Faith Hedgepeth's tribe honors her, spotlights indigenous murders

When you come down 95 and you get off at. that exit, it's almost like. >> [music]. >> this hand is wrapping you to say welcome. home. That's what Hollister is. >> It's the home of the Hollister Saponi. tribe. >> Generations of our people have lived. here. >> Our ancestors. >> [music]. >> were movers and shakers. They fought for their identity as. indigenous peoples here in the South.

It was a really difficult The Hollister. Saponi Indian tribe is an indigenous. [music] tribe and an amalgamation of. different tribes who survived the. colonial era. We have approximately. 4,000 [music]. members of our tribe. >> Faith was an enrolled tribal citizen of. the Hollister Saponi Indian tribe. She. loved her people. She loved being. Hollister Saponi. >> Faith and I were both Native American. from communities where [music] our.

culture was. understood without explanation. And then. suddenly we were at [music] UNC, which. is a large predominantly white. institution and the. Native American student body is like. less than 1%. So, we joined the Carolina. Indian Circle, which is the Native. American student organization [music]. at UNC. >> In our society and in [music] our. communities, our women are the leaders. So, women have a great deal of respect.

in [music] our communities. Our women. are to be respected. >> Faith's death as uh. >> [music]. >> being a part of the missing. uh murdered indigenous women there has a. a tremendous impact on the younger. [music] generation here. >> When a woman is stolen, they're taken. It makes no sense. The MMIW [music]. missing and murdered indigenous women. movement, it's very difficult for us to.

talk about. We talk about it because we. have to. >> The red handprint movement is also. another name for missing [music] and. murdered indigenous women and people. And I think Faith's case brought. attention to the movement. [music]. >> A lot of times you'll see the red hand. across her mouth. And and what we're. saying is you cannot silence us. Just. because someone may have been murdered. or missing and that bloody hand, you. will not silence us. We will continue to. talk about this.

>> We. >> [music]. >> are an undying people. We are still. here. We're very vibrant and we still. maintain [music] our identities native. people. >> And once you belong to that circle, you. you're never forgotten and you never. really leave. Even if you pass, you're. still there. Your spirit is still there. because we've danced [music] beside you. We've sang beside you. >> We're all [music]. one in the same. So, if it happens to.

one, then you've certainly [music] included. all of us. >> We will continue to sing about you. We. will continue to honor you. We will. always speak your name. [music]. I will always speak Faith's name in a. good way.