MISSOULA — Art class was always MarLynn Cloud's favorite class of the day. By her sophomore year of high school, she'd taken every drawing and design class her school had to offer. All that was left were painting classes.
With no other options, she signed up. She fell in love with it instantly. "I loved going to school and then seventh period was art class, and I would just put my headphones in and just paint the entire period and it was like the best, best time of the day, just to be able to sit there and paint and not really have to think about other things," Cloud said.
Now 23, Cloud will use her painting skills for advocacy through the Center for Native American Youth's Remembering Our Sisters Fellowship. She is one of six fellows chosen to develop art and storytelling projects that raise awareness about MMIWG2S+. MMIWG2S+ stands for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirits+, sometimes broadened to Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP).
Native Americans go missing and are killed at disproportionately high rates. Although Indigenous people make up only 6.7% of Montana's population, they account for, on average, a fourth of the state's active missing persons cases.
The fellowship is intended to empower and uplift young Indigenous women and femme-identifying people to raise awareness, push for policies that address the crisis and honor those affected by it, according to the Center's website. Fellows receive resources, funding and mentorship to s.
