Missing and murdered indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) is but another critical issue that never makes it to the news. This is even more likely if you don’t live in one of the states most highly affected such as Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Montana, and various others. Major highways known for drug and human trafficking often cross remote areas of Indian reservations, conditions that make the victims easy prey.

The following is a direct excerpt from the Native Hope website that sums up much of the issue:

What People Get Wrong

Stereotypes of Native Americans Perpetuate Injustice

Due to the lack of tribal jurisdiction beyond reservation borders, Urban Indians receive less than adequate assistance when a loved one goes missing. America has written a stereotypical narrative for its First People:

They are lazy, drug addicts, and alcoholics who rely on the government to survive.”

Moreover, this modern stereotype was created through acts of colonization and cultural assimilation. Pre-colonization, Native societies traditionally revered and honored the sacredness of women. Women held positions of authority and did a large portion of labor within their camps, but the European colonists with patriarchal views took the women as slaves to the men. Soon, Native women had been victims of rape, violence, and submission. This mistreatment can be traced throughout America’s history. Natives were viewed as “savages.”

In Andrea Smith’s paper “Not an Indian Tradition: The Sexual Colonization of Native Peoples,” she explores the connection between sexual violence and colonialism in the lives of Native people in the United States. Smith reveals that Natives were viewed as “dirty” for their lack of clothing which in the minds of the colonists made them “polluted with sexual sin.” They were seen as less-than-human—therefore, “rapable.”

Now, when a Native woman is reported missing, these negative stereotypes hinder the search process. Law enforcement tends to turn a blind eye, fail to take the report seriously, and do little to assist. The media rarely picks up on the story and if they do, there is normally a negative spin on the story making the victim seem at fault.

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The following video further explains this tragic situation. It points out that too many agencies can be responsible due to blurry lines between jurisdictions, creating cracks for cases to fall through. Lack of resources coupled with the absence of accurate data is also a major problem. Sadly, most deaths are attributed to “exposure.”

Tomorrow, May 5, is MMIWG Awareness Day. You can support the effort by spreading the word and wearing red.