Native American women are more likely to be abducted, assaulted, and murdered than any other population group, and the perpetrators are rarely charged or convicted. Through the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) movement, a light has been cast upon this form of genocide. “I’m Not Lost” includes Native words and phrases from across North America: Abenaki, Odawa/Ojibwe, Lakota, and Navajo/Diné. Each verse cries out for missing mothers, daughters, and sisters, and Two Spirit (transgender) loved ones. The performance of “I’m Not Lost” is more than the singing of a song; it is an expression of longing and grief for those whose voices have been silenced.
Chantal Sellers is a Native American (Anishinaabe-kwe) poet, novelist, and historian. She penned this poem to bring attention to the plight of murdered and missing Indigenous women. “As I was writing, there were times when the memories of my friends and relatives left me frozen. Still there was a healing process.
