High School Cheerleaders Rally Against Violence Against Indigenous Women

Ashlea Aldrich was about love “no matter what,” her mother, Tillie Aldrich, told MTV News. “She was so loving and caring. She routinely saw the bright side of everything.”


A graduate of Omaha Country Public School in Macy, Nebraska, the 29-year-old earned a certification in cosmetology and devoted most of her time to her two sons. “She was a laid-back person, habitually giving, and thus forgiving,” Tille remembered. Nevertheless while Aldrich had her family’s support in raising her males, her mother also remembered a pattern of domestic violence — and that Ashlea felt like she had no support from law enforcement as soon as attempting to protect herself.


According to Indianz.Com, Aldrich and her family member had reported concerns about domestic violence to Ohama Tribal elders before her death; she was among the 84 percent of Indigenous women who have been subjected to violence in their lifetimes. “I wrote a letter to the Omaha Tribal Council in 2017 because I was just fed up,” Tillie mentioned. “And in that letter I mentioned my daughter's going to just be getting hurt and perhaps be killed. And that's exactly what happened.”


Aldrich was murdered on January 5, according to reports; her sister noticed her abandoned body two days later on the Omaha reservation in Nebraska, NBC News affiliate KTIV announced. Her death left two men without mother plus a family member seeking justice. Per KTIV, the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska issued a statement saying, “Ashlea was so sweet and kind and routinely had a warm, welcoming attitude. On behalf of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, we are sending our greatest sympathies and condolences to the family member of Ashlea and all affected by her passing.”


The murder is now being investigated by tribal authorities and the FBI, and Omaha females have since gathered to memorialize her and share their own stories of domestic violence, and Aldrich’s sister Alyssa has since set up a GoFundMe to support their family member. Their niece, Daunette Moniz-Reyome, also wanted to create ensure people knew what happened to her aunt — and that tragically, hers isn’t an isolated story.


“After her funeral, I told myself I would take every possibility to help tell her story and keep her memory alive,” the 17-year-old, who is a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and lives on the Omaha Reservation, told MTV News. “Too several times our Indigenous females are forgotten immediately after they’re laid to rest, and I made a promise that would not happen to my aunt.”


So she got to work  with the other members of her cheerleading squad at Walthill Public School, which Aldrich attended for a couple of years. The categorize made posters of Aldrich with her family member, and painted red handprints over their mouths ahead of a basketball game categorize in attempt to raise awareness of the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous females (MMIW). They’re not the only athletes to do so in recent months. In May 2019, Cowlitz Indian Tribe member Rosalie Fish competed at a Washington state track meet with a red handprint across her mouth; Kyal Shoulderblade-Sampson, a member of the Yakama Country, and Nick Wakos, a member of the Sagkeeng First Country in Canada, wore black handprints on their faces in the Indigenous Bowl football game the following month. And on January 22, the Parshall High School females basketball team in Trenton, North Dakota, debuted red hands over their mouths in a photo they posted ahead of a game; the ladies were not allowed to wear the paint throughout the game, their coach told local Fox affiliate KFYR.


Daunnette told MTV News she talked with the school’s superintendent a week prior to the basketball game against Wynot Public School on Tuesday (January 28); she mentioned that as soon as he was cooperative at first, school officials later changed their minds. “That irritated me, however it wasn’t going to stop me,” she mentioned, adding that she and her co-captain “decided we wouldn’t permit anyone to be the hand that silences us, no matter the repercussions. You’re going to listen to our message.”


In photographs Daunnette later posted to Instagram, her cheer squad stands on the sidelines of the basketball court, red handprints across their mouths. At one point, they took to the center of the court to present their posters of Aldrich and her sons. “The audience applauded us once we finished,” she mentioned. “The cheer coach approached us as soon as we were done and instructed us to leave the floor, get ourselves with each other, and wash our faces because we were sobbing. The moment so powerful that it brought tears to our eyes. Our coach instructed us it was a personalized moment and we required to have it off the floor.”


While the elder Aldrich hasn’t been very social in the past few weeks, she made sure to be in the stands for Daunnette’s tribute. “We got there just before halftime — it took my breath away and just made me so empowered just to be able to see her,” she mentioned. “It was just a silent prayer and so they had the photos plus a song. They showed her photographs and then they gave the photos to us. And my grandson just hugged a picture and sat there for several minutes just saying, ‘My mama, my mama.’ It brought tears not only to my eyes, yet to everybody in the gym.”


While Daunnette says her classmates were helpful of the tribute, it’s not likely that the Walthill cheerleaders will have the ability to stage another one in their official capacity as a squad this year. The next day, the school canceled the rest of the cheer season, citing a contract violation. “I don’t believe our season being cancelled had anything to do with a contract violation,” Daunnette explained. “It’s an excuse so they can attempt to avoid community backlash.”


When reached for comment by MTV News, Walthill Public School superintendent Kirk Ahrends confirmed the squad’s season had been cancelled, although disputed claims that it was linked to the tribute. “It is true that the cheerleaders will not be participating in the two remaining residence basketball games,” he mentioned in an email statement. “This decision was based on the students’ failure to comply with team rules, entirely unrelated in any way to the domestic abuse awareness campaign.” He mentioned that “the school district hasn't taken any action against anyone for activities related to a memorial that was initiated by patrons and neither sponsored nor approved by the district,” and added that the school made “special efforts to let a Cedar Ceremony of Healing at the game to recognize these key and unique community circumstances.”


Daunnette told MTV News she believes the school’s reaction was “understandable,” although she doesn’t agree it was “right or fair.” She mentioned, “We did something we were told not do and we are going to accept the implications to our actions. However my aunt means more to me than a cheer uniform and pom-poms ever will. We did what we did with good intentions and without regrets. I’ll save my cheer energy for the day my aunt gets justice for her life being stolen from her.”


Other schools have also reached out to the Aldrich family member for their blessing to pay tribute to Ashlea, Tillie mentioned. “It's so overwhelming because there have been so several people, not just here in Nebraska, not as just a Indian nation, although nationwide, who have reached out. And we’ve agreed, because my baby was disregarded long enough, and she's not here anymore because of that negligence.”


According to a 2018 report by the Urban Indian Health Institute, there were 5,712 reports of missing Native American and Alaskan Native females in 2016, although only 116 of these were officially logged into a Department of Justice database. Murder is the third leading cause of death for Indigenous women; in some counties, Indigenous girls face murder rates ten times higher than the national average. Activists and politicians alike have spent years calling for greater protections for Indigenous females, who can often denied justice due to jurisdictional stalemates between tribal and federal companies, and also a perceived apathy by law enforcement. Representative Deb Haaland (D-NM), who is Laguna Pueblo, is helping lead the charge in Congress to make sure that the Violence Against Ladies Act better protects Native women; the bill and others like it have been stalled by politicians like Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and former Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-VA).


“We need to make sure that tribal police have the resources and the training they require, that the FBI is caring about these crimes, that we can share enough data,” Haaland told MTV News in November, adding that, while it breaks her heart that young folks are getting involved, their advocacy makes her hopeful that change is on the way. “In categorize to make sure that the public cares about a distribute, the more we need to get it out there because if people don't know to care about this offer, they're not going to care about it,” she said.


Tillie Aldrich also hopes law enforcement and tribal codes improve so that each person feels protected, no matter their circumstance. “We have to take care of each other across the board and be fair,” she mentioned. “I think that's what Daunnette stands for, that fairness and attempting to bring that awareness and not letting others be ashamed or keep quiet. You could make noise without saying a word, and I think that's what she did that night.”


For her part, Daunnette is focusing on supporting her family member and helping further raise community awareness around the individual issues and inequities that Indigenous people face. “My dad and I are planning to organize a unity walk to bring awareness to  domestic violence, suicide prevention, and mental health issues — we need to heal as a community, and as individuals,” she explained, calling on the Iroquois tradition of the Fantastic Peacemaker to illustrate her point. “The Fantastic Peacemaker took one arrow and broke it into five pieces and tied them with each other into a bundle, which was tough, if not impossible to break,” she mentioned. “That symbol was used to show the people there really is strength in unity.”


“For so long, Native voices were habitually silenced,” Daunnette added. “I hope we can create or change laws that will help protect our ladies, find them sooner, and supply justice to families who have lost their loved ones.”