TikTok Activism: MMIW, Native History, & Indigenous Representation
By Emily Clarke
LittleSnowBird (Yurok) started her TikTok account around two years ago after being inspired to share aspects of her culture and tribal history with the online community. At two weeks old, LittleSnowBird was taken from the Yurok Reservation and moved across the country to North Carolina. Because she didn’t grow up within her tribe and was even shamed for being Native, she began learning about her culture much later in life after reading her Yurok grandmother’s journal. After reconnecting with her tribe, receiving her traditional women’s tattoos, and starting to wear her hair in two braids, LittleSnowBird received a lot of nasty looks in North Carolina. It wasn’t until she was complimented by a stranger on the street, saying, “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” that LittleSnowBird was moved to start putting herself out there on social media.
Because she believed she didn’t have the right to share Yurok tribal history online, LittleSnowBird reached out to her tribe’s PR department and made an agreement that if she ever posted anything out of line, they would contact her immediately. In fact, the PR rep LittleSnowBird spoke to was ecstatic that someone was finally using social media to portray real Native perspective and history. Now, having 110.9k followers on TikTok, LittleSnowBird says she is shocked by how many people don’t know that Natives “still exist.” Her account has become a place where she proudly shares her culture, love for beadwork, and her extensive knowledge of Indigenous history. At the same time, LittleSnowBird uses her platform to educate non-Natives on important Native issues, break down harmful stereotypes, and stand up for Indigenous rights. However, LittleSnowBird doesn’t just use her account to share Native culture and history; she also uses it to raise awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, specifically, her cousin, Emmilee Risling, who went missing around two years ago.
“I didn’t know she was my cousin at first,” LittleSnowBird tells me, “but I just felt such a pull towards her. I started making videos about her story and doing whatever I could to raise awareness, and then I found out she was family.”
The Yurok tribe, as of 2021, has issued a Declaration of Emergency regarding the MMIW epidemic. They note that in the span of one month, seven women reported being approached by traffickers. Many women, including Emmilee, have been taken from the reservation and never seen again. Within their Declaration, the Yurok tribe asks their local and state partners to “take a stronger stand against the trafficking of Native women and girls.” The Declaration also suggests that historical trauma, police and gender violence, and intergenerational trauma are all factors within the MMIW epidemic. But LittleSnowBird says it’s the system that has failed Native women the most.
“Sometimes I feel hopeless,” she says, “like I can’t do enough.”
In efforts to help her cousin Emmilee as well as Emmilee’s family, LittleSnowBird also promotes the GoFundMe fundraiser Emmilee’s cousin set up in honor of the search.
“I give 20% plus all my tips and gifts from TikTok Lives to Emmilee’s GoFundMe. Even if someone sends me a gift of $10 for coffee, I immediately put it in the GoFundMe.”
LittleSnowBird tells me that she wishes she could win the Powerball Jackpot or buy a news station or make her own Iphone App in order to raise more awareness for MMIW. Sometimes she feels that people’s support only goes as far as a Like or Share button on social media, and that’s one of the problems with TikTok. However, despite grappling with heartbreaking stories such as Emmilee’s, LittleSnowBird continues to use her platform to raise awareness and says she always tries to do things in a way that her ancestors would be proud of. She urges those who might find themselves spreading information about Native history and people to do their own research and learn as much as they can from their elders.
Lastly, she says, “Never let anyone make you feel like you’re not worthy. Have humor, that’s a part of intergenerational trauma. If we, as Natives, think about everything that we’ve been through, we would just sit in our rooms and cry. So have humor and carry yourself in a way that your ancestors can look down on and be proud of you.”
