OUR HISTORY

Beginning in the late 1980s, a group of Native American women from Duluth, MN gathered to discuss their concern of the overwhelming ratio of domestic and sexual violence happening to Indigenous women within the community. Their gatherings would eventually lead to the decision to establish an organization joined together with the Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Program (DAIP). The organization would be known as Mending the Sacred Hoop (MSH).

With the passing of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994, the decision was made to focus five percent of the federal grant funds and one state grant to address issues surrounding violence against Native women. By 1996, MSH became its own 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, with the assistance of funding from VAWA 1994.

Through the years MSH has provided the resources and assistance to advocates, coordinators, and other professionals who work in the DV and SA field for Native communities. With over 25 years and counting, MSH continues to provide extensive training and resources to strengthen responses to domestic, dating, sexual violence, sex trafficking, and stalking of Native women.

WHAT FRAMES OUR WORK

Native women are the highest victimized population in the United States by perpetrators of all races. (US Dept of the Interior of Indian Affairs, Washington DC, 2025).

Violence against women is a social problem that affects individuals, families, and communities and requires societal change. The World Health Organization reports 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.

Colonization is based in a belief that one group has the right to exert their will over another and use people and resources for their own gain.

Domestic and sexual violence is about establishing power and maintaining control. Behaviors and tactics by predators and abusers are used to manipulate others in order to keep that control.

Acculturated values and beliefs have eroded our Indigenous structures and negatively affected our traditional lifeways.

Reclaiming our own Indigenous teachings on culture and restoring our values creates social change within and for our communities.

OUR MISSION

Mending the Sacred Hoop (MSH) works from a social change perspective to end violence against American Indian/Alaska Native women while restoring the safety, sovereignty, and sacredness of our women. Our approach is founded on grassroots organizing within our communities while restoring the leadership of our women to address domestic, dating, and sexual violence, trafficking and stalking of Native women.

OUR LOGO

MSHoop Logo

The Hoop, or Circle, is one of the most powerful Native American symbols for wellness and creative problem-solving. It represents wholeness, health, harmony with self, family, community, nation, and the universe.

Our logo references American Indian/Alaska Native people healing from the devastating effects of European migration. The healing of Native communities is based on the teachings of the Medicine Wheel and each section represents one of the four cardinal directions with a corresponding color. The outer rim shows the Sacred Hoop as being broken, and the ribbon signifies MSH’s work; the process of mending the Sacred Hoop, which begins with the Seventh Generation.

The turtle in the middle represents Earth, North America/Turtle Island, wisdom, longevity, and women. As women are at the center of our work, in our families, and in our communities, we place the turtle in the center of the Sacred Hoop.

OUR STAFF

Cinnamon Bankey headshot

Cinnamon Bankey

Executive Director

Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community

Cinnamon is the granddaughter of Chairman Saros, daughter of Vice Chairman Ronneng, proud mother of two sons, and grandmother to five grandchildren. Assisting survivors through direct services while navigating the judicial system, she knows first-hand the challenges of working across multiple jurisdictions when working with Indigenous survivors of domestic violence (DV) and sexual assault (SA). Her experience spans over 22 years of providing national leadership and collaboration with tribes and tribal SA programs.

Cinnamon is known to have coordinated the first National Tribal Conference on Sex Trafficking in Indian Country, co-authored the tribal section of the Office on Victims of Crime Toolkit, and assisted in curriculum development for the Tribal SA Forensic Examiner Training & Tribal SA Forensic Examiner Clinical Skills Lab, the Tribal SA Advocacy Curricula, and the American Indian Women’s Educational Support Group curriculum. Her work includes creating the Native Women’s Crisis Line Training Protocol & Resource Manuscript and she has twice assisted in drafting the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA) resolutions for the National Congress of American Indians.

With 15 years of experience providing training and technical assistance (TTA) to Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) Tribal program grantees, she was involved in one of the first eight Tribal SART pilot project trainings in rural and reservation areas. Cinnamon is an expert coordinating SA multidisciplinary response team protocols, developing sexual violence advocacy programs and working as a program director in rural reservation and urban Tribal communities.  As one of the founders of the MN Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition (MIWSAC), she has also served on the Board of Directors as a Circle Keeper for nine years.

Operations Coordinator named Natasha Kingbird

Natasha Kingbird

Natasha Kingbird

Natasha’s parents are from Red Lake (Little Rock) and Ponemah (Makwambe) and her maternal grandfather was enrolled in the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. Having spent six years working in the Ombishkaa Program (Rising Up), she served three of the years in a Leadership position. The Ombishkaa program helped Indigenous relatives transition to home from correctional facilities. The knowledge she has gained throughout her journey and the Anishinaabe lifeways she lives by, were instrumental in her contribution to helping develop the pilot Healing House model utilized by women transitioning from incarceration. Natasha has helped develop a native-focused Safe Harbor program that involved safety protocols for sex trafficking, sheltering homeless community members, provide healing ceremonies, and establish a trusting environment.
Known as a community advocate, she has helped organize events in Bemidji and utilizes her knowledge of the Anishinaabe worldview to help those in need. She is a trained facilitator in the Duluth Model, Family Peace Initiative, and Peer Support Specialist programs. Serving on the Violence Free Minnesota’s Board of Directors for three years and the Northwoods Battered Women’s Shelter for one year, she is also a member of the MMIR office advisory Council and MNCASA. Natasha is recipient of the United Way Women’s Tribute Award in 2022, the Virginia McKnight Unsung Hero Award in 2023 (for her contributions for volunteer and community work), she is currently working on her Indigenous Leadership degree at the Leech Lake Tribal College.