The following information comes from https://abc.com/shows/alaska-daily/news/updates/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-resources.
Imagine if women in your state in any country in the world went missing or were murdered at a much higher rate than every other state without much attention, follow up, or consequence.
What if you went missing or were murdered?
Would you want anyone to find you?
Would you want justice for yourself and your family?
Hillary Swank featured in ABC’s drama “Alaska Daily” is shining a spotlight on this very real and hauntingly familiar crisis facing the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) of Alaska.
- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, murder is the leading cause of death for Native Women.
- The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) found that more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native Women (84.3%) have experienced violence in their lifetime.
- The National Crime Information Center reports that, in 2016, there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls – through the US Department of Justice’s federal missing person data base, NamUS, only logged 116 cases.
Organized in 2015, the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center (AKNWRC) is a tribal non-profit organization dedicated to ending violence against women with Alaska’s 229 tribes and allied organizations. AKNWRC board members and staff are Alaska Native women raised in Alaska Native Villages and have over 250 years of combined experience in tribal governments, non-profit management, domestic violence, and sexual assault advocacy (both individual crisis and systems and grassroots social change advocacy at the local, statewide, regional, national, and international levels), and other social services experience. AKNWRC’s philosophy is that violence against women is rooted in the colonization of indigenous nations and thus dedicated to strengthening local, tribal government’s responses through community organizing efforts advocating for the safety of women and children in their communities and homes against domestic and sexual assault and violence.
American Indian and Alaska Native people are at a disproportionate risk of experiencing violence, murder, or going missing and make up a significate portion of the missing and murdered cases. The Missing and Murdered Unit within the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services (BAI-OJS) investigates missing and murdered (sic) cases in pursuit of justice for those impacted by violence.
The Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women is an Indigenous, survivor-led organization that is working toward ending violence in New Mexico’s 23 tribal communities. Their mission is to stop violence against Native women and children by advocating for social change in their tribal communities. They are focused on shaping policy, conducting outreach, increasing awareness and working to insure that their tribal communities are represented within conversations that have historically been underrepresented. The coalition knows that the solutions to violence exist within the experience of survivors. The Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women is not a direct service provider.
MMIW USA’s number one mission is to bring missing indigenous women home to help the families of murdered indigenous women cope and support them through the process of grief. MMIW USA gives them hands on support and guidance so that these families do not feel abandoned and alone in this struggle, like so many have before them. Their broader goal is to eradicate this problem so that future generations will thrive. They are doing that through education of the threats that their communities face and by teaching them methods of self-defense. Thus, a monthly program called Staying Sacred was created. They educate attendees on the threats they face , empower them through the culture and conduct self-defense lessons at every meeting. This strength lies in the fact that every single one of the staff and volunteers have been assaulted or trafficked and their passion is to be the kind of organization that they needed growing up.
The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC) is a Native-led non-profit organization dedicated to ending violence against Native women and children. The NIWRC provides national leadership in ending gender-based violence in tribal communities by lifting up the collective voices of grassroots advocates and offering culturally grounded resources, technical assistance and training, and policy development to strengthen tribal sovereignty.
Native Hope is a non-profit organization located in Chamberlain, South Dakota. Native Hope exists to address the injustice done to Native Americans. They dismantle barriers by storytelling and impactful programs to bring healing and inspire hope. Over two centuries in North America, there was a near genocide of Native American peoples and their way of life. Now, the unhealed wounds of this near genocide (sic) continue to affect the health and prosperity of Native communities across the continent. It is time for the healing of these historical wounds and a restoration of trust. Native Hope is a resource that helps Native communities meet their needs. Today, despite limited funding, tribes are working to rebuild a strong foundation and achieve sustainability. These resilient people are on a journey of rediscovery and healing.
At Native Hope, they are passionate about raising awareness around Native issues and sharing stories of light and hope. One of those issues is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). Their commitment to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement is to assist in the efforts of those courageous individuals and organizations on the frontlines of the MMIW movement by providing opportunities to raise awareness in various ways. By providing a platform, tools, and resources, Native Hope aspires to assist in bringing MMIW awareness to the forefront. In order to stop this victimization of Native sisters, the world must be educated. Then prevention can begin.
We R Native is a multimedia health resource for Native teens and young adults. The service includes an interactive website and various social media channels. Special features include an “Ask Your Relatives” Q&A service and medically accurate articles reviewed by experts in the public health, mental health, community engagement, and health activism. It’s chock full of youth-friendly mental health tips and resources as well.
I am personally grateful for the enlightenment of television’s eye-opening TV series “Alaska Daily” running on Thursday nights on ABC. From the mind of Tom McCarthy (“Spotlight”), “Alaska Daily” stars Hilary Swank as Eileen Fitzgerald, a fiercely talented and award-winning investigative journalist who leaves her high-profile New York life behind after a fall from grace to join a daily metro newspaper in Anchorage on a journey to find both personal and professional redemption.
Namaste