Request for Allyship

NOTE: This blogpost is archived as part of my writing list. It contains a time-sensitive request that went past on December 13,2024. However, the educational aspects of the story remain relevant, and the community will be informed as the court system makes a decision. Thank you to readers who wrote letters and emails. Some of you shared your words in the comments or emails: such thoughtful, compassionate outreach. And thank you to those who just read with curiosity. All open-hearted, thought-provoking, call and response, and quiet contemplation is welcome here.

I knew writing The Beekeeper’s Question would require reckoning with the injustices of western settlement. Despite my birth into the territory of the book, in childhood I was taught almost nothing about Indigenous people or the history of the land on which my grandparents homesteaded. I had to read and research to educate myself enough to write Piikuni characters into the story. And I needed a Blackfeet cultural advisor willing to confront my cultural blinders and help me fulfill my intentions for accuracy and respect.

It took me three and a half years to find such an advisor.  A friend-of-a-friend introduced us. We started texting in a stream of words like a river already flowing. She shared realities of Native people today, and elucidated history from the Indigenous perspective.  She told me of the harm done to her grandmother at the Fort Shaw Indian School. I told her my grandfather had been a teacher there. Their lives may have intersected: now ours were intersecting. We decided our ancestors wanted healing.

Grand Entry, No. American Indian Days, July 2019

The characters of Jesse, Willow, Gramma Josie, BB, Darrell, Aunt Aggie, the council, and little Drum all contain bits of her education, guidance, and validation. Nato’kssin, my friend.

Now her extended family needs allyship.

Many readers ask me what to do about the issues raised in the story. Here’s something immediate: You can help one family confront one tragic death. You can write one letter to a court in Montana, asking that the life of a young Indigenous woman, Mika Westwolf, be valued in the justice system, and that the young woman who killed her in a hit and run is held accountable.

I have written this story before in my blog post: “Because it’s all still happening.” Mika Westwolf was killed as she walked alongside Montana Highway 93 on the Flathead Reservation, heading home late at night on March 31, 2023.   When Popular Information ran Mika’s story, and Amy Goodman picked it up for Democracy Now, the death of this young woman and the tragedies of many Native families came to white-eyes attention.

The woman who hit Mika is named Sunny White. She named her little children Aryan and Nation. The combination of vehicular homicide, white supremacy, and hate-crime brought the FBI into the case. Her auntie describes the scene this way: “The newspapers keep saying “crash” there was no crash…she ran off the road to run Mika down in cold blood and drove away… the police caught up with her hours later, passed out in her rig,…when they woke her she is recorded in the police cam yelling “I’m going to prison forever pls don’t arrest me.” Well that tells everyone she knew what she did and intentionally left Mika to die alone…later she changed it to “I thought I hit a deer.” It’s ridiculous to be charged 45-yrs and have charges dropped to five yrs in a plea agreement… we need letters, just one paragraph, or email, or phone calls saying white people are watching this and care that the family gets justice”

Here’s what I am saying via email: I have been following this case since it received national attention in the spring/summer of 2023. Any event like this is a complex tragedy, but Sunny White must be held accountable for vehicular homicide, for child endangerment and other charges. The justice system needs to validate the loss of Mika Westwolf to her family and her people. Standards of sentencing need to be observed without prejudice, and a signal sent to Indigenous citizens that Montana law takes their harm and disappearance and deaths seriously.  Thank you. Christina Baldwin, Montana born.

This is what Mika’s mother wrote on Facebook and the www.MikaMatters.com website.

“On the morning of October 30th, 2024, in Polson, Mt the pre-conference trial hearing for Sunny White was held. That morning, Sunny White pleaded guilty to “vehicular homicide and incidents involving another person.”

White was also charged with two counts of criminal child endangerment and one count of criminal possession of dangerous drugs, which were dismissed as part of the plea deal. Sunny White was under the influence of fentanyl and meth when she struck Mika with her vehicle leaving her on the side of the road.

The total sentence could include up to 40 years in prison with substantial fines. If the stars all aligned in White’s favor in her sentencing, White would only receive five years or less. This is not acceptable to me or my family.

We, the family of Mika, initially hoped for a jury trial. We wanted to bring more visibility to Mika’s case and continue to pressure Lake County to work (as it should) with no racial biases. This is one of the many issues that we, as indigenous people, still have to still face, in this country, in 2024!

I am asking you that if you care about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and my daughter’s case to please write a letter to Katie Campbell (Sergeant of the Kalispell Region Probation and Parole Board). It is Katie Campbell’s duty to write the final report for Sunny White’s sentencing, that the judge will read. We hope that with our families’ testimonies (at the sentencing), and the letters that you will provide; Sunny White will receive the maximum amount of years and any chance of early parole will be denied. …  In the end, my ultimate goal is to get justice for my daughter, Mika, and try to get the sentencing laws changed in the state of Montana. Right now, the penalties do not work in favor of the victim. People get more time for theft, burglary, and drug convictions than taking a human life.

WE NEED YOU. If you care about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and my daughters’ case to please write a letter to Katie Campbell (Sergeant of the Kalispell Region Probation and Parole Board). 

Please write letters, email, or call:
Katie Campbell
Sergeant, Kalispell Region Probation and Parole Bureau
kcampbell2@mt.gov

Office: 406-872-6254

36235 Kerr Dam Rd Polson, MT. 59860

Victim Impact Statement please include at the top of your Statement

• Primary victim’s name: Mika J. Westwolf
• Defendant name(s): Sunny K. White
• Date of crime: March 31,2023
• Location of crime: North of Arlee, MT near Mile marker 20

Deadline is December 13th, 2024 (Her mother says to send letters and emails beyond that date as well.)

Once upon a time my grandfather, a newly ordained Methodist missionary, was assigned, as his “Christian ministry” to participate in the torturous “re-education” of Indian children. And once upon a time the descendants of a surviving Indian girl and a “re-educated” parson met to tell a story. Mika’s death became part of our story beyond the book. And writing Katie Campbell is part of my commitment to restitution and healing beyond the book.

View of butte and “Pigeon River,” site of The Beekeeper’s Question

I know this is an edgy request, but this is an edgy time. Do what feels right in your heart but do something. Maybe for Mika, maybe for some other cause. We are called to courage and engagement. Now, more than ever.