The Medicine Wheel Riders is a national group raising awareness about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons' (MMIP) crisis in an unexpected way – riding motorcycles.
The Indigenous women’s group is currently on their Ride. Reel. Reflect. Respond.community tour and will be stopping in Riverton on Monday evening to share a private screening of their short documentary film “We Ride for Her” at the Wind River Hotel & Casino.
The group, which represents a collective of Indigenous women and allies, started riding together in 2019 – their conversations quickly turned to the MMIP crisis and the ways in which motorcycling can help people heal from domestic violence.
Over the last four years, those conversations have grown into motorcycle rides across the country to increase awareness and raise funds and supplies for the families of those who have gone missing or been murdered.
Medicine Wheel Riders’ co-president Lorna Cuny, who is Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge Reservation, said the group also directly supports those who have been able to get out of harmful situations.
“We've worked with women who have left domestic violence situations. We’ve worked with sex trafficked victims to try to get them to a safe space. We just try to help where we can, especially in Indigenous communities,” she said.
Cuny, who is also one of the group’s founding members, said the group has grown much faster than they ever thought was possible.
“It's been amazing that we've reached so many people in such a short amount of time for us, because it seems like it has gone by really fast,” she said.
The Medicine Wheel Riders’ current Ride. Reel. Reflect. Respond. tour crosses five states over the span of ten days. Riverton is one of eight stops of the tour, which started in Phoenix, Arizona and ends in Crazy Horse, South Dakota for a ride at the annual Sturgis Motorcycle rally on August 6th.
The group will also stop at the Washakie Museum & Cultural Center in Worland on the morning of August 1st.
Cuny said their current tour is all about collective support.
“We invited community members of families, and we just want to be able to offer a safe space to share stories and to share resources – because ultimately, we're all in this together,” she said.
Wyoming’s MMIP Task Force recently released an updated 2023 report on the crisis. The group also held a meeting on July 17th in Fort Washakie – leaders and community members discussed the structure of the Task Force, takeaways from other states with MMIP task forces, the role of law enforcement agencies, and resources for ongoing education, research and training.
