Many people participated in the 23rd annual Memorial March to Honor Lost Children that started earlier on Wednesday morning.
The march started at War Eagle Park and has four prayer stops along the way at the Rosecrance Jackson Center, Urban Native Center, Woodbury County Courthouse, and Longlines Family Rec Center.
Jessica Lopez-Walker, one of the organizers of the walk, told Siouxland Public Media, “It’s in remembrance of the children that have been missing or murdered or lost into the foster care system.”
According to a 2020 study that covers mortality rate from 2003-2016, Indigenous children had a mortality rate of 39.7 percent while in the foster care system.
Lopez-Walker believes the walk brings awareness to the community about Native children lost within the foster care system and that it gives people a chance to ask questions.
She mentions that during this walk she is carrying star quilts that represent the children who have been lost in the system.
“In a way they're still with us and remembered always,” she said.
There has been a fluctuation in attendance over the past 23 years, but Lopez-Walker says the purpose and meaning of the march remain the same.
