Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day is today, providing an opportunity to remember countless lives lost while bringing awareness to the issue of violence against Indigenous communities.
The Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board has issued a resolution to recognize Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day and encourages Michiganders to attend gatherings and marches hosted by federally recognized tribes throughout the state.
“Missing and murdered women and Indigenous people are long-standing issues connected to this country’s history of assimilation policies,” said Chief Judge Melissa Pope of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi and member of the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board.
Cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people, especially women and girls, are often under-reported, under-investigated, and remain unsolved throughout the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, murder is the third-leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native Women on tribal lands.
For more information, visit: StrongHeartsHelpline.org
Reporting for WGRT – Choze Powell
