Missing Murdered Indigenous Women

MISSING MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN (MMIW)

ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA NATIVE WOMEN AND GIRLS ARE BEING TAKEN OR MURDERED AT AN UNRELENTING RATE. 

FACTS ABOUT MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN

THERE IS A WINDSPREAD ANGER AND SADNESS IN FIRST NATIONS COMMUNITIES. SISTERS, WIVES, MOTHERS, AND DAUGHTERS ARE GONE FROM THEIR FAMILIES WITHOUT CLEAR ANSWERS. THERE ARE FAMILIES WHOSE LOVED ONES ARE MISSING -BABIES GROWING UP WITHOUT MOTHERS, MOTHERS WITHOUT DAUGHTERS, AND GRANDMOTHERS WITHOUT GRANDDAUGHTERS. FOR NATIVE AMERICANS, THIS ADDS ONE MORE LAYER OF TRAUMA UPON EXISTING WOUNDS THAT CANNOT HEAL. COMMUNITIES ARE PLEADING FOR JUSTICE. 

"THE NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION CENTER REPORTS THAT IN 2016 THERE WERE 5712 REPORTS OF MISSING AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKAN NATIVE WOMEN AND GIRLS, THOUGH THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE'S FEDERAL MISSING PERSON DATABAS, NAMUS ONLY LOGGED 116 CASES."

THE MMIW RED HAND

A RED HAND OVER THE MOUTH HAS BECOME THE SYMBOL OF A GROWING MOVEMENT, THE MMIW MOVEMENT, IT STANDS FOR ALL THE MISSING SISTERS WHOSE VOICES ARE NOT HEARD. IT STANDS FOR THE SILENCE OF THE MEDIA AND LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THE MIDST OF THIS CRISIS. IT STANDS FOR THE OPPRESSION AND SUBJUGATION OF NATIVE WOMEN WHO ARE NOW RISING UP TO SAY NO MORE STOLEN SISTERS! #NoMoreStolenSisters

WHY IS THERE WIDESPREAD SILENCE ON THE MMIW ISSUE?

THERE ARE NUMBEROUS REASONS, BUT AT THE FOREFRONT LIE ISSUES STEMING FROM THE INDIAN RELOCAITON ACT AND FEDERAL POLICIES. MANY NATIVE AMERICANS DO NOT LIVE ON THE TRIBAL LANDS OR RESERVATIONS (ONLY 22%) WHERE WHEN SOMEONE GOES MISSING, THE COMMUNITY, AND TRIBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT BAND TOGETHER IN SEARCH EFFORTS, 78% OF AMERICA'S NATIVE POPULATION LIVES OFF THE RESERVATION WITH 60% OF THOSE RESIDING IN URBAN AREA. CITIES OFFER FEW TIES TO NATIVE CULTURES, COMMUNITIES, AND TRIBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

MANY URBAN INDIANS, PEOPLE LIVING IN CITIES FALL INTO THE 'PIPELINE OF VULNERABILITY': PEOPLE OF COLOR, PEOPLE COMING OUT OF FOSTER CARE SYSTEM, PEOPLE OF POVERTY. ACCORDING TO JANEEN COMENOTE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL URBAN INDIAN FAMILY COALITION "POVERTY REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING ASPECTS TO CONTEMPORARY URBAN INDIAN LIFE. WHILE i DO RECOGNIZE THAT A SIZABLE CHUNK OF OUR POPULATIONS IS SOLIDLY MIDDLE CLASS, EVERY NATIVE PERSON I KNOW HAS EITHER EXPERIENCED POVERTY OR HAS A FAMILY MEMBER WHO IS. HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS REMAIN A TTHE TOP OF THE LIST OF CHALLENGES. 

"MURDER IS THE 3RD LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH FOR NATIVE WOMEN"

WHEN IS MMIW DAY?

FEBRUARY 14 AND MAY 5

WHILE WOMEN AND GIRLS ARE THE PRIMARY VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING AMONG NATIVE AMERICANS THEY ARE NOT ALONE. PEOPLE OF ALL AGES ARE VICTIMS OF THESE HORRIFIC CRIMES, INCLUDING MEN, BOYS, INFANTS, AND THE ELDERLY. 

DUE TO THE LACK OF TRIBAL JURISDICTION BEYOND RESERVATION BORDERS, URBAN INDIANS RECIEVE LESS THAN ADEQUATE ASSISTANCE WHEN A LOVED ONE GOES MISSING. AMERICA HAS WRITTEN A STEREOTYPICAL NARRATIVE FOR ITS FIRST PEOPLE:  "THEY ARE LAZY, DRUG ADDICTS AND ALCHOLICS, WHO RELY ON THE GOVERNMENT TO SURVIVE."

THIS MODERN STEREOTYPE WAS CREATED THROUGH ACTS OF COLONIZATION AND CULTURAL ASSIMILATION. PRE-COLONIZATION, NATIVE SOCIETIES REVERED AND HONOR THE SACREDNESS OF WOMEN. WOMEN HELD POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY AND DID A LARGE PORTION OF LABOR WITHIN THEIR CAMPS, BUT THE EUROPEN COLONISTS WITH PATRIARCHAL VEIWS TOOK THE WOMEN AS SLAVES TO THE MEN. SOON, NATIVE WOMEN HAD BEEN VICTIMS OF RAPE, VIOLENCE, AND SUBMISSION. THIS MISTREATMENT CAN BE TRACED THOUGHOUT AMERICA'S HISTORY. NATIVES WERE VIEWED AS "SAVAGES."

IN ANDREA SMITH'S PAPER "NOT AN INDIAN TRADITION: THE SEXUAL COLONIZATION OF NATIVE PEOPLES" SHE EXPLORES THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND COLONIALISM IN THE LIVES OF NATIVE PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES. SMITH REVEALS THAT NATIVES WERE VIEWED AS"DIRTY" FOR THEIR LACK OF CLOTHING WHICH IN THE MINDS OF THE COLONISTS MADE THEM "POLLUTED WITH SEXUAL SIN" THERE WERE SEEN AS LESS THAN HUMAN -THEREFOR, "RAPABLE."

NOW WHEN A NATIVE WOMAN IS REPORTED MISSING THESE NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES HINDER THE SEARCH PROCESS. LAW ENFORCEMENT TENDS TO TURN A BLIND EYE FAIL TO TAKE THE REPORT SERIOUSLY AND DO LITTLE TO ASSIST. THE MEDIA RARELY PICKS UP ON THE STORY AND IF THEY DO THERE IS NORMALLY A NEGATIVE SPIN ON THE STORY MAKING THE VICTIM SEEM AT FAULT. 

WOMEN ARE LEADING THE CHARGE. THANKFULLY WOMEN AN DMEN NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE ARE WORKING TOGETHER THROUGH DOZENS OF ORGANIZATIONS TO GIVE VOICE TO THE MMIW. 

AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, THE NOT INVISIBLE ACT WAS INTRODUCED THIS SPRING IN BOTH THE HOUSE AND SENATE. ACCORDING TO A STATEMENT FROM REP. DEB HAALAND'S OFFICE, THIS IS THE FIRST BILL TO BE INTRODUCED BY 4 MEMBERS OF FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES. REPRESENTATIVES DEB HAALAND PUEBLO OF LAGUNA, TOM COLE CHICKASAW BAND NATION OF OKLAHOMA, SHARICE DAVIDS HO-CHUNK NATION OF WISCONSIN, AND MARKWAYNE MULIN CHEROKEE NATION. 

THE NOT INVISIBLE ACT WOULD BRING TOGETHER A COMMITTEE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, TRIBAL AUTHORITIES, FEDERAL PARTNERS, AND MORE TO STUDY AND DISCUSS SOLUTIONS OT THE CRISIS OF MURDERED AND MISSING INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND TO ESTABLISH BETTER SYSTEMS OF COORDINATION.