On July 14, 53-year-old Choctaw activist Rexdale W. Henry was “found” dead in the Neshoba County Jail in Philadelphia, Mississippi. That’s the same day 18-year-old Kindra Chapman was “found” dead in her jail cell in Homewood, Alabama, and a day after Sandra Bland was “found” dead in her jail cell in Waller County, Texas. Like Sandra Bland, Rexdale Henry was arrested for a traffic violation, in this case non-payment of a fine. Mississippi was already investigating the death of Jonathan Sanders, a Black man who died at the hands of police in Clark County, Mississippi Jail a day before Henry was arrested. Four days after Rexdale Henry was “found”, Troy Goode was “found” dead in police custody. Goode was White. In dying in jail, Rexdale W. Henry joins more than this list of “mysterious” jailhouse morbidity and mortality. He joins a national list of Native Americans dying in jail and at the hands of police. He joins Christina Tahhahwah.
In Lawton, Oklahoma, Christina Tahhahwah lived with bi-polar disorder. When she stopped taking her medicines, her family called the police and asked them to take her to the hospital for medical care. She was at her grandparents’ house. When she refused to leave the property, the police arrested her for trespassing and took her off to jail. Not to the hospital, to jail. That was November 13, 2014.
On November 14, minutes after being handcuffed to the cell door, Christina Tahhahwah was “found” unresponsive. She was in cardiac arrest. She was transferred to the hospital, where she died. Her family was not notified of her heart attack nor of her transfer to the hospital. One family member says they only found out because a family friend, who works at the hospital, sent them a note via Facebook. The family went to the hospital and there heard that fellow jail inmates were saying that Christina Tahhahwah had been tasered for refusing to stop singing Comanche hymns. The Lawton police say no Tasers were used.
Tasers are not the issue. The issue is that Christina Tahhahwah is dead. Just another bipolar Native American woman “found” in jail. The Lawton Police have not said they treated or cared about the reports of her bipolar condition. The issue is justice.
Police are killing Native Americans at a staggering, and by and large unremarked upon, rate. Overrepresented in prisons and jails, Native Americans are beyond overrepresented in jail mortality rates. They are the nation of “found” bodies. What happened to Rexdale Henry? What happened to Christina Tahhahwah? Nothing out of the ordinary. Just another Native American death in a jail in the United States.
(Image Credit: Axis of Logic)
Thanks, Dan, for disseminating this information on Native women, who are continually marginalized if not altogether erased in the reporting and statistics.
They tired of picking on the blacks. Now they started picking on the first nations people. Haven’t we suffered enough?
Was this on November 13th or July 13? Not that it matters, it is just different dates within the article. This is so sad. What is really going on?
Thanks, Kim, for reading. Rexdale Henry was arrested on July 13 of this year. Christina Tabhahwah was arrested last year, on November 13th. Sorry for the confusion, and it is so sad … and more.
[…] “found” in jails across the United States. Police are killing Native American women, such as Christina Tahhahwah, at a staggering rate. Overrepresented in prisons and jails, Native Americans are beyond […]
Dan,
Thanks for your work.This story, like so many others across the nation, is a heartbreaker. What can the great, silent majority do in a practical way to change this horrible reality? Traffic violations that turn into arrests, men and women that turn up dead in custody, an increasingly militarized police force, missing video with no accountability…the list goes on and on. Most of us in this country do not like these injustices performed against our loved ones, ourselves and our neighbors everyday across the country. Please write a new article about what groups to join, or charters of groups to create. Many of us are willing to do something about this in a practical way, but are looking for guidance on where to begin.
What did happen to Christina Tahhahwah? I hope answers are found (and video released) for all involved. The odd thing about all these jail deaths: no outside party can be taping what actually happened. A separate and true testimony of the whole scene and the unfolding of events. PS: I admire the brave women who stand demanding answers. I join them in spirit!
This shouldn’t be happening to anyone. The only people who don’t routinely die in jails are white people.
I love the reporting, and while people are hung up on labels the fact is that police are murdering PEOPLE. Thanks to modern technology, exposure is what gets the job done. Kudos to you for bringing this to the forefront.
[…] Kindra Chapman, Ralkina Jones, Joyce Curnell, Raynetta Turner, Jonathan Sanders, Rexdale Henry, Christina Tahhahwah and Sgt. James Brown to name a few. And while the US has an embarrassing maternal mortality […]
Let us keep sharing and demand investigations.
[…] family or friends of innocent people like Sandra Bland, Mike Brown, Jonathan Ferrell, Tamir Rice, Christina Tahhahwah and Kindra […]
[…] Sandra Bland, Kindra Chapman, Sarah Lee Circle Bear, Joyce Curnell, Kellsie Green, Natasha McKenna, Christina Tahhahwah. This is only a partial list of women who were “found” dead in jails across the United States […]
ustice Rally To Remember Woman Who Died In Jail https://www.swoknews.com/local/justice-rally-remember-woman-who-died-jail
Which jail did Christina die in? Two jails on Lawton. One is the city jail. The other is county.
In response to Beverly Perry: It was Lawton City Jail. Thanks for your question.
Deadly Jails https://www.pbs.org/filmfestival/films/deadly-jails