Tokata Iron Eyes (born 2003/2004) is a Native American

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

and member of the

Standing Rock Sioux The Standing Rock Reservation ( lkt, Íŋyaŋ Woslál Háŋ) lies across the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lakota Oyate and the Ihunktuwona and Pabaksa ...

tribe. Iron Eyes was a youth leader of " ReZpect our Water", a campaign against the proposed route of the

Dakota Access Pipeline The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) or Bakken pipeline is a underground pipeline in the United States that has the ability to transport up to 750,000 barrels of light sweet crude oil per day. It begins in the shale oil fields of the Bakken Forma ...

, and served on the board of a

sustainable energy Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Most definitions of sustainable energy include considerations of environmental aspects such as greenh ...

group called Indigenized Energy. Iron Eyes is also a singer and songwriter.

Personal life

Tokata Iron Eyes is the child of

Chase Iron Eyes Chase Iron Eyes (born March 6, 1978) is a Native American activist, attorney, politician, and a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. He is a member of the Lakota People's Law Project and a co-founder of the Native American news website ''Last Re ...

–an activist, attorney, and politician–and Sara Jumping Eagle–a pediatrician and environmental activist. Iron Eyes attended the

Red Cloud Indian School Red Cloud Indian School ( lkt, Maȟpíya Lúta Owáyawa) is a private, Catholic, K–12 school run by the Jesuits in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota. It is located in the Diocese of Rapid City and serves Oglala Lakota Native American children o ...

on the

Pine Ridge Reservation The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation ( lkt, Wazí Aháŋhaŋ Oyáŋke), also called Pine Ridge Agency, is an Oglala Lakota Indian reservation located entirely within the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Grea ...

and

Bard College at Simon's Rock Bard College at Simon's Rock (more commonly known as Simon's Rock) is a private residential liberal arts college in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It is a unit of Bard College, which is located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The school is ...

. According to a statement made by their father in 2022, Iron Eyes is

nonbinary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

. Iron Eyes uses she/they

pronouns In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts o ...

Activism

Iron Eyes became involved in activism at age 9, when she testified against a

uranium mine Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. Over 50 thousand tons of uranium were produced in 2019. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia were the top three uranium producers, respectively, and together account f ...

in the

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...

. At age 12, she spoke in a viral video advocating for action against the

, which later sparked the social media campaign, " Rezpect Our Water." In September 2019, Iron Eyes met youth climate activist

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation. Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded ...

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

. Iron Eyes invited Thunberg to Iron Eyes' homelands, and the two held multiple rallies together in

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

and

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

throughout October 2019. The pair spoke at multiple locations including at

, the Youth Climate Activism Panel in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...

, and at Standing Rock High School in Fort Yates, North Dakota. Iron Eyes also served on the board of a new sustainable energy group called Indigenized Energy.

Relationship with Ezra Miller

In June 2022, Iron Eyes' parents filed legal documents asking a judge to issue an

order of protection A restraining order or protective order, is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault. Restraining and personal protection or ...

against actor

Ezra Miller Ezra Matthew Miller (born September 30, 1992) is an American actor. Their feature film debut was in ''Afterschool'' (2008), which they followed by starring in the drama ''We Need to Talk About Kevin (film), We Need to Talk About Kevin'' (2011) ...

on her behalf, due to Miller allegedly using "violence,

intimidation Intimidation is to "make timid or make fearful"; or to induce fear. This includes intentional behaviors of forcing another person to experience general discomfort such as humiliation, embarrassment, inferiority, limited freedom, etc and the victi ...

, threat of violence, fear, paranoia, delusions, and drugs" including

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

and

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

to hold sway over her. Although Iron Eyes was 18, due to tribal regulations Iron Eyes' parents were still considered her

legal guardian A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, call ...

s. Iron Eyes' parents claim that an inappropriate relationship began between the pair in 2016, during the

Dakota Access Pipeline protests The Dakota Access Pipeline Protests, also called by the hashtag #NoDAPL, began in April 2016 as a grassroots opposition to the construction of Energy Transfer Partners' Dakota Access Pipeline in the northern United States and ended on Febru ...

, when Miller was 23 and Iron Eyes was 12. They further claim, and photos document, that the year after the two met, Iron Eyes flew to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to visit Miller on the set of ''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them''. In 2021, she dropped out of school, allegedly to follow Miller. Iron Eyes' parents also alleged in the legal documents that Miller caused bruises on Tokata and that Miller had given Iron Eyes a large amount of

in 2020. A response came via Tokata's Instagram account, denying the parents' allegations, declaring herself to be both mentally stable and in contact with a mental health professional. Her parents' countered by claiming their child does not control her social media. Iron Eyes stated in the video response that it's her own choice not to have a phone. , law enforcement was unable to locate Miller to serve them with the order. Miller then posted messages on their

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account mocking the court's attempts to find them, but has since deleted them. In August, Miller's former music collaborator Oliver Ignatius stated that he had witnessed Miller verbally abuse Iron Eyes over her wearing makeup. She defended Miller by referring to the incident as "a catty comment" and a part of "queer dialogue"; she called the allegation of abuse "

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...

". According to a September 2022 '' Vanity Fair'' article, the tribal court dismissed the request for a permanent protective order, and the parents say they withdrew their request for custody, believing the odds were stacked against them; the same article reports that Miller claimed to be

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, the

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

, and the next

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

, while Iron Eyes believed herself to be a Native American spider goddess. The article also claimed that Miller and Iron Eyes believe their relationship will bring about a Native American revolution followed by the

apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...

Awards and recognition

In January 2020, Iron Eyes was featured on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

in an episode of ''

Marvel's Hero Project ''Marvel's Hero Project'' is a documentary streaming television series by Marvel New Media for Disney+ streamed from November 12, 2019. The series will be removed from Disney+ on May 26, 2023. Premise The series will follow the young heroes ...

'' as "Thrilling Tokata". In May 2020, she was named one of the

Ms. Foundation The Ms. Foundation for Women is a non-profit organization for women in the United States, which had a deep commitment to diversity and was founded in 1972 by Gloria Steinem, Pat Carbine, Patricia Carbine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin and Marlo Thomas. The ...

's 2020 Women of Vision, and she received the Peggy C. Charren Free to Be You and Me Award.

References

External links

The Indigenous Youth Fighting Against Environmental Destruction
– "'Respect our water, respect our land, respect our people.' On the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, 17-year-old Indigenous climate activist Tokata Iron Eyes struggles to balance her personal goals and schoolwork while continuing the fight for Indigenous rights and land back." Video by ''VICE'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Iron Eyes, Tokata 2000s births 21st-century American LGBT people 21st-century apocalypticists 21st-century Native Americans Activists from North Dakota American child activists Bard College alumni Deified American people LGBT Native Americans LGBT people from North Dakota Living people Native American environmentalists Non-binary activists Standing Rock Sioux people