FREE//GRATUITO
PUBLISHED BY ACCIÓN LATINA
December 13-January 16, 2019
Vol. 48 No. 25
Desaparecidas mas no olvidadas CA woman creates national database of missing, murdered Indigenous women Investigadora crea base de datos sobre indígenas desaparecidas o asesinadas Hector Aguilar
Hector Aguilar El Tecolote
I
ndigenous communities in the United States have historically been overlooked by the government and the greater public; using new advances in technology, Annita Lucchesi is working to change this. Lucchesi (whose Cheyenne name is Hetoevehotohke’e, which translates to “Evening Star Woman”) is a doctoral student at the University of Lethbridge and freelance cartographer, who specializes in researching Indigenous and critical cartography, Indigenous feminisms, postcolonial geographies, and Indigenous research methodologies. She noticed through her research (and really her own experience) that records on Native Americans throughout the country—particularly murder victims and those who go missing—were poorly recorded or preserved. Fed up with the bureaucracy and negligence of government agencies, Lucchesi decided she would begin her own database of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) in Canada and the United States. Being of Southern Cheyenne descent, as well as a survivor of violence, she connected with these victims. She felt it her responsibility to ensure her fellow community members were not forgotten. “For me, it’s personal,” Lucchesi said. “If I was one of the women on this list, I would want my story used so it doesn’t happen to other people.” In order to find this data, Lucchesi used law enforcement records, state and national databases, media coverage, social media, as well as community and family member accounts as sources for their data. Using sources from wherever she could, she was able to find cases that were not recorded into the databases available to them The Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI) in Seattle noticed the work she was doing and offered to help Lucchesi reach her goal. “Abigail [Echo-Hawk], the director [of UIHI], reached out to me and said, ‘Hey I see what you’re doing. It’s something that needs to be supported. How can we collaborate?’” Lucchesi explained. “That’s when the two of us had the idea for this project.” Dealing with difficult police departments did create some obstacles while collecting the data, Lucchesi said. However, she also praised certain police departments, such as Anchorage Police, for being cooperative and helpful in their requests. Another challenge in collecting the data, was the accuracy of police reports. Some departments would classify of the victim’s race/ethnicity incorrectly in case reports, making accurate data collection even tougher. When attempting to gather data from the Santa Fe Police Department, Lucchesi and her team were told: “[Many] Native Americans adopted Hispanic names back during colonial times...Our crime systems are not flexible enough to pick out Native Americans from others in the system...it would be impossible to compile any statistically relevant information for you.” Factors like these make it almost impossible to gather accurate numbers on how many cases of MMIWG there really are. “There are over 3,000 cases in the main database as a whole, and I’m estimating that I’m missing about 25,00030,000 more,” Lucchesi claimed. Sill, on Nov. 14, Lucchesi and UIHI released their findings, summarizing data from 71 urban areas across 29 states. Their report identified 506 cases across the 71 selected cities—128 (25 percent) were missing persons cases, 280 (56 percent) See MMIWG, page 10
El Tecolote
L
as comunidades indígenas en los EEUU han sido históricamente ignoradas por el gobierno y el público en general; con el uso de nuevos avances en tecnología, Annita Lucchesi está trabajando para cambiar esta realidad. Lucchesi (cuyo nombre cheyenne es Hetoevehotohke’ke, ‘mujer de la estrella del anochecer’) es una estudiante de doctorado en la Universidad de Lethbridge y cartógrafa independiente, que se especializa en la investigación de cartografía indígena y crítica, feminismo indígena, geografías postcoloniales y metodología de investigación indígena. Por medio de su investigación (y de su propia experiencia) observó que los registros de los nativos americanos en todo el país, particularmente las víctimas de asesinato y los desaparecidos, fueron mal registrados o conservados. Lucchesi, cansada de la burocracia y la negligencia de las agencias gubernamentales, decidió comenzar su propia base de datos de mujeres y niñas indígenas desaparecidas y asesinadas (MMIWG, por sus siglas en inglés) en Canadá y los EEUU. Al ser descendiente cheyenne del sur, así como sobreviviente de violencia, se identificó con estas víctimas y sintió que era su responsabilidad asegurarse de que los miembros de su comunidad no fueran olvidados. “Para mí, es personal”, dijo Lucchesi. “Si fuera una de las mujeres en esta lista, me gustaría que se usara mi historia para que no le pase a otras personas”. Para encontrar esta información, Lucchesi utilizó registros policiales, bases de datos estatales y nacionales, cobertura mediática y redes sociales, así como testimonios de miembros de la comunidad y la familia como fuentes de sus datos. Usando esas fuentes pudo encontrar casos que no estaban registrados en las bases de datos disponibles para ellos. El Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI) en Seattle notó el trabajo que estaba haciendo y se ofreció a ayudar a Lucchesi a alcanzar su meta: “Abigail [Echo-Hawk], el director
“The ribbon skirt is a form of cultural clothing that represents the sacredness of American Indian and Alaska Native women and the deep connection their bodies and spirits have to the land. Just like a skirt, each American Indian and Alaska Native community has its own beauty and stories of resilience despite multiple ribbons of trauma and violence stacked upon them. We chose to represent the study’s findings in this way to honor the sacredness of our urban missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, the prayers we hold them in, and the responsibility we have to care for their stories.” – from Annita Lucchesi and Urban Indian Health Institute’s “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls” report. Illustration courtesy of: Urban Indian Health Institute
Vea DESAPARECIDAS, página 10
“La falda de cintas es una vestimenta cultural que representa el carácter sagrado de las mujeres nativas americanas y de Alaska, y la profunda conexión que hay entre su cuerpos y espíritu con la tierra. Al igual que una falda, cada comunidad nativa americana y de Alaska tiene su belleza e historias particulares de resiliencia similares a las múltiples cintas de trauma y violencia apiladas sobre ellas. Elegimos representar los hallazgos del estudio de esta manera para honrar lo sagrado de nuestras mujeres y niñas indígenas desaparecidas y asesinadas en las zonas urbanas, y para representar las oraciones en su honor y la responsabilidad que tenemos de cuidar sus historias”. Del informe ‘Mujeres y niñas indígenas desaparecidas y asesinadas’ de Annita Lucchesi y el Indian Health Institute.