Simone Senogles, Rest in Power

Simone Margaret Senogles

"Chinoodinikwé" and "Miskomakwakwe"

Member of the Migizi (Eagle) Clan

Simone Margaret Senogles, beloved wife, daughter, sister, mother, auntie, and friend, passed away in Bemidji, Minnesota, on Saturday, September 20, 2025. She was 54.

Please contribute to support Simone's child and family to have some financial ease through this difficult time. Please do not send more flowers, kindly donate the funds here instead.

Born into the Migizi (Eagle) clan, Simone carried the names Chinoodinikwé and Miskomakwakwe, and lived those names with quiet strength and fierce purpose. A steadfast spirit and fearless advocate, Simone dedicated her life to the well-being of her people and the protection of the land.

She worked with the Indigenous Environmental Network for over 25 years in many different capacities, each devoted to the mission of protecting Mother Earth and supporting the frontline peoples leading the way. Among the many contributions to the community she made through IEN, Simone was an educator on the local impact of toxic chemicals. She also spearheaded the organization's food sovereignty work. She wrote and directed "Regaining Food Sovereignty," a documentary which explored the state of food systems in some Northern Minnesota Native communities, featuring Red Lake Nation.

Simone poured her life into uplifting Indigenous women, protecting sacred lands, and confronting environmental injustice. She carried the grief and strength of her people and turned it into movement work. A lifelong activist, as a teenager she worked for Northland Poster Collective in South Minneapolis, a political artist collective that printed and distributed movement posters. She was a founding member of the MMIW 218, a grassroots group dedicated to addressing the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in her home territories. She served on the governing board of Grassroots Global Justice, an alliance of organizations of working and poor people and communities of color. She championed the principles of organizing by helping create the first Indigenous Feminist Organizing school in the US, as well as its International counterpart. She was a fierce advocate for land stewardship and passionate beekeeper.

Simone's cultural gifts and artistic skills were as boundless as her love for her people. She was a prolific Anishinaabe artist who could sew, weave, bead, quill, craft with birch bark and tend bees. Among her many master works were a birchbark canoe, traditional woven cedar mats and the beaded moccasins Leonard Peltier wore upon his release from incarceration. She possessed a seemingly endless capacity to learn and she loved to master new skills. She was also generous with her knowledge, teaching and inspiring countless others to connect with Anishinaabe lifeways and their local ecosystems. Friends and family remember her wry humor, adventurous spirit, and the way her laughter could crinkle the corners of her eyes. She welcomed everyone --family, colleagues, neighbors--into her circle with warmth and care, hosting relatives, nurturing young leaders, and mentoring generations of activists and feminists.

Her impact was as personal as it was global. To her loved ones she was a steadfast source of comfort, always ready to listen, offer support, and be a safe place in times of hardship. To her colleagues she was a stalwart strategist and dedicated organizer. To her community she was a steady presence, a protector, and a leader who demonstrated the critical importance of showing up when your people need you.