Experience Warrior Women with Makenna Finnegan & Autumn Shirk in their short reactionary pieces.
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AN EVENING WITH WARRIORS
The school day was normal without hesitation, but that evening was exciting. This year, I was becoming outspoken and more apt to talk about social issues affecting my community and country. I had also joined Shelby’s grassroots group, GOLD (Girls Owning Lives of Dissent), to become a better version of myself and form friendships with others. Mrs. Duncan, the leader of GOLD, and a small group of us wanted to go to the showing of the documentary Warrior Women that Mansfield’s own Beth Castle directed. Upon arriving at the showing, I could feel sparks of emotion igniting the further I walked. People surrounded me that I had never met, but they did not feel like strangers. The room felt like a community that was here to better themselves and learn about what might be bigger than ourselves. We were hungry to know more about this woman, Madonna Thunder Hawk, because of her strength despite the adversity Native Americans have faced for so long. However, none of us have truly seen the rigorous fight for equality until the film.
Silence struck the room as the wall came to life with magnificent images. The very first minute of the film exuded magnificence. Powerful women spoke, and each word had glory spilling out of each syllable. I watched as Madonna Thunder Hawk strengthened me, by just the sound of her voice. I felt thunder rumble in my soul as each second passed. I soaked up every word like a desert with its first rain. Not everyone got to hear her words which were like rolling thunder. They had moments of quiet power but also a flicker to set souls ablaze like lightning.
While watching, I felt like the beginning of a storm. Madonna’s account of significant events in her life such as Wounded Knee and starting her tribe’s own wilderness school was a lighthouse for hope and justice. However, there was an event that stood out to me. In the United States, there was a group called AIM, the American Indian Movement, which called for basic human rights and land preservation for Native Americans across the US. Madonna is a founding leader of this group and led her people to the famed protest on Alcatraz and Wounded Knee. I was lost for words.
This year, we “learned” about AIM. Teachers told students that Native Americans lead it and what they protested for. I, nor my classmates knew who Madonna Thunderhawk was. Our history books did not explain her significance, nor her leadership. We learned about the men who stopped the protest. History books brushed off Indigenous history like a pesky fly on their shoulders. I was furious. How could America ignore something like this? Something so vital to the faults and history of America? I felt as if my eyes were finally opened to the cruelty of society. My heart hurt for her, the Lakota Tribe, and every indigenous person in the world. I was astounded at my lack of knowledge, and I needed to learn more. I was thriving off of this history, and the events that are so profound, that they are silenced.
At the end of the film, all anyone would have been able to hear was the roaring applause. I was amazed and moved by this film to the point I was barely able to describe what I felt. I took away something important from this film. I discovered that I had an important job to do. I could not ignore injustices anymore. I had to be an activist for those that struggled because of implemented sexism and racism within our society. Dr. Castle, Madonna, and all of the women of the Lakota tribe taught me that I must dissent to these silent, but deafening roars of society’s cruel “laws”. I cannot be a bystander any longer. I must become a Warrior Woman.
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By Makenna Finnegan
TO THE WARRIORS:
THANK YOU
So I’ve tried a couple of different intros for this but I can’t seem to find one that sticks. So we’ll go with this one because there isn’t anything that can possibly do justice to this amazing film.
Warrior Woman is a film created by Dr. Elizabeth Castle which follows the American Indian Movement (AIM) and the story of Madonna Thunder Hawk and her daughter Marcy Gilbert as they stand strong and propel the movement. Madonna Thunder Hawk is, in Dr. Castle’s words, the OGG. Basically she’s the Original Gangster Grandma, which is absolutely amazing! And to add on to that she’s shown her daughter and the children of survival school that they can change the future. She taught them as well as others that they can do the “impossible”. That they can change societal norms, and change the world itself.
She continues to teach us this.
There are many quotes which I find are very cool because of how right they felt.
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“When you want good work, invite the men. But when you want things to get done, bring the women.”
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“The land is priceless. And that’s who we are.”
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“Go against society’s rules to be what you want to be.”
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“If one culture takes and moves the kids from one culture to a new one, that is an act of genocide!”
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“Rest for the Wicked!” *I greatly appreciate this even though it’s not about the movement*
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“This is who I am and this is what I stand for!”
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“Be powerful, and strong, and take on anybody.”
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I would go into why these are important, but if you haven’t seen the film it won’t have the same impact. But if you really take a moment and think about it then you’ll be able to make your own interpretations of them. For me, I think they teach people that you don’t have to be what people tell you to be, in fact, you should fight against what they tell you to be and be whom you WANT to be.
Something I thought was so important came from Marcy. She said, “She can never really go home, so the movement became home”. She is referring to her mother here, and what makes it so valuable is not only did she makes sure people had a home, she made sure the kids knew that all of their children knew they were warriors.
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Can we also just take the time to talk about how just being able to watch the film gets me super pumped up and feeling like I’m ready to march on Washington to support the Feminist movement? That is so POWERFUL!
Just the fact that I’m even writing this paper makes me wanna punch “cultural norms that state that women are property and not living people” in the face. I think that it’s so important how just one film or being around powerful women can change your outlook entirely. Like, okay, I'm not going to say that I haven’t called people negative things because that would be a lie and I feel that I should be completely honest in this. I was raised to respect others, but only when they’ve earned it. I was also raised to be polite. Now, I’m not saying that calling people those negative things are polite or respectful, but I was also raised to “call it how it is.” But, I have stopped- well I’m still working on it, I catch myself sometimes- saying those negative things. Thanks to Mrs. Duncan and being around the wonderful women who are helping put together the gala. And I think that’s an amazing little goal to have, is to cut out all the negative things you have to say/think about others and focus on the positive things instead.
I think it’ll change the world.
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I’m going to close this up by saying, Thank you.
Thank you to Dr. Castle, Dr. Donna Hight, Mrs. Duncan, Madonna Thunder Hawk, Marcy Gilbert, and all of the Warrior Women who have fought or are fighting to make this world change the views and ideas set for girls, and women alike, as well as changing how people treat people of other races, cultures, orientation, etc. I’m thanking you all because every single one of you has taught me, and others like me, what it takes to change the world, and what it takes to be a Warrior Woman.
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By Autumn Sky Shirk
STRENGTH OF CONVICTION
From watching this film, I’ve learned that a movement doesn’t have to be tens, hundreds or even thousands of people. It could just be one person, one person who truly believes in what they’re standing up and fighting for. If more people join, that’s amazing! But even if they don’t, it’s still great, because as long as that one single person believes in it, it’s enough to change things. If you want things to change, you have to stand up. You have to show people that you are here, and that you have something to say, and that they can not take away your message. You have to show people that you won’t be scared away because you’re alone, but that you will grow stronger because of the force they are using to knock you down.
There’s a saying that says, “Stand up for what you believe in, even if you’re standing alone.” If you believe in something strong enough, it doesn’t matter if you’re standing alone because as long as you believe in it, nobody else has to.
If there’s one thing that anyone can take away from the film, it’s that in order to make a change, or a difference there are two definite things you must know. The first, is to make your own rules. The second, is that in order to make a difference, you have to make sacrifices. If you follow the rules that others have created, you will never be able to make things your own. There will be a lot of trial and error, but as long as you stay true to yourself and follow your own rules, you can make a difference. And if there’s one thing that I’ve learned in life, it’s that in order to do something great, you’ve got to make some sacrifices.
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by Autumn Shirk