Four years ago, thousands of Nevadans flooded downtown Reno in a sea of knitted pink “pussyhats” in opposition to Donald Trump’s presidency, led by Native women and girls. 

As the fifth Women's March kicks off virtually this weekend, Nevada organizers are reflecting on what the event means to them amid the pandemic and which issues they are tackling this year, as a new White House administration leads the country.

“I do feel hopeful,” said organizer Autumn Harry. “And I'm also preparing myself, and I think a lot of others are preparing themselves for the work that's going to continue.” 

The event will open with remarks by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada’s first female U.S. senator and the country’s first Latina senator, and Sen. Jacky Rosen, Nevada’s second female senator. Charlotte Harry, a Pyramid Lake tribal elder, will say a prayer, and Jolie Varela, who is Paiute and Tule River Yokut, will say the land acknowledgment in recognition of the original people, and women, of the state. 

An opening video featuring Native women is intended to raise awareness of harm against women and Native land. There also will be more than a dozen local female speakers, one male speaker, spoken word artists and female musicians. 

Thousands of people have participated in the annual Reno Women’s March in the past, and organizers hope people will still tune in this year in order to continue to uplift women’s voices. 

“Our voices still need to be heard,” said Native community organizer for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) Beverly Harry, also Autumn Harry's mother.

Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada Executive Director Laura Martin echoed Beverly Harry, affirming the Women’s March as a prominent space to listen to women from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. 

“This for years has also provided the space to really have tough conversations about making room for Black voices, making room for Indigenous leadership, making room Latinx leadership, when sometimes it was lacking,” Martin said during an interview with The Nevada Independent. 

“I think sometimes people want us for the front facing visuals, but don't take our ideas seriously, don't take our vision seriously.” 

Healing women, healing the land 

Native women at the forefront of the march, as has been the case since 2017, continue to raise awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) and people, who experience sexual assault and are murdered at rates higher than the national average — and more than other racial and ethnic groups. 

But this year, the issue hits closer to home. In December, Amanda Davis, 37 and pregnant, was killed in her home on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe reservation. Her boyfriend, father of the baby she was pregnant with, is facing second-degree murder charges. His trial is scheduled for February. 

Compounded by the loss felt across Native communities caused by the pandemic, there is a greater theme of healing this year. 

“I think it's just really just allowing this reflection time and like, Okay, well, what can we do right now to better support ourselves, our communities, our families? We can't really rely on the government, and even tribal programs to make us feel safe,” Autumn Harry said. 

For Autumn and Beverly Harry, healing and fighting for justice for murdered Native women is intertwined with justice for the environment and Native land.

“Our message in this Women's March is justice for our sisters and our Earth Mother,” said Beverly Harry. “We have to acknowledge that in order to survive for the next seven generations, we need to take care of our Earth Mother, and we need to become more accountable and more responsible.” 

Organizing events such as the Women’s March helps create greater visibility for Native women and dismantle prejudices. 

“Most of the time when we're dealing with these types of issues, it's because people think that we're less than human, that we’re put down on a lower level. We offer people a different understanding of who we are. We're beautiful people,” Beverly Harry said.

Strides made, moving forward

The years following Trump’s 2017 inauguration saw historic numbers of women running for and being elected to office, shifting representation in Congress. 

The national wave is reflected in Nevada, too, which made history as the first state in the country to elect a female-majority Legislature in 2018, and then increased that number in 2020. The 2021 Legislature commences on Feb. 1, and the nearly 60 percent of seats filled by women marks the highest percentage of any other state. 

Martin pointed to this accomplishment as a major win since the first Women’s March, and said she hopes the legislation passed in the session will benefit Nevada women. 

“Let's set the new goal that the majority of our legislation that is passed has a positive impact on women and girls and is done so with intention,” Martin said. “It's not just a happy byproduct. But it's something that we can intentionally do to support the next generation of women and girls who may be our next Senate majority leader or maybe our next president.” 

Other than policies the Legislature will pass, Martin is focused on efforts to “right the wrongs” caused by the pandemic, including housing assistance and supporting immigrant families.

“Anything that will, again, in a pandemic, keep families together, keep people safe,” she said.

Autumn Harry said she plans to focus on her grassroots community project to provide Pyramid Lake reservation residents with garden boxes to grow their own food so that tribal members can be more self-sufficient. 

Beverly Harry’s focus is to continue to raise awareness of environmental justice. 

“I would really appreciate some attention placed on protection for our water and our environment or our lands, and look at the injustices that have been caused by corporations,” she said, adding that this fosters greed and greater divide between classes and people.

All three women agreed that they will continue to work just as hard to hold the new Biden administration and state government accountable as they did during the Trump administration. 

“Regardless of who won, I think these past four years have put us in a strong position, because we've really learned that our strength comes from our community, the answers come from our community, the people who are closest to the pain are closest to the solution,” Martin said.

Updated on Jan. 23, 2021 at 1:56 p.m. to correct information regarding Amanda Davis' killer, who was the father of her unborn child, but not the father of her other three children.