Draft:Fixico

Kyalie Fixico / NoHeartInWar (she/her) is a Native American photographer, artist, activist, and creative mind. She is a enrolled tribal member of the Muscogee-Creek Nation, and descent of the Yuchi Nations of Oklahoma. She was adopted at birth by Donald Fixico, a Distinguished Professor of Native American History and Western Studies. The family is indirectly related to the Shawnee/Muscogee war leader Tecumseh and the Sauk war leader Black Hawk.

Exposure to culture, ceremony, and tribal sovereignty
Kyalie's father, Donald Fixico, is a Distinguished Professor of Native American History and Indigenous Studies at Arizona State University (ASU). He is the author of The American Indian Mind in a Linear World: American Indian Studies and Traditional Knowledge (2003). Her adoptive mother, Sharon O'Brien, was a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame in the Department of Government and International Relations. Later, she became a professor at the University of Kansas, appointed to the Center for Global Indigenous Nations Studies and Political Science.

Education
Kyalie attended Mountain View High School in Mesa, Arizona, and graduated in 2013.

Standing Rock
On April 1, 2016, members of the Great Sioux Tribal Nation gathered to camp and protest the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The camp became a site of preservation and spiritual resistance, drawing indigenous people from throughout North America and the world. It was the largest gathering of nations ever recorded in history. Kyalie arrived at Standing Rock in early fall and stayed despite blizzards and sub-zero temperatures, becoming part of the Standing Rock Movement.

Backwater Bridge
On November 20, 2016, at approximately 4:55 PM CST on North Dakota Highway 1806, Mile Marker 35, a small group from the movement began towing a previously burned military vehicle from the barricade on Backwater Bridge. In response to a statement given by the Morton County Sheriff's Office (MCSO), the chains they used broke several times. MCSO responded by firing tear gas, concussion grenades, flash bang grenades, and rubber bullets. As the night went on, injuries occurred, and MCSO used water cannons with chemical agents. This became known as the Battle of Backwater Bridge. During the night, an elder went into cardiac arrest after being hit with a concussion grenade. Kyalie carried him to the bed of a white pickup truck, where he was revived on transport back to medical HQ. Kyalie was later seen directing the medical evacuation process for the injured, which was described as an improvised evacuation situation.

Media Appearances

 * Nahko Bear & Medicine for the People – "Love Letters to God" (2:08 in Music Video)
 * Dee Snider – "So What" in the We Are The Ones album (1:22 in Music Video)
 * Awake, A Dream from Standing Rock
 * BuzzFeed Video to President Obama – "President Obama, Please Stop The Dakota Access Pipeline"
 * CNN with Sara Sidner