Since 1999, the annual Art on the Streets program in Colorado Springs “celebrates the power of art in public places while turning the streets of Downtown Colorado Springs into a yearlong art gallery.”
One of the entries in 2020 was this stark and shocking mural, an illustration that art does not always leave one feeling warm and fuzzy. Artist Gregg Deal, a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute, whom some of you might remember as the co-curator of the exhibit “Disinformation” at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, used his tall canvas on a downtown building to raise awareness about the very real but very ignored subject of “Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women” in America.
The following quote by the artist accompanies his mural:
Much of my art deals with Indigenous issues, protest, and representation, occupying space in ways that are simultaneously beautiful, unexpected, and difficult. This mural raises questions about the inherent invisibility of Indigenous People, specifically referencing the abnormally high rate at which Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit individuals go missing or are murdered. This is an issue in El Paso County and around the nation. With this portrait of my eldest daughter, I hope to move the viewer and open up dialogue within the local community.
Native women and girls are disproportionately affected by sex-trafficking, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and other heinous crimes which all too often do not get prosecuted and remain unsolved. The heart-rending list of victims and atrocities remains one of the darkest stains in the history of both Canada and the United States. Native children in the US have had to mouth the words “with liberty and justice for all” countless times during the Pledge of Allegiance for a country who only granted them citizenship in 1924 and who kept tearing apart their families and communities well into the 1950s by sending children away to boarding schools.
May we live to see the day when Justice will indeed be blind and do right by all those women and girls who have been wronged or even lost their lives.
Fur further reading, click on the following link: https://www.nativewomenswilderness.org/mmiw
tanja britton 
Amen!
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Thank you, Dwight.
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The treatment of Native Americans has always been a stain upon our country. There are those who use the natives aggression against each other as an excuse for that of the settlers and our government but it is no excuse for a nation that claims liberty and justice for all without actually granting it. The drive for power itself is blind and ignorant of its effects on the innocent victims. Good for Colorado Springs in recognizing this and celebrating the contributions of Native Art.
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a very, very special topic that is actually often hidden under a cloak. One finds it nevertheless again and again, as example in Canada, with Black Lives Matter or even in the Vatican. Unfortunately, I believe that it can also very easily lead to threats with these things…because so some groups or even high-ranking personalities do not really want to hear it gladly. I find it very courageous that you, dear Tanja mention something like this here and wish success and not the oblivion of these poor tortured souls.
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Thank you for commenting.
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Thank you for your comment, Steve.
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That’s a very powerful image, reflecting dark chapters in US and Canadian history. But when people like Gregg Deal, and you too Tanja with your incisive and impassioned prose, keep the story alive there is hope that our generation (and those yet to come) may learn from the past and do better in the future.
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Thank you, Mr. P.
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Thank you for bringing attention to this mural and this issue. As you said, it’s one that far too many are unaware of or turn a blind eye to.
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I appreciate your comment, Diana.
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What a beautiful and expressive mural! I am living in Canada since over 30 years now and I hope to be around long enough to see justice and equality for all the First Nations – on both sides of our borders and around the world!
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Thank you, Christa. I wholeheartedly agree.
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All over the world, indigenous peoples have been overrun, killed, disregarded. Horrible behavior is part of the innate nature of the human species.
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Thank you for commenting, Neil.
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Heart rending is right!
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Thank you, Laurie.
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Coincidence: Right after I finished replying to a comment about blind justice on someone else’s blog, I read your words about “the day when Justice will indeed be blind.”
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A case of synchronicity? Or a reflection of the growing awareness of profound problems present in the judicial system?
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One of my readers is a Canadian who’s been much involved in promoting understanding of the issues associated with missing or murdered indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) in that country.
Seeing the mural and reading your post, I was taken back to the 1980s, when the ‘disappeared’ women of Latin America became a concern. You may or may not know Ronnie Gilbert of the Weavers (a famous folk group of the 1950s and 1960s) or Holly Near, but once I heard their song Hay Una Mujer Desparecida, I never forgot it.
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Thank you for your comment, Linda. I didn’t know that song, but it’s haunting. More haunting is the fact that these unspeakable terrors continue, and people everywhere keep looking away. This is changing some, but I don’t think enough.
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I just finished reading a memoir about human trafficking in Canada. It’s an eye-opener. Out of the Shadows, by T Nagy.
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Thank you for the suggestion, V.J. Probably a very disturbing read.
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Well, it certainly had me thinking. We lost a niece to prostitution and drugs, and knowing what I do now, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was trafficking.
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That’s very sad. I’m sorry you lost your niece.
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Happy Thanksgiving, falls du es feierst, liebe Tanja.
Einen Puter wirst du aber sicher nicht verspeisen 🦃
Liebe Grüße Brigitte
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Never having seen Puter before, I looked it up and found in Wiktionary that Pute dates back to the “16th century, from Middle Low German *pūte, imitative of the bird’s call. Compare German put (with a short vowel), a word used to call chickens and other farm birds.”
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Now you know a few words in Turkey. Only last night we learned about a man who lived with turkeys and became fluent in their language: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/my-life-as-a-turkey-introduction/7268/
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That’s dedication.
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And speaking of German words for a turkey (rather than words in turkey), Wiktionary offers this explanation for the Trut in Truthahn: “either imitative of the turkey’s call to its young (cf. the etymology of Pute) or alternatively from Middle Low German drōten (‘threaten’), improperly adapted to High German, in reference to the male turkey’s seemingly aggressive behavior.”
And look at the curious trail of the English word turkey:
https://www.etymonline.com/word/turkey
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Dankeschön, liebe Brigitte. Wir feiern schon, aber nur im kleinsten Kreise. Du hast recht–kein Truthahn für mich, aber für meinen Mann gehört ein Puter dazu und wird dankbar genossen.
Bleib gesund,
Tanja
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It’s horrifying to realise how the indigenous peoples are treated in the countries should be said to be originally theirs – not a good reflection on mankind! I can only hope that we are becoming more enlightened and will behave better in future.
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Thank you for your comment, Ann. I share your hope in a better future for all those who have suffered so much for so long.
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What a powerful post, Tanja. Such a terrible subject, and yet I was heartened to read that people out there are noticing and doing something about it. Here in Massachusetts, it’s taken a long time for people to come around to the fact that maybe Thanksgiving isn’t a celebration for native Americans…
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Thank you for your comment, Julie. I agree–it’s heartening that some of these terrible crimes are finally taken seriously and are getting addressed. But for justice to prevail in the end, it’s still a long, tortuous journey.
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The artist created a very powerful work of art.
The haunted gaze of the young woman tells the whole historical story. I also see beauty, pride and self-confidence in this indomitable young woman. I can’t imagine anyone walking past this work of art without looking at it.
Thank you, Tanja!
Greetings….Rosie from Germany
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Thank you for your comment, dear Rosie. I get chills every time I walk up to this mural. You describe some of the emotions she must feel very aptly. I imagine she also thinks “enough is enough.”
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Tanja, I like pictures or works of art that trigger an emotion in the viewer.
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And you are someone who can create a piece of art that makes the viewer have an emotional reaction. That’s a wonderful gift.
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