Brave Heart Fellowship
Champions for Change
CA Native Youth Collective
Remembering Our Sisters
Building Communities of Hope
Creative Native
Democracy is Indigenous
MarLynn Cloud (she/her) is a member of the Apsáalooke Nation (Crow Tribe), located in southeastern Montana. Her family comes from The Mighty Few District also known as Iikooshtakáatbaatchaache. The name given to her is Alasáashiia Koon Iluush (Stands in His Light) and she is a member of the Whistling Water Clan (Bilikóoshe) and a child of Ties-the-Bundle Clan (Xúhkaalaxche).
MarLynn attended Chief Dull Knife College on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation before transferring to Montana State University Billings where she received her B.S./B.A. in Psychiatric Rehabilitation & Sociology with a minor in Native American Studies in 2022. As a first-generation student, she received scholar of the year awards in both departments. MarLynn also received an honorable mention at the 2022 Research & Creativity Symposium in the social sciences category for her research project focused on “The Impact of MMIW on the Perceptions of Safety of Women attending MSUB.” She also served on the Rivers of Rejuvenation Youth Council under the National Council of Urban Indian Health focusing on promoting awareness and providing support for Native American youth living in urban areas.
MarLynn currently works at Montana State University Billings as a New Student Specialist and is also a member of the 2024 Statewide Fellowship for Forward Montana. Outside of her studies and work, MarLynn is a true artist at heart. Whether it’s painting, designing clothes, writing poetry/songs, or beading – she loves anything that allows her to express herself and her culture. She was accepted into the School of the Arts Institute in Chicago during her senior year of high school and was offered a scholarship. Although her family was excited for her to embark on this new journey, they worried for her safety as a young Apsáalooke woman. She decided not to attend, but never lost her love for art.
Living in Montana, one of the main hotspots for MMIWG2S+ cases, MarLynn has seen first hand the lack of awareness and action in regard to this epidemic. Having lost both her maternal grandparents and her uncle to MMIW, she hopes to combine her knowledge and passion to not only educate others, but inspire them.
About MarLynn’s Project
During her time as a 2024 Remembering Our Sisters Fellow, MarLynn worked to develop a mini magazine (‘zine’) – Remembering Our Relatives: A zine created for and by Montana’s Indigenous Peoples
Her work is dedicated to spreading awareness of the MMIWG2S+ epidemic, featuring AI-inspired artwork explaining sociological themes and topics stemming from this issue. It also features other local Indigenous Montana artists who have advocated for our Missing & Murdered through their work.
There is dedicated space at the end of the zine (coming soon) for victims and families to share their favorite memories and how they would like them to be remembered, as well as resources to get more involved.