MMIW stands for Missing and Murdered Indigeous Women.
“The National Crime Information Center reports that, in 2016, there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls, though the US Department of Justice’s federal missing person database, only logged 116 cases.” – Urban Indian Health Institute.
A red hand over the mouth has become the symbol of a growing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement. It stands for all the missing people 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.
I acknowledge the women, families and communities who have been doing this organizing themselves for decades, especially when police and governments have failed to acknowledge, listen or act despite Indigenous women, Two Spirit and Trans people that have continued to disappear or be murdered.