ABOVE: Brenda McEwing speaks at the annual meeting of the Martin County Historical Society at the Red Rock Center for the Arts in Fairmont on Thursday. McEwing was raised in Martin County and had a military career spanning more than two decades. Since she left the armed forces she’s been involved in a wide variety of nonprofit work.

FAIRMONT- The Martin County Historical Society held its annual meeting at the Red Rock Center for the Arts Thursday night. In addition to dinner and a review of the historical society’s operations this past year, the meeting featured a special presentation from Brenda McEwing about her life and experiences.

McEwing was raised in Martin County and served in the military for 23 years, beginning in the 1980s and ending in the late 2000s. She served combat tours in both Iraq wars. Since leaving the military she’s been active in the Lakota Women Warriors color guard and founded the First Nations Women Warriors; a nonprofit which works with veterans in need.

McEwing was born in the Dakota Tipi First Nation in Manitoba. As a young child McEwing and her siblings were taken from her family by the Canadian government and sent to live on a farm in rural Canada. After living on the farm for a year McEwing and one of her younger brothers were adopted by the Hoffmeyer family in Sherburn. McEwing wasn’t able to reconnect with her parents and her two other siblings until the 1990s.

When McEwing was 18 she chose to join the military. She said she wanted to follow in the footsteps of her father who was a POW in World War II, and also experience different countries and cultures. While she originally planned to enlist in the Marine Corps, when she visited the recruitment center she spoke to the army recruiter while waiting for the marine recruiter to return from break.

“People ask, ‘why the army?’ Let me tell you, because the marine recruiter was out to lunch,” said McEwing.

While she was in the military McEwing worked in communications throughout her career. She said her experiences with the military taught her many things, particularly to value what she had.

“Don’t take life, family or friends for granted. We’re given today but we’re not guaranteed or promised tomorrow. If you ever have an opportunity to sit and talk to your family, or take that moment to give your loved one a peck on a cheek or whatever it might be, do it because you don’t know if you’ll ever get to do that again,” said McEwing.

After she left the military in 2007, McEwing began to fill its absence with nonprofit work.

“When I initially got out of the military… you have the feeling that you’ve lost something; you don’t know what it is,” said McEwing.

Together with her husband she began working with various nonprofit initiatives.

In 2012 McEwing became a member of the Lakota Women Warriors color guard; an all female, all Native American veteran’s color guard. She’s performed with the group at powwows, major league sports events, the NYC Veterans Day Parade, and the 2013 presidential inaugural parade. Oftentimes the group would pay for performance expenses out of its own pockets. She says the goal of the organization is to inspire other Native American women veterans.

“In our native culture, so many times men still have not accepted that women are also warriors, so there’s still that fight,” said McEwing.

Despite her involvement with these groups McEwing felt a need to do more volunteering.

“At the end of the day it didn’t feel like it was enough; there was something missing and I needed to more,” said McEwing.

After discussing this with her husband she decided to crate First Nations Women Warriors; a nonprofit dedicated to providing housing and other services to veterans.

“It’s such an overwhelming heartfelt feeling within your heart when you have that ability to take a set of keys for a house and hand it over someone who in their life has never had a house,” said McEwing.

First Nations Women Warriors was able to deliver its first home to a Vietnam veteran in December of 2020, but its operations were largely suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. She hopes to resume operations soon once fundraising events become more feasible and she has more time available in her schedule.

McEwing now lives in Canton, Georgia; a suburb of Atlanta. She’s the first woman in her tribe to receive an Eagle Staff; one of the highest honors that can be given to warriors. She still performs with the Lakota Women Warriors. In between trips she works with her husband at his legal practice. As of writing she’s traveling to Laramie Wyoming to be present for the birth of her first grandchild.