Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) in the United States

Showcase Creator: Riley Habyl

This resource showcase is intended to introduce instructors and students to the complex ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) in the United States. Resources highlighted in this showcase can be utilized by instructors, students, and communities to raise awareness, educate, and take action in solidarity with Indigenous MMIWG activists, families, and organizations.

MMIWG Overview

This section includes resources that provide an introduction to the MMIWG crisis.

Background: The National Indigenous Women's Resource Center describes the history and scope of the MMIWG crisis in the United States as the following: "The current reports of abduction and murder of Native women are alarming and represent one of the most horrific aspects of the spectrum of violence committed against Native women. The murder rate of Native women is more than ten times the national average on some reservations. These disappearances or murders are often connected to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and sex trafficking. The intersection of gender-based violence and MMIW is heavily intertwined. It is important to understand the connection between domestic, dating, and sexual violence and the high incidence of missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) in the United States. This long-standing crisis of MMIW can be attributed to the historical and intergenerational trauma caused by colonization and its ongoing effects in Indigenous communities stretching back more than 500 years. In response to the crisis of MMIW, grassroots actions to honor and call for justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women have increasingly grown at the local, regional, national, and international levels. Many of these grassroots efforts have lifted May 5th as a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. May 5th is the birthday of 21-year-old Hanna Harris (Northern Cheyenne) who went missing and was found murdered on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in 2013. Since then, Native families, advocates, and Indigenous nations have risen to challenge silence, tolerance, and inaction in response to the crisis of MMIW. Locally, community searches and actions, tribal press conferences, and justice marches continue to draw attention and urgency to the MMIW crisis, reflecting the long-standing call in holding governments publicly accountable for the perpetrators allowed to prey on Native women with impunity." - MMIW Awareness, National Indigenous Women's Resource Center, 2023.

Terminology: Though this showcases uses the term MMIWG (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls), a number of other terms are also commonly used to refer to this crisis, including MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women), MMIWG2S (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People), MMIR (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives), and MMIP (Missing and Murdered Indigenous People). These terms are intended to raise awareness about violence against Indigenous women while remaining inclusive of others (including girls, boys, Two-Spirit, trans, non-binary individuals, and men) who are also impacted by high rates of violence against Indigenous peoples in the United States.

#MMIW: A Primer on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Luhui Whitebear (Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation), 2019. This informative flyer provides a brief introduction to the MMIWG crisis.
MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women): Understanding the Crisis, Samantha Johnston and Mackenzie Neal (Quapaw Nation), 2020. This illustrated publication "examines the U.S. origins of the crisis and modern forces perpetuating violence against Indigenous women" in order to educate and raise awareness about MMIWG.
Native Hope's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) webpage presents an overview of the crisis of MMIWG in order to raise awareness, uplift Indigenous communities, and advocate for change. This webpage includes information and resources related to Indigenous-led MMIWG organizations and activism.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP): Overview of Recent Research, Legislation, and Selected Issues for Congress, Congressional Research Service, 2022. This report presents an overview of recent research, issues, and legislation related to the MMIWG crisis.
MMIW: Understanding the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis Beyond Individual Acts of Violence, National Indigenous Women's Resource Center, 2020. This article provides an overview of the ongoing relationship between settler colonialism, gendered violence, and the MMIWG crisis in the United States.

Publications and Reports

This section includes publications and reports that address the MMIWG crisis.

Maze of Injustice: The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence in the USA, Amnesty International, 2008. This report and its 2022 Amnesty International follow-up illustrate the continued failure of the U.S. federal government to prevent gendered violence against Indigenous women and to uphold the sovereignty of tribal governments. This failure directly contributes to the crisis of MMIWG.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls: A Snapshot of Data from 71 Urban Cities in the United States, Urban Indian Health Institute, 2018. This report highlights the "nationwide data crisis" of MMIWG in the United States and provides insights into the persistent lack of organized state and federal data - including the dire impact of this data gap in relation to the crisis of MMIWG.
MMIWG: We Demand More - A Corrected Research Study of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls in Washington State, Urban Indian Health Institute, 2019. This report illustrates both the continued failure of federal organizations to meaningfully respond to the MMIWG crisis and the ceaseless efforts of indigenous grassroots activist organizations to advocate and account for the lives of Indigenous women suffering from gendered violence.
Zuya Winyan Wicayounihan (Honoring Warrior Women): A Study On Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in States Impacted By the Keystone XL Pipeline, Sovereign Bodies Institute and Brave Heart Society, 2019. This report assesses the "assess scope and severity of the crisis of sex trafficking and missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) in South Dakota and neighboring areas potentially impacted by the Keystone XL pipeline" and illustrates intersections between the MMIWG crisis and environmental violence.
To' Kee Skuy' Soo Ney-Wo-Chek' (I Will See You Again in a Good Way): A Year 1 Project Report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Spirit People of Northern California, Sovereign Bodies Institute and Yurok Tribal Court, 2020. To' Kee Skuy' Soo Ney-Wo-Chek' (I Will See You Again in a Good Way): A Year 2 Project Report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Spirit People of Northern California, Sovereign Bodies Institute and Yurok Tribal Court, 2021. These reports "address the severe impact of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people (MMIWG2) and trafficking of Native people in Northern California" and center on the stories, narratives, and resilience of Indigenous MMIWG victims, survivors, families, and communities.
Restoration Magazine: Special Edition on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, National Indigenous Women's Resource Center, 2022. This special edition of Restoration Magazine focuses on the crisis of MMIWG and highlights the "joint efforts to honor MMIW and call for justice for Indigenous women to share examples of organizing actions we hope will spread across all communities."

Additional Resources

This section includes resources that provide additional information about the MMIWG crisis.

Special Collection: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, National Indigenous Women's Resource Center, 2019. This collection houses a toolkit of "resources on cultural issues, national sources, statistics, topical issues and approaches, existing programs, and available material and resources to create awareness and promote important discussions about MMIWG."
Not Invisible: Confronting a Crisis of Violence Against Native Women, Seattle Times, 2019. This 5-episode docuseries "explores how activists, communities, lawmakers and law enforcement are raising awareness and working for change" to end the MMIWG crisis.
We Are Resilient: An MMIW True Crime Podcast, Sheyahshe Littledave (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), Maggie Jackson (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), and Ahli-sha Stephens (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), 2023. This podcast brings awareness to cases of individual MMIWG and is "dedicated entirely to telling the stories of Missing & Murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) from the lens of three Indigenous women."
Seeking Justice For Our Sisters, American Indian Resource Center of UCSC, 2021. This resource guide provides a broad overview of the MMIWG crisis and is intended for use as a "tool for native allies to learn more about MMIWG."
MMIW Resource Guide, Lakota People's Law Project, 2020. This resource guide presents a "compilation of info about the MMIW epidemic", including "reports, hotlines, toolkits, and information about MMIW."
Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women: A Digital Exhibition, American University, 2020. This student-created digital exhibition highlights the MMIWG activist movement and aims to "shed light on this important issue, as well as showcase the activism, legislation, and art of the movement."
Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women, Native Womens Wilderness. This webpage includes a collection of publications related to the MMIWG crisis and provides insight into state and federal-level governmental responses to the MMIWG crisis.

MMIWG Organizations

This section includes Indigenous activist organizations with a focus on the MMIWG crisis.

Take Action

This section includes resources that can be utilized to take action, enact change, and raise awareness about the MMIWG crisis.

May 1-7, 2023 = National Week of Action for MMIWG

May 5, 2023 = National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

2023 National Week of Action for MMIW, National Indigenous Women's Resource Center, 2023. This collection contains a variety of resources - including graphics, posters, and sample tweets/social media posts - that can be used in solidarity with the 2023 National Week of Action for MMIW. The National Week of Action for MMIW includes the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women on May 5, 2023
Missing, Murdered, & Stolen Indigenous Relatives: Ways to Take Action, Be Informed and Support!, Rising Hearts, 2023. This guide contains a collection of resources and recommendations for ways to "take action, say informed, and support" the MMIWG activist movement and contains links to a variety of useful resources including reports, articles, podcasts, petitions, and more.
We Demand More: Partner Toolkit, Urban Indian Health Institute, 2019. This toolkit contains resources and materials that can be used as "a call to states around the country to do better when it comes to addressing the MMIWG crisis."
MMIWG2 & MMIP Organizing Toolkit, Sovereign Bodies Institute, 2021. This toolkit is for "anyone who has learned about MMIWG2 and asked, how can I get involved? What can I do in my community?” This publication includes a "mix of essays, how-to guides, worksheets, activity guides, discussion questions, quizzes, and fact sheets."
MMIW Social Media Toolkit, Native Hope, 2023. This toolkit aims to "educate to end the MMIW crisis" and provides "an understanding of the dangers Indigenous women face, statistics and stories about the MMIW crisis, social media graphics, resources for action," and more.

Infographics

This section includes infographics about the MMIWG crisis.

MMIWG infographics below created by ACreativeAsset in collaboration with Tai Simpson (Nez Perce), 2019.

ACreativeAsset 2019

#MMIW #MMIWG #MMIWG2S #MMIR #MMIP #MMIWActionNow #NoMoreStolenSisters

MMIWG in the United States