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Not Invisible

  • Writer: Indian Health Care Resource Center of Tulsa
    Indian Health Care Resource Center of Tulsa
  • 20 hours ago
  • 1 min read


Red handprint on dark background with text: "NOT INVISIBLE. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons. More than 4 in 5 AI/AN women experience violence."

On May 5th we remember our lost relatives and observe the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People/Women/Relatives (MMIP, MMIW, MMIR). Although this epidemic impacts all American Indians and Alaska Natives, women, girls, and two spirit people face violence, abuse, murder, and abduction at rates far exceeding the national average.


A National Institute for Justice (NIJ) study conducted in 2016 shows more than four out of five (84.3%) American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women have experience violence in their lifetimes, including 56.1% who have experienced sexual violence.  As of 2023 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) lists homicide as the 4th leading cause of death among AI/AN males under the age of 45 and the 6th leading cause of death for AI/AN women of the same age on their National Vital Statistics System.1


The tradition of wearing red on this day began with Jamie Black’s REDress art installation project. Empty red dresses were hung in public places throughout Canada and the United States to remember those who are not with us. According to her website the intention is to draw attention to their absence by evoking presence in the form of the empty dresses.2  

We stand in solidarity and wear red to remember and raise awareness for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. For more information and resources visit our website at www.ihcrc.org/dvp.


 
 
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