MMIW Indian Capital, SOR Training Address Women Safety With Self-Defense Class

A local group hosted a self-defense class Friday afternoon in Moore to help Indigenous women feel safer in their community.

The free class focused on situational awareness to prevent an attack.

The local group set up a memorial table displaying photos of only a few missing and murdered Indigenous women in Oklahoma.

“Every single minute that goes by something is happening, somebody is walking out that door and not returning home at this moment, somebody is being victimized, somebody is being abused and somebody's life is being taken,” Rochelle Red Bone Arebalo said.

There are around 400 missing and murdered Indigenous people here in Oklahoma, and that number continues to grow, according to the Oklahoma state chapter of Missing and Murdered Indigenous people.

Red Bone Arebalo with MMIW Indian Capital has been helping victims' families for years.

“Sometimes they don't know how to work with their traumas, they don't know how to come back from that situation so we may not just lose a love one, we may lose a whole family on a mental concept,” Red Bone Arebalo said.

Red Bone Arebalo said this will no longer happen in her community.

Paul Gordon with SOR Training said self-defense is important and you should always keep your head on a swivel.

Gordon said a lot can happen in a couple of seconds and that may be all you need to save your life.

“They could be trolling and that's all they're trying to do is find a victim. You could just be the flavor of the day. If you get that feeling in your stomach that something is wrong, we got to get away from them,” Gordon said.

For more information on how to contact a local chapter with questions regarding a loved one's case, email mmipcentralchapter@gmail.com or call 405-823-2822.