Missing, Murdered, & Stolen Indigenous Relatives:

Ways to Take Action, Be Informed and Support!

Rising Hearts is committed to fighting alongside with the families who have lost a loved, with survivors, and advocates in their support and fight for justice, healing, accountability, truth and reconciliation and for a better, safer future for our next generations. The epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, Two spirits and our relatives is a heartbreaking reality for Indigenous communities and families. This injustice has been ongoing since 1492 to present day, where thousands of our kin have gone missing and/or their lives have been taken. The fight for justice, becomes three times more difficult for the families and communities. Our relatives go missing 3 times: in life, in the media and in the data. This systemic issue, long history of violence and problem continues to perpetuate the erasure and invisibility of Indigenous peoples, lack of support and response from those needing to do something to support the families, and the continued problem of erasure of Indigenous peoples across all platforms where we are fighting to exist and be heard, especially as the first peoples of these lands that were stolen.

Now, this epidemic, directly intersects with the legacy of residential and boarding schools that were created and thousands of Indigenous children were forcibly taken or stolen from their families. To date, over 7,000 Indigenous children have been unearthed from Boarding and Residential school properties in the last several months. This injustice, rooted in colonialism and intersects with missing and murdered Indigenous relatives, and the need to conquer, led to policies of genocide, forced removal, diseases, theft of lands and bodies, as well as the quote and policy that started the boarding schools – “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.” This was a policy to colonize and force Indigenous peoples to become civilized, strip them of their culture, their language, their traditions, and their Indigenous names – having to choose a Christian name. This run is to honor and remember this history that doesn’t get the visibility it needs, to shine light on the injustice that continues to take place, to build community and allyship, and to call for justice, accountability, healing, and to bring all relatives back to their communities by searching all boarding and residential school properties. You can learn more about this troubling history from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition here. Rising Hearts will continue to advocate and uplift the resources, the voices, advocates, and organizations doing this work while continuing to organize and cultivate community. We hope with our advocacy and grassroots organizing, is to creating pathways and platforms to distribute resources and share knowledge and promote intersectionality.

SUPPORT UPDATES:
2021 Running for Justice virtual 5k, 10k, Half Marathon has concluded!! We had 2068 participants and supporters!! We had over 300 Instagram story shares/tags showing solidarity. And nearly 100 hundred in-feed posts sharing their run and support. We had over 60 teams created - calling on friends and family to join this effort. And we raised $77, 723.86!!!!!!! Working with our partner, EliteFeats now, to get these checks issued out! You all are amazing. Lila wopila tanka! Many thanks!

In 2022, we were able to donate over $30k to NIWRC, over $17k to Native Women’s Society of the Great Plains, $10k to Rising Hearts, and $500-1500 multiple donations made to Rising Hearts, MMIR families, MMIR Advocates, and other organizations focused on ending violence against Indigenous womxn and our relatives.
There will be a week of action events by NIWRC (https://www.niwrc.org/mmiwnatlweek23) and various organizations that all are encouraged to sign up for and support.

In 2023, we were able to raise over $18,000 and donate to NIWRC, ANWRC, Sovereign Bodies Institute and Rising Hearts!

For 2024, we successfully raised over $10,000 that we were able to give back to the beneficiaries of the virtual / in person run walk! May 5th continues to be a week of awareness, multiple days of action, and an opportunity for us as community, to come together and help give back. Wopila tanka, many thanks to everyone who has supported the families, the movement and our efforts!

BECOME INFORMED ABOUT MAY 5th:

What is May 5th? Why May 5th? Well, to start - it is Hanna Harris’ (Northern Cheyenne) birthday. She was a daughter, granddaughter, a mother, a cousin, a sibling, a friend. She went missing and was found murdered on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in 2013. Hanna is a daughter, granddaughter, mother, cousin - Her legacy prevails through Hanna's Act, which authorizes the Department of Justice (DOJ) to assist local law enforcement in missing persons cases. Gov. Steve Bullock signed the bill into law. And now every year, NIWRC hosts week of action events and ways to support - to help raise awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and also, show Congress that May 5th has to continually be supported every year with their campaigns.

The Epidemic and International Crisis and Genocide of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives has been ongoing since 1492 - the arrival colonialism, that has impacted Native communities in so-called North, Central and South America. It has caused harm, trauma, and dangerous ripple effects to so many communities around the world where colonialism and the quest for discovery, dominance and superiority exists and the pathways it’s created. Colonialism, white supremacy, racism, genocide, systems of oppression and the colonial conquering mindset continues to harm Native and Indigenous communities today, where we were forced or removed from our homelands, our lands were stolen, and forced to conform, and strip us of our Indigeneity, culture, traditions, language and values. This constructs have caused harm and trauma to the Black communities, Asian communities, Migrant communities, Muslim communities, Jewish communities, Two Spirit, LGBTQ+, Non-binary and relatives with disabilities communities. We have to address the destructive and oppressive violence that is contributing to the disappearances and homicides of Indigenous women, girls, Two Spirits, Trans kin, and Relatives.

I hope you are able to join in solidarity if you are non-Indigenous -  sign up for actionable opportunities and events that is for everyone to join, to listen and to learn - that we will help share and promote.  Below you will find a list of resources provided for you to learn more about this issue (reports, webinars and more), what to listen to, watch, and read.  And real quick - to put it in perspective:

- In 2016, 5,712 Indigenous women and girls were reported missing, 116 were reported into the Department of Justice Database (by the Urban Indian Health Institute)
- Homicide is the 3rd leading cause of death
- 86% of Indigenous women will experience violence in their lifetime
- Under-reported, under-funded
- Homicide is the third leading cause of death for Native peoples
- 4 in 5 MMIWG (missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls) cases are in counties intersecting the Keystone XL pipeline
- 84% of women and girls experience violence in our lifetime (myself included)
- 56% of women and girls experience sexual violence
- 86% of perpetrators are non-Native people
- Indigenous people are dying at a rate 10 times higher than any other race or group
- Just this week, we lost 3 Diné women (Navajo) to violence - This is an everyday reality for our communities.
- And as Annita of Sovereign Bodies Institute put it so perfectly, it's not just a fight for justice for our relatives and their families, it's a fight for representation - "our relatives go missing 3 times: once in life, in the data and in the media."

2021 NIWRC WEEK OF ACTION ARCHIVES:

NIWRC Week of Action for May 5th 2021:
4/29/21: Traditional Opening - Launch of National Week. Watch here.
4/29/21: 2021 MMIW Briefing - Addressing the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women: Advocacy in Action. Watch here.
4/29/21: Not Invisible Panel: Taking Action on the Crisis of MMIWG, hosted by Verizon. Watch here.
4/30/21: Using International Law to Respond to the MMIW Crisis. Watch here.
5/3/21: Nā Hānauna Ho’ōla (Healing Generations). Watch here.
5/4/21: Spotlight Alaska and the Crisis of MMIWG - Watch here.
5/5/21: Webinar—Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls National Day of Action, Uplifting the Voices of MMIW Survivor Families, 1 p.m. MDT, hosted by NIWRC | Watch here.

EVENTS TO GO BACK TO AND LEARN FROM:

5/3/21 at 4pm PST: UCSC American Indian Resource Center (AIRC) - Presentation about MMIWG. Watch here.
5/4/21 4pm PST: UCSC AIRC presents - Searching for Justice: A Human Rights Investigation on Northern CA MMIWG. Watch here.
5/5/21 at 4pm PST: UCSC AIRC presents - A conversation with artist Jaime Black, Creator of REDress Project. Watch here.
5/5/21 at 3pm MST/2pm PST: Make the Invisible, Visible by Restoring Ancestral Winds. Watch here.

REPORTS / ARTICLES TO LEARN FROM:

Sovereign Bodies Institute:
- I will see you again in a good way: https://2a840442-f49a-45b0-b1a1-7531a7cd3d30.filesusr.com/ugd/6b33f7_c7031acf738f4f05a0bd46bf96486e58.pdf
- MMIWG2 & MMIP Organizing Toolkit: https://2a840442-f49a-45b0-b1a1-7531a7cd3d30.filesusr.com/ugd/6b33f7_2585fecaf9294450a595509cb701e7af.pdf
- Zuya Wicayuanihan – Honoring Warrior Women (a study on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in states impacted by the Keystone XL Pipeline): https://2a840442-f49a-45b0-b1a1-7531a7cd3d30.filesusr.com/ugd/6b33f7_27835308ecc84e5aae8ffbdb7f20403c.pdf
- Webinars from MMIW for BLM, Voices & Experiences of Indigenous Transgender Women, Research & Data on Violence Against Two Spirit & Native LGBTQ people, Reclaiming Your Voice: Survivor Stories of Healing, Trafficking and Native Foster Youth, to Breaking the Silence: LGBTQ2 Survivors of Violence and more: https://www.sovereign-bodies.org/webinars

Urban Indian Health Institute:
- MMIWG: We Demand More: https://www.uihi.org/resources/mmiwg-we-demand-more/
- MMIWG: We Demand More Partner Toolkit: https://www.uihi.org/resources/mmiwg-we-demand-more-partner-toolkit/
- Who counts? Racial Misclassification and American Indians/Alaska Natives: https://www.uihi.org/resources/who-counts-racial-misclassification-and-american-indians-alaska-natives/
- Decolonizing Data: Strengthening Community Voices to Take Action for Our Missing Relatives: https://www.uihi.org/resources/decolonizing-data-strengthening-community-voices-to-take-action-for-our-missing-relatives/
Native Women Society of the Great Plains Resources: https://www.nativewomenssociety.org/resources
Tribal Law and Policy Institute: Violence Against Native Women resources: https://www.home.tlpi.org/violence-against-native-women-publicatio
Secretary Deb Haaland Creates New Missing and Murdered Unit to Pursue Justice: https://www.doi.gov/news/secretary-haaland-creates-new-missing-murdered-unit-pursue-justice-missing-or-murdered-american
MMIWG: Breaking the Silence, Starting the Conversation in Classrooms
MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND TWO SPIRIT PEOPLES (MMIW2S): DECONSTRUCTING COLONIAL TIES TO DOMESTIC AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Garden of Truth: The Prostitution and Trafficking of Native Women in Minnesota. Read here.

WATCH:
Murder In Bighorn (3 part Showtime docuseries): Watch here
Finding Ashley: A Native American Family’s desperate search for their missing relative (Ashley Loring Heavyrunner) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PubiIdVO7-w
The Search: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women – The Fault Lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdPv0NDfMbA
Two Spirits - Fred Martinez: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/twospirits
Silent No More: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdjXyUPXtZs
Between The Lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOXyGJuRMmo
Indigenous Women Keep Going Missing in Montana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib0GDAPeymo
Searchers: Highway of Tears - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz63Vppw3gE
Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnjUwjGD37U

BOOKS TO READ:
Yellow Bird by Sierra Crane Murdoch (Now to become a series adaptation soon by Paramount+, by Sterlin Harjo & Erica Tremblay)
The Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference, and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls by Jessica McDiarmid
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resistance by Leanne Betasamosa Simpson
Stolen Sisters: The Story of Two Missing Girls, Their Families, and How Canada has Failed Indigenous Women by Emmanuelle Walter
Red River Girl: The life and death of Tina Fontaine by Joanna Jolly
Forever Loved: Exposing the hidden Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada by Lavell Memee.D Harvard
Kwe: Standing with our Sisters by Joseph Boyden
Obstruction of Justice: the Search for Truth on Canada’s Highway of Tears by Ray Machaulko
In My Own Moccasins: A Memoir of Resilience by Helen Knott
Sharing Our Stories of Survival: Native Women Surviving Violence by Sarah Deer
CONQUEST – Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide by Andrea Smith

PODCASTS TO LISTEN TO:
1.    The Red Justice Project Podcast
2.    Stolen:The Search for Jermain Charlo (By Connie Walker)
3.    Missing and Murdered: Finding Cleo & Alberta Williams (By Connie Walker) Season 1 & 2
4.    Not Invisible – Native Womxn on the Frontlines Podcast by Red House Series
5.    Blood River (shows the connection between violence against the Earth and Peoples and Berta Caceres)
6.    For The Wild (episode about MMIR and MMIR/Connection to Violence Against Earth): Running in Prayer with Jordan & Funding Fossil Fuels, and Femicide with Roxanne White & Rachel Heaton
7.    Crime Junkie Podcast: Highway of Tears episode, Women of Juarez episode, Amber Tuccaro episode, Faith Hedgepeth episode.
8. Floodlights
9. Up and Vanished - Tenderfoot Media

ARTISTS TO SUPPORT:
IG: @lamorena_art
IG: Gregg Deal @greggdeal
IG: @tapahe / Eugene Tapahe / www.jingledressproject.com

ACCOUNTS TO FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM:
@niwrc / @sovereignbodies / @uihi / @threesisterscollective / @navajommdr / @rising_hearts / @mmiwhoismissing
@restoringancestralwinds / @urbanindigenouscollective / @ridingformmiw / @csvanw / @seedingsovereignty
@nativeamericanlifelines / @mmiwutah / @mmiwwashington / @mmiwusa / @strongheartsdv / @runningforourlives
@native_women_running