A new true crime documentary series looks at the murder of activist Annie Mae Aquash, whose body was found on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge reservation in 1976.

A Mi’kmaq Native from Nova Scotia, Aquash was a teacher and mother who was active in the American Indian Movement (AIM) in the 1970s.

Her disappearance and murder shook the Native community deeply for generations.

Yvonne Russo is the director and producer of Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae.

“I’ve always known Annie Mae’s story growing up because I was a kid on the reservation. And also, AIM was pretty prominent during that time. Decades later, who knew that, as a filmmaker, this project would be presented to me? So I said, ‘Yes, I’m definitely interested,’ but I knew that I needed to call home and seek some guidance with regards to this story and speaking to elders and community, because it was kept silent for decades, people were afraid of the truth.”

Russo worked on this four-part docuseries for six years.

She says nearly 50 years after her death, the fight for justice for Aquash never ended, especially for her family.

“There was a botched autopsy. There were lots of misinformation out there, we’ll just say, and they wanted to know the truth. When I learned about all the harrowing efforts they did to seek truth and justice, it made me realize, you know, in this day and age that the past is still present in Indian Country in terms of the crimes that happen on reservations, and the injustices that happen within our communities. And maybe question, why cases -as it pertains to missing and murdered Indigenous people – why aren’t they being solved?”

Russo says she and her team wanted to get all sides represented, which included talking to people active in AIM and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. But they had to also be shrewd with some accounts.

“As you know, in Indian Country, sometimes it could be a double-edged sword, because you hear many different accounts of what people think happened to her, and for us, the responsible way, at least, you know in the reporting is that we have to corroborate, but also give meaningful consideration to what people are saying. And it can’t be hearsay. One thing when you have somebody saying they heard something happen, because so and so and so and so told them, Well, okay, that’s fine, but that’s not actual proof.”

Russo says she’s very happy with the end result of this project. And she made sure that Aquash’s family, including her daughter Denise, was pleased with the results as well.

“What it meant for me was, it’s like repatriating her mom’s story, but repatriating also like her legacy and all of us understanding what Annie Mae stood for, and it was important that the story brings healing to the community. You know, healing in the form of even like a spiritual justice.”

Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae is now available on Hulu.

Courtesy U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

And today is Native American Heritage Day, an occasion to reflect and appreciate the contributions the First Peoples of the North American continent have provided, including serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.

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