![\"memorialmarchtohonorourlostchildren\"](\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/memorialmarchtohonorourlostchildren-scaled.jpg\")
\r\n<\/p>\r\n
<\/p>\r\n• PHOTOS: 18th Annual Memorial March to Honor Our Lost Children <\/a><\/strong>\r\n <\/p>\r\nSIOUX CITY, Iowa \u2013 As they have for the past 17 years, Native men and women stood atop a windswept hill overlooking the Missouri River here on Wednesday morning and prayed for the Native children lost to the child welfare system.\r\n <\/p>\r\nThe 18th Annual Memorial March to Honor Our Lost Children was held Wednesday in Sioux City. It began at War Eagle Park before a 31-foot statue of Santee Sioux Chief War Eagle.\r\n <\/p>\r\nTerry Medina, a Winnebago Tribal Court probation officer, began the event by invoking the name of the march\u2019s founder, the late Frank LaMere, a Winnebago community organizer who died in June 2019 after a brief battle with cancer.\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nLaMere began the march to commemorate Native children lost to the child welfare system or murdered by foster parents and to convince state officials in Iowa and Nebraska to address the ever growing ranks of Native children taken from Native parents. Medina said he couldn\u2019t recall the names of the many Native children who have died in Iowa foster homes.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cFrank knew all those names, and I don\u2019t know all those names,\u201d he said.\r\n <\/p>\r\nHe compared LaMere, who was also pivotal in the successful effort to shut down the beer stores in Whiteclay, Nebraska, to a buffalo, an animal that turns its head to face strong winds and blizzards.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cThe buffaloes, they face the adversity,\u201d Medina said. \u201cThey face the elements.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cThat\u2019s how Frank was. Leading the way for the relatives. In times of need, he was there.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nNearly 30 people walked from War Eagle Park down the hill to Jackson Recovery Centers, a treatment center, where they gathered for words from local leaders.\r\n <\/p>\r\nAlong the march, a woman carrying an eagle staff led four riders on horses and one horse without a rider. Organizers said the rider-less horse was meant to represent the Native children lost to the child welfare system.\r\n <\/p>\r\nMatt Ohman, executive director of the Siouxland Human Investment Partnership, spoke about the need for more Native foster parents.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cWe badly need them in our community,\u201d he said.\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nFrom there, marchers walked several miles to the Urban Native Center, a community center that serves Native people where marchers gathered for refreshments and words from local leaders.\r\n <\/p>\r\nNate Bigfire, chairman of Winnebago Chapter of Fatherhood Is Sacred, talked about the need for any Native person who is considering helping other Native people to first get sober and heal themselves.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cWe have to have clean hands to help our people,\u201d he said. \u201cIt takes our own people to help our own people, to understand our own way of life.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\nHe said it\u2019s important for Native men to get sober and take care of their families.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cNow our men are finally standing up to help our families, to help our people,\u201d he said.\r\n <\/p>![\"terrymedina\"](\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/terrymedina-scaled.jpeg\")
\r\n![\"horserider\"](\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/horserider-scaled.jpg\")
\r\n![\"urbannativecentersiouxcity\"](\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/urbannativecentersiouxcity-scaled.jpg\")
\r\n