A Seventh-day Adventist Boarding Academy Serving Native American Youth Since 1946 The significance of the red handprint over the mouth is the symbol for MMIWG awareness. "No more stolen sisters."
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
A
s a social worker, I remember my reaction when I first became aware of the national crisis involving missing and murdered indigenous women and girls (MMIWG). I had just finished watching the movie Wind River with my cousin, a counselor and advocate in Albuquerque, N.M. At the closing scene, a title card reads: “While missing person statistics are compiled for every other demographic, none exist for Native American women. No one knows how many are missing.” I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I asked my cousin whether the statement was true, and he confirmed it. My heart broke. I had no idea this was even a thing. That’s not possible, I thought. How can we exclude such a beautiful, powerful, and resilient people from a very important issue? Immediately, the advocate in me wanted to jump up and shout, “Hey! There’s a crisis here! Wake up, America!” Little by little, I began doing some research on how I could help. First, it started with posting information on my personal social media profiles. Then, I talked to my dear friend, Denise, who is a member of the Port Gamble S’klallum Tribe in Washington state, to get her perspective on the issue. She said, “Sometimes you do not realize something is a big
46 Pacific Union Recorder
Holbrook Indian School