“Once upon a crime; That took a Native daughter; Long before this time; Trafficked her across the water; Stolen sisters shall not die in vain; Where thunder finds her; Say her name”
May is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) Awareness Month, and May 5th is recognized as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Day. Events are scheduled across Turtle Island to raise awareness of this ongoing human rights crisis.
Unfortunately, violence against Indigenous Peoples has gone unchecked since first contact. It's unfathomable how many are missing and murdered. Violence against Indigenous Peoples far exceeds averages, and it is unacceptable.
Following decades of advocacy led by Indigenous women, Native Nations, and organizations, and after a pregnant member of the Spirit Lake Nation, Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, was tragically murdered, the United States 116th Congress signed the Savanna’s Act, S.227, into law on October 10, 2020. The main objective of this act is to improve the US response to cases of missing or murdered Indigenous persons (MMIP) by enhancing coordination among federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement efforts.
The Savanna’s Act mandates the United States DOJ to review, revise, and create law enforcement and justice protocols that address the issue of missing or murdered Indigenous Peoples. The Not Invisible Act, S.982, was also signed into U.S. law, and a Joint Commission was established on Reducing Violent Crimes Against Native Peoples.
When Lisa Marie Young, a 21-year-old Indigenous Woman, disappeared from First Nations Territory in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, on June 30, 2002, and was never found, and when Hanna Harris' badly beaten body was discovered on July 8, 2013, in Lame Deer, Montana, Indigenous-led movements to advance an MMIWG and MMIP Initiative through national inquiry, executive order, and accountability intensified.
Every year, on May 5th, Lisa Marie's and Hanna Harris's birthday, ceremonies, candlelight vigils, marches, and processions are held to mark a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls in Canada and the United States.
In May 2021, the President of the United States designated May 5 as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day, calling on authorities and governments to end the violence against Indigenous Peoples.
If you would like to learn more about the movement to stop the human rights crisis of violence against Indigenous Peoples, visit:
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) Awareness Month
National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Inc. (NIWRC)
National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls