Description: We’re facing a crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) in the United States. Here's what you need to know about it.
The red hand symbolizes the connection between the physical world and the spiritual world. Native Americans believe that the dead can see red, so by wearing red we invoke the help of our ancestors and spiritual guides.
There is widespread anger and sadness in First Nations communities. Sisters, wives, mothers, and daughters are gone from their families without clear answers. There are families whose loved ones are missing—babies growing up without mothers, mothers without daughters, and grandmothers without granddaughters. For Native Americans, this adds one more layer of trauma upon existing wounds that cannot heal. Communities are pleading for justice.
“The National Crime Information Center reports that, in 2016, there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls , though the US Department of Justice’s federal missing person database, NamUs, only logged 116 cases.”