Indigenous communities throughout North America are ramping up collective efforts to address the escalating violence against women and girls. This week, a series of activities are unfolding, including prayer walks, self-defense workshops, and public speeches at state capitols, as they advocate for improved collaboration among law enforcement agencies. Their goal is to locate missing individuals and resolve some of the approximately 4,300 open cases currently under investigation by the FBI.
Monday marked Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day, an occasion many parents utilized to educate their children about the significant issues their communities face. Families like Geraldine Toya from Jemez Pueblo and Lynette Pino from Tesuque Pueblo attended events to voice their demand for justice for their loved ones, such as Shawna Toya, who was killed in 2021, and Darian Nevayaktewa, who disappeared in 2008. Erica Leno, Darian’s cousin, expressed unwavering faith in using all available resources to bring him home.
Young women adorned with red handprints on their faces pledged to speak for those who can no longer give voice to their plight. Statistics from the Justice Department reveal that Indigenous women are more than twice as likely to be victims of homicide compared to the national average. A recent case involves Emily Pike, a San Carlos Apache teenager whose disappearance from a group home went unreported to her mother for a week, only for her remains to be discovered months later.
For the Indigenous community, having “the talk” with children encompasses far more than a conventional conversation. Lisa Mulligan of the Forest County Potawatomi tribe carries the message of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) as she travels to rallies on her motorcycle, sharing the deeply personal tragedies of her family’s encounters with violence and exploitation.
Christina Castro, co-founder of 3 Sisters Collective in Santa Fe, New Mexico, stresses that Indigenous parents have no choice but to discuss the realities of violence with their children early on. Castro, along with others, organized a range of activities at the New Mexico Capitol, featuring speeches and a documentary about the unresolved death of Navajo woman Dione Thomas. These activities underscore a desperate call for attention and action.
Joylana Begay-Kroupa, the CEO of the Phoenix Indian Center, echoes similar sentiments, striving to protect her children within a community familiar with recurrent trauma. She attempts to explain these devastating circumstances to her young son. Meanwhile, Yaretzi Ortega, a 15-year-old from the Gila River Indian Community, acknowledged the importance of awareness, wearing the symbolic red handprint and reiterating the necessity of understanding these realities at a young age.
Men within Indigenous communities also deal with the effects of violence. Attendees, such as Donovan Paddock, shared personal stories of loss, reinforcing the collective resolve to assist others in finding lost loved ones. Paddock is motivated to contribute to ongoing efforts, after traumatic incidents involving his uncles and grandfather.
Longstanding advocacy for stronger alert systems is showing slow but crucial progress. Fully integrating Indigenous Alerts within state Amber Alert systems remains a priority that demands additional resources and coordination. Tribal alerts recently gained eligibility for federal funding following advocacy efforts, a significant milestone in a landscape of incremental improvements.
Pamela Foster has been a leading voice in this fight, driven by the delayed response to her daughter’s tragic disappearance and murder. Meanwhile, the FBI announced additional resource allocation to support the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Missing and Murdered Unit. Although some strides have been made, much work lies ahead, highlighted by recommendations that have yet to gain full traction in legislative or policy frameworks.