Simone Senogles, MMIW 218 Founding Member & IEN Leader, Dies at Age 54

Simone Senogles (Courtesy: Cease Family Funeral Home)

A Bemidji woman and member of the Red Lake Nation who helped found MMIW 218, a grassroots group dedicated to addressing the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, has died.

Simone Senogles, a member of the Migizi (Eagle) Clan who carried the names “Chinoodinikwé” and “Miskomakwakwe,” passed away on Saturday, September 20 at the age of 54.

According to her obituary, Senogles worked with the Indigenous Environmental Network for over 25 years in many different capacities, most recently as IEN’s operations director. She was an educator on the local impact of toxic chemicals and spearheaded the organization’s food sovereignty work.

In 2013, Lakeland PBS aired the documentary “Regaining Food Sovereignty,” a co-production between IEN and the channel that was co-written and co-directed by Senogles.

Senogles also served on the governing board of Grassroots Global Justice, an alliance of organizations of working and poor people and communities of color. In addition, she helped create the first Indigenous Feminist Organizing school in the U.S., as well as its international counterpart.

Traditional services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, September 26 at the new Red Lake Center in Red Lake. A wake will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, September 25 at the new Red Lake Center and will continue until the time of services.