Tokata Iron Eyes is pushing back on the “victim narrative.”
The 18-year-old took to Instagram on Thursday to address her previous statements on Ezra Miller, the 29-year-old actor who is accused of grooming and brainwashing Tokata while they were underage. Her parents, Chase Iron Eyes and Sara Jumping Eagle, made the allegations in a petition for a protection order/restraining order filed on June 7. The husband and wife claim Miller “uses violence, intimidation, threat of violence, fear, paranoia, delusions and drugs to hold sway over a young adolescent Tokata.” However, Tokata later denied the allegations, insisting Miller “only provided loving support and invaluable protection” during difficult moments.
“My father and his allegations hold no weight,” she wrote in an Instagram post, “and are frankly transphobic and based in the notion that I am somehow incapable of coherent thought or opposing opinions to those of my own kindred worrying about my well being.”
Some were convinced the post was not written by Tokata, and that someone else was controlling her account. The North Dakota resident addressed those concerns in a two-and-a-half-minute video, as well as their parents’ claim that Miller prohibited her from having a phone.
“I’d like to clarify that [the statements] are directly from me,” Tokata said, before denying the claims that Miller prohibited them from having a phone. “I don’t have a phone right now out of my own personal conviction. And, honestly, it’s really distressing that the narrative of the ‘victim in question’ is not being granted any trust. I worked really hard to make really clear what was going on.”
They continued: “It’s nobody’s business and that no one is owed a story or an outcome. This is my life. These are my decisions, and I’m disappointed in my parents and the press in every way.”
According to the petition, Chase Iron Eyes and Sara Jumping Eagle say Miller met Tokata in 2016, when the actor visited the Standing Rock Sioux tribe during the NoDAPL movement. They claim Miller not only provided an underage Tokata with alcohol and drugs, Miller also physically assaulted their child and and took away items like a driver’s license and a bank card to prevent Tokata from leaving.
A judge has since signed the protective order request; however, the court hasn’t served the order to Miller as his whereabouts are unknown. A hearing is scheduled for next month.
