- Cultural Calendar
May 5th is Missing & Murdered Indigenous Woman’s Day (MMIW), a day to remember and raise awareness to the epidemic that is violence against Indigenous women and girls. Some now also refer to it as MMIP for “Persons”, as data is showing men, Two Spirit, LGBTIQA+ Native people are also missing and murdered at an alarming rate.
Stand in solidarity with native communities and raise awareness for missing and murdered indigenous women, and we hope you'll share this post to spread more awareness for this issue and the fact that Native American women are up to 10 times more likely to be murdered or sexually assaulted. Many today will also be wearing red shirts or ribbons to commemorate the day, as well.
Following are some facts, web links, videos, and more:
- Four in five American Indian/Alaska Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime – 56% of them experienced sexual violence.
- The murder, rape, and violent crime rates for AI/AN people is higher than the national averages.
- The murder rate for AI/AN women living on a reservation is 10 times higher than the national average and is the 3rd leading cause of death for Native women.
- There are approximately 4,200 missing and murdered cases that gone unsolved.
- Tacoma has the second highest rate of MMIW in the United States. Seattle is in the Top 10.
- Students in some of our high schools will be wearing red that day or shirts with MMIW-inspired artwork
Websites:
Urban Indian Health Institute
https://www.uihi.org/
Native Hope
https://www.nativehope.org/
Washington State Patrol current list of missing MMIP (updated every two weeks):
https://www.wsp.wa.gov/wp-
Videos:
Rosalie Fish discusses her connection to MMIW and how they inspire her when running competitively:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
National Institute of Justice video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?