Mary Annette Pember
ICT
CHEYENNE RIVER RESERVATION — It was what photographers call the “magic hour,” that period before dusk when the setting sun bathes the world in warm glowing light. The long row of red dresses and T-shirts, suspended from hangers, were illuminated at that time of day.
They flapped brilliantly along the main street in Eagle Butte, the hub of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. Several people gathered in a nearby park, sharing food while children jumped in an inflatable bounce house.
But the festival-like atmosphere of the event, “Paint the Town Red,” belied a dark, tragic reality. It was organized to call attention to the high rates of missing and murdered relatives in the community.
“She was murdered,” Jolee Two Dogs Clark said simply, after ICT asked her what happened.
Clark stood along the row of red dresses and shirts, clutching a large photograph of her daughter, Ahmyli Clark, 20, who was killed in June 2025 in what police have described as a murder-suicide. The case, according to Jolee Clark,is still under investigation.
Horrifically, the line of red included another of Clark’s children. Her son, Miles Phillips, 23, was shot and killed in July 2022 along with his friend, 18-year-old Jalen Wells, after attending a festival in Eagle Butte.
As in much of Indian Country, the rates of missing and murdered relatives are high here on Cheyenne River.
“We didn’t have enough materials to hang shirts and dresses for all those affected,” said Jessica Grazier, domestic violence advocate for the Sacred Heart Center, a nonprofit service organization on Cheyenne River. Grazier is a citizen of the tribe.
There are well over two dozen missing and murdered relatives whose names were included on a poster board at the event coordinated by the center.
“There’s a lot of violence that goes on in the community along with murder,” she said. “This event was really needed here.”
In May and June, four young people were killed within weeks of each other, according to the West River Eagle. In addition to Ahmyli Clark, they include Andre Eberhard, Thomas Three Legs Jr. and Micah Bear Charger.
In response, the community has come together in an “upwelling of support to pray, mourn and gather mental health and spiritual resources,” in recent weeks, reported the West River Eagle.
“Paint the Town Red” included a commemorative walk as well as several speakers who shared stories of lost loved ones. It is the latest in such grassroots events across Indian Country as communities come together to offer residents a measure of healing and support.
Among those highlighted at the even included:
*Ahmyli, who was raised alongside her many, many cousins, and nieces and nephews, that she considered her own siblings. Ahmyli was involved in many activities such as Sparkling Stars, C-EB Spirit Squad, and Lakota Club as an elementary student. She also loved to dance fancy shawl and had beautiful outfits made by her mother.
*Her brother, Miles Phillips, a basketball enthusiast who “went to any event that involved basketball.” He worked the Summer Youth Program and held many jobs in his life, of which he was proud.
*Andre’ Eberhard, also a sports enthusiast. He attended Haskell Indian Nations University and spent many summers with his grandparents on the river swimming, fishing, boating, or just playing. Eberhard died in June 2025 at age 23.
*Thomas Three Legs Jr. ,died in June 2025 at age 23. He loved horses and was a singer on the family drum, the Lake Side Singers.
*Micah Black Bear Charger, died in May at age 15. “From the moment Michah was born he was full of love.”