, and an animated video.


According to the press release, Boontak! “seeks to express the pain of the epidemic, draw attention to MMIWG cold cases, reduce future disappearances and deaths, and offer a point of healing.” More information about this epidemic of violence is on the website page, including this: “Indigenous women and girls in the United States have the highest rates of those murdered and missing when compared to other populations. Despite efforts to raise awareness, of the 5,712 cases of MMIWG in the United States only 116 were included in the Department of Justice (DOJ) database. As a point of reference, if the portraits of the women and girls in this exhibit were actually MMIWG, only 2 out of the 94 would be included in the DOJ database as recognized MMIWG cases.”


Boontak! (Stop it!): Stolen Daughters of Turtle Island will be on display at the Ziibiwing Center until May 5, 2021. During the course of the exhibition, complementary virtual MMIWG events will be offered by Central Michigan University, Mid Michigan College, and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan. For more information about the exhibition and events, contact the Ziibiwing Center at (989) 775-4750, find the Center on Facebook, or visit www.sagchip.org/ziibiwing.

View the exhibit, including the photo gallery and videos from the grand opening, at http://sagchip.org/MMIWG.


MLive article here.