EWU Event to Raise Awareness of the Missing and Murdered

EWU’s American Indian Studies program on Sunday will welcome some of our region’s most inspirational tribal leaders for a series of presentations focused on the ongoing crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

The event, to be held Sunday, May 5 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the PUB’s Nysether Community Room (NCR), is sponsored by the Native American Student Association Club (NASA) with support from Pepsi Co. It is part of the larger National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women/People (MMIWP) that is held throughout the United States and Canada.

At both the national and local level, organizers say, MMIWP events present an opportunity to share information that puts a face, name and background to the many Indigenous people who are missing, as well as those who’ve been found to be victims of homicide.

EWU’s Margo Hill, an urban planning professor and program director for American Indian Studies, is among the event organizers. Hill is an internationally recognized expert in federal Indian law, and is at the forefront of the MMIWP movement. [Read this Inside EWU story about some of Hill’s impactful work.]

Hill, who regularly presents to lawmakers, tribal leaders and state government officials, says statistics show that on some reservations Indigenous women go missing 10 times more frequently than women who are non-Native.

Although MMIWP is an international movement for Indigenous persons, the event organizers want to ensure that Washington state priorities and tribal communities are represented and acknowledged. (The Washington State Patrol maintains a list online of state residents who’ve been identified as missing or murdered.)

EWU activities to support National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women/People (MMIWP) including the following:

Sunday, May 5

• 11 a.m.| Opening with Drum Rose Creek anda Blessing Welcome, Land Acknowledgement and Announcements | Margo Hill | Evanlene Melting Tallow | War Bear

Walk/Rally in front of PUB and then return to PUB NCR | Lead by Idella Rattler-King and Tanisha Rattler

• Noon| Empowerment | Patsy Whitefoot | Idella Rattler-King

MMIW Video Collage | Looping Collage of clips from documentaries, news, television and more

• 1 p.m. | The MMIW Movement and How to Take Action | Margo Hill and Dawn Pullin

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People Video |Produced by Jeff Ferguson and Margo Hill

• 2 p.m.| Reading of MMIW/MMIP Names | Jeff Ferguson, Margo Hill, Erin Ross, War Bear Evanlene Melting Tallow, Connie George and others.

Close Out Ceremony | Drum Rose Creek

To learn more, visiting the American Indian Studies’ Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women/People webpage.