JACKSON, Wyo. — Today, May 5, is a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
“For decades, Native American and Alaska Native communities have struggled with high rates of assault, abduction and murder of women,” says the U.S. Department of the Interior. “Community advocates describe the crisis as a legacy of generations of government policies of forced removal, land seizures and violence inflicted on Native peoples.”
The murder rate of Native women is more than ten times the national average on some reservations and these disappearances or murders are often connected to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking and sex trafficking.
According to a statewide report conducted in 2021, Indigenous people make up 21% of homicides in Wyoming even though only 3% of the population is Indigenous.
The report additionally found that homicide rates are eight times higher for Indigenous persons than for white people in Wyoming.
“Between 2010 and 2019, the homicide rate per 100,000 for Indigenous people was 26.8, eight times higher than the homicide rate for White people,” said the report. “The homicide rate for Indigenous females was 15.3 per 100,000, 6.4 times higher than the homicide rate for White females.”
Families and victims also report experiencing barriers once a crime is reported, making it difficult to navigate investigative and enforcement processes which cross jurisdictional boundaries.
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 U.S. Department of Justice’s federal missing person database, NamUs, only logged 116 cases.
Many cases of missing or murdered indigenous women receive little-to-no attention. In Wyoming, just 18% of cases of missing Indigenous women over the past decade have had any media coverage, according to the state report.
In recent years, the image of a red hand over the mouth has become a symbol to represent the silence of the media and law enforcement in the midst of this crisis.
In 2021, Governor Mark Gordon signed a proclamation declaring May 5 as Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Awareness Day.
“The current reports of abduction and murder of Native women and girls are alarming and represent one of the most horrific aspects of the spectrum of violence committed against Native women,” said the Governor’s proclamation.
In the same year, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (Kawaik) announced the formation of the Missing and Murdered Unit that will focus on analyzing and solving missing and murdered Indigenous peoples cases.
Annualy on Nov. 19, Red Shawl Day aims to bring awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous people. On the day and week of Red Shawl Day, inidivduals are encouraged to wear a red shawl or red clothing to draw attention to the acts of violence committed against Indigenous people.
To learn more about the crisis, click here.
