National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls (MMIW) aka Red Dress day is May 5th

5/5/24 Today is Red Dress Day or National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls (MMIW). It’s a day to LEARN about and HONOR all missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, trans, and Two Spirit People.

Matoaka (aka Pocahontas) is one of the first known kidnapped Indigenous girls. She was younger than 15.”

The root causes of the MMIW injustice include colonization and historical trauma, racism, and sexual objectifcation of Indigenous women and girls. The majority of MMIW Perpetrators are non-Native men.

What does the red hand mean? A red hand over the mouth has become the symbol of a growing movement, the MMIW movement. It stands for all the missing sisters whose voices are not heard. It stands for the silence of the media and law enforcement in the midst of this crisis.

The FBI’s National Crime Information Center reported 5,203 missing Indigenous girls and women in 2021 — disappearing at a rate equal to more than 2.5 times their estimated share of the U.S. population.

I talk a lot about Indigenous invisibility in my educational work. How our stories are buried and our lives are not valued by colonial culture. This is part of what I’m talking about. Law enforcement doesn’t prioritize the violence and Indigenous women and girls experience so it continues to go on, ignored by broader society because we are still seen as less than human by many.

Indigenous women and girls deserve better. They deserve to pursue their dreams, to live joyful lives, not have their livelihoods marred or cut short by violence and oppression.

Matoaka (Pocahontas) was one of the first MMIG—she was trafficked to another country, she did not live the Disney fairytale portrayed on film.

If we ever wish to rectify this persistent issue we must be honest with ourselves about the violence women suffer, often in silence and isolation. We must hold men accountable for their behavior and stop enabling this culture of abuse. “ Original post by Sacred Objects

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