Ahead of Indigenous Peoples Day, Raye Zaragoza has shared a new song. “Red” is an impassioned call for increased awareness and protection of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women. The modern protest-folk singer says, “I was attending an event in Winnipeg, Manitoba when someone told me ‘Don’t go walking alone at night, they’ve been finding native women in the Red River.’ This comment made a shiver go through my spine. I knew that the MMIW crisis was rampant throughout North America, but that night I dug deeper into the stories of those who went missing on Highway 16, and discovered how impossible it is to find reliable information. This song is a call for people to acknowledge this horrific reality, and fight for the protection of indigenous women. Read their stories. Know their names.” Raye encourages listeners to begin their own involvement at the Sovereign Bodies Institute.
The song arrives one week after congress passed Savanna’s Act, a bill aimed at repairing law enforcement’s response to Indigenous people gone missing, a response historically flacked with racism and neglect. Raye says, “I hope this bill is just the beginning of more legislation to protect Indigenous women. So many women and girls like Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind have left us far too soon.” Raye is heavily involved in activism on behalf of Indigenous communities. Read her recent conversation with U.S. Representative Deb Haaland about protecting voting rights of the underrepresented.
Raye Zaragoza’s new album Woman In Color, produced by Grammy-nominated Tucker Martine (Neko Case, My Morning Jacket, First Aid Kit, The Decemberists, Modest Mouse, Sufjan Stevens) will be released October 23 on Rebel River Records.
