Taté Walker

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe

Taté Walker is Mniconjou Lakota and a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. They are a Two Spirit feminist, Indigenous rights activist, and a published and award-winning storyteller for outlets like The Nation, Everyday Feminism, Native Peoples Magazine, Indian Country Today, and ANMLY. They are also featured in several anthologies: FIERCE: Essays by and about Dauntless Women, South Dakota in Poems, and W.W. Norton's Everyone's an Author. Their first full-length book, Thunder Thighs & Trickster Vibes: Storied Advice from your Fat, Two Spirit Auntie, is set to publish in 2021. Taté uses their 15+ years of experience working for daily newspapers, social justice organizations, and tribal education systems to organize students and professionals around issues of critical cultural competency, anti-racism/anti-bias, and inclusive community building.

MORE WORK 

Ten-year-old Kimimila Walker (Lakota/Ojibwe) stands next to her father, Dalton (Ojibwe), to demonstrate against the Washington Football Team's former name and mascot while fans enter the stadium before the Sept. 9, 2018, game in Arizona. Decades of research and study have shown the devastating impacts of Indian mascots, especially on Native youth mental health. Kimimila has been protesting the use of Native names and imagery in sports since she was a toddler, and says she aims to teach others about the racist history of the names and logos in order to end their use. The Washington Football Team officially changed their name and logo in July 2020, thanks to the efforts of Indigenous activists like Kimimila, and the solidarity of racial justice movements like Black Lives Matter.

Taté Walker

THE 400 YEARS PROJECT