User:Ltomohara/Isabella Aiukli Cornell

Lead
Isabella Aiukli Cornell (born 2001) is a Native American activist who wore a custom red dress to her junior prom to raise awareness for Native American issues. As a member of the Choctaw Nation and the Matriarch nonprofit, Cornell became acutely aware of the struggles that Native American women face. Her red dress was later featured in a Smithsonian exhibit.

Tribal Affiliation
Cornell is a member of the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma City, which is the third-largest Indian nation in the United States, encompassing over 200,000 members. Through this tribe, Isabella has supported Native American women for years, including women from tribes of the Choctaw, Cherokee, and Chickasaw nations. Cornell advocates for all of these women who have suffered from domestic abuse and violence.

Cornell advocates for these women through the Matriarch, an Inter-Tribal non-profit located in Oklahoma.

Advocacy
For her junior prom in 2018, Cornell wore a red custom-made dress by Della BigHair-Stump to highlight the violence and struggles faced by Native American women. As the color for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's movement, red served as a bold statement and was also believed to be the only color visible to spirits, guiding spirits of women and children that were murdered to rest. Embellishments on the dress bring attention to her tribe, Native Choctaw, and symbolize her heritage.

Impact
Cornell's dress was given to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History as an addition to their "Girlhood" exhibit which commemorated the 100th year anniversary of the women's suffrage movement. Cornell's dress has helped educate and spread awareness on the adversity indigenous women have historically and continue to face. Cornell stated that she intended for the increased publicity to help correct the narrative surrounding the abuse and assault indigenous women face. Cornell asserts that the current statistics are under representative given that not all indigenous women report their experiences.