Indigenous Community Highlights Ongoing Issue of Missing and Homicide Victims
Revamped Perspective: A Call for Action to Stop Violence Against Indigenous Women
Indigenous communities across North America are pressed to sustain their efforts in combating the violence that disproportionately affects their women and girls. A series of events, including prayer walks, self-defense classes, marches, and speeches at state capitals, echo the urgent demands for collaboration among law enforcement agencies to resolve unsolved homicides and locate missing persons, which make up about 4,300 open FBI cases this year.
Parents are using this week's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day to educate their children about the gravity of the situation. Many young women are adorning their mouths with bright red handprints, pledging to stand in solidarity for those who have fallen silent. Indigenous women are over twice as likely to be murder victims compared to the national average, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
The Sergeant-at-Arms of Reality
Lisa Mulligan, a member of the Forest County Potawatomi, rides her motorcycle to rallies from Wisconsin to the West Coast, delivering the message she'll pass on to her two granddaughters as they grow up—the unsettling truth about the dangers they might encounter in their lives. Mulligan discloses personal tragedies, such as her father's murder and a family member's experience with sex trafficking. This allows her to share her essence when she rides for their safety.
Christina Castro, a resident of Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, and Joylana Begay-Kroupa, a Navajo Nation citizen, are parents who have shared their anguished realities in hopes of shielding their children and igniting change. Castro co-founded the 3 Sisters Collective in Santa Fe, New Mexico, hosting self-defense trainingand speeches at the Arizona capitol and showcasing the documentary "She Cried That Day," which explores the heartbreaking, unresolved death of Dione Thomas, a Navajo woman. Self-defense classes are also starting soon at the Phoenix Indian Center, a hub for social services for Indigenous people.
"Indigenous people don't have the luxury of skipping 'The Talk' with our daughters about violence against girls," said Castro, who understands first-hand the importance of discussing issues of bodily autonomy with her 12-year-old daughter.
Resilience and Renewal
Indigenous men are also not immune to the violence gripping their communities. Donovan Paddock, who joined an awareness walk in Scottsdale, Arizona, experienced the loss of two uncles. His grandfather, Layton Paddock Sr., a Navajo Code Talker, went missing in Winslow and was found deceased several months later. Paddock is now driven to aid those seeking answers about their missing loved ones.
Years of ongoing advocacy have led to slow but significant progress. Some tribes are collaborating with federal teams for simulated exercises on what to do when someone goes missing. The implementation of Indigenous Alerts within state AMBER Alert systems requires additional resources and coordination with the 574 federally recognized tribes.
The Trump administration announced an infusion of FBI resources to ten field offices aiding the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Missing and Murdered Unit and tribal police to prepare investigations for prosecution. Although the 2023 "Not One More" recommendations, initiated by Congress and led by former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, seem to have disappeared from the Justice Department website, they can still be found at the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, where they remind us that over 84% of Native American men and women experience violence in their lifetimes.
- Lisa Mulligan, an indigenous woman and a member of the Forest County Potawatomi, is using her platform to deliver a grim truth about the dangers that indigenous girls may face, a message she plans to pass on to her granddaughters.
- Christina Castro, a resident of Taos Pueblo, and Joylana Begay-Kroupa, a Navajo Nation citizen, have shared their personal struggles in hopes of protecting their children while also igniting change through self-defense training, speeches, and documentary screenings.
- Indigenous men are also vulnerable to the violence in their communities, as evidenced by Donovan Paddock's loss of two uncles and his grandfather, Layton Paddock Sr., a Navajo Code Talker, who went missing and was later found deceased.
- TheTrump administration has allocated additional FBI resources to ten field offices aiding the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Missing and Murdered Unit and tribal police, aiming to enhance investigations and prosecutions.
- Ongoing advocacy has led to some progress, with tribes collaborating with federal teams for simulated exercises on how to respond when someone goes missing.
- Despite the apparent disappearance of the 2023 "Not One More" recommendations from the Justice Department's website, they can still be found at the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, serving as a reminder that over 84% of Native American men and women have experienced violence in their lifetimes.
