The Ho-Chunk Nation has canceled an event intended to raise awareness around missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) after a member of the community revealed unwanted sexually explicit messages from the man organizing it.
The event was scheduled for Sunday, May 3, at the nation’s Madison office.
“We want to reaffirm that we fully support the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples movement and remain committed to raising awareness, honoring victims, and advocating for justice for indigenous communities,” the Nation wrote in a Facebook post announcing the cancelation. “At the same time, we uphold a strong commitment to the safety, dignity, and respect of all individuals. We do not support or tolerate behavior that involves the harassment of women.”
On Wednesday, Milwaukee resident and ally to the Indigenous community Lauren McNeill posted a screen shot of sexually explicit messages she received earlier this year from Orlando Ike, a local Indigenous activist and advocate who was organizing the May 3 event.
Ike posted a response, blaming alcohol and claiming he’d apologized to McNeill and had not had a drink since the incident. Ike did not respond to a message from Madison365 seeking comment.
McNeill went on to post screenshots going back nearly two years with similar unwanted advances.
“This would be my sixth year doing this kind of work, so I’ve got some feel for behavioral patterns and certain things that I’ve just been able to notice and see,” McNeill, who’s been a model at previous MMIW fashion shows, said of her decision to post the messages. “Unfortunately, this person was contacting me as early as 2024.”
Oneida and Ojibwe artist Mariah Skenandore had been scheduled to exhibit at the event, but pulled out Wednesday.
“When I saw the screenshots, I knew immediately that it was an easy decision for me to pull out of the event,” she said. “I was not going to be associated with someone that was engaging in that kind of behavior, or support anything that they were doing.”
She said she’s grateful to the Ho-Chunk Nation for canceling the event, though events like it are necessary.
“Missing and murdered indigenous women is an epidemic, so it is really important that we have those conversations and we do raise awareness,” she said. “So it is unfortunate that the event had to be canceled because of his behavior, but I think that ultimately, the message being sent by canceling the event was a strong one, and I think that it was in support of women in the end.”
“I am glad that at least one individual that I see doing this has been held accountable, and hopefully in the future, he won’t be allowed back into the same spaces to be committing the same kinds of acts,” McNeill said.
Both Skenandore and McNeill said it might be time for women to organize events related to MMIW.
“These spaces need to be made matriarchal, which is the great irony of all of this,” McNeill said. “We’ve got a lot of brotherhoods within these organizations, within these leaderships that are saying that. However, it’s kind of like, well, when are you gonna let the women have their say, have their place, have their representation.”
Tuesday’s “Wrap the Capitol in Red” event to recognize the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives, organized by Maeqtekuahkihkiw Metaemohsak Inc, is still on and will begin at noon on May 5 at the Wisconsin State Capitol.
