The COVID-19 global pandemic exposes the existing crisis of MMIWGP. We will still have speakers, performers, and talk about things we need to do here in NC.

May 5, marks the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The absence of consistent, standardized reporting on the issue has prevented researchers from gaining a true understanding of the problem.
NC is 8th in the nation for Human Trafficking, and we need to highlight this, raise awareness and prevent the trafficking of Native peoples by educating them on what human trafficking is, available resources, safety tips, and ways to get involved in their communities.

We hope that the unique cultural aspects of this issue for Native youth, especially in the Southeast US, are unique, by tying in that trafficking is outside Native traditions, and encouraging youth to speak with tribal elders in their community.

By targeting these areas, we hope to highlight how poor data collection, lack of persecution, and institutional racism are factors that occur in our Native Communities here in NC. North Carolina has the largest Native American population East of the Mississippi, and in 2010, we had 122,000+ Native Americans residing in the state. Just as important to the study were the significant challenges encountered in attempting to obtain case records. Nearly half of municipal police departments failed to respond at all or within the designated time frame required of public disclosure requests.
Additionally, racial misclassification was common, with some victims classified as “black” (the default when the race is unknown) white, or “Hispanic”. Often, Native women and girls from tribes not federally recognized were not identified as Native. Despite race typically being used as a classifier when crimes are reported, nine cities were unable to identify Native American, Alaska Native, or American Indian people in their database. Shining a light on all the causes of violence, murders, and disappearances is a daunting task.

But it is necessary. We are exposing grim truths about the devastating impacts of colonization, racism, and sexism.