Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

There will also be a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives march in Riverton on May 4, along with a run and walk on the Wind River Reservation on May 5.

The Wyoming Legislature passed a bill this year funding a five-year forensic genetic genealogy pilot program. The technology is essentially a reverse 23andMe and could help bring closure to unsolved cases throughout the state.

A national center for Native radio and TV broadcasters is leading an effort to establish a national alert code for missing and endangered adults.

On a Thursday morning at the Frank B. Wise Center in Fort Washakie, John Washakie stands at a podium, wearing an orange button-up shirt and beaded rose bolo tie. The podium is draped with a blue cloth that reads "Department of Justice: Federal Bureau of Investigation." The Eastern Shoshone Business Councilman was speaking at a press conference on February 8 about a new FBI initiative addressing the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Crisis, also known as MMIP.

Next to the Canadian Museum For Human Rights is a small encampment with a handful of tents and a camp kitchen. Signs are posted all around – some read “we are not garbage” and “search the landfills.”

Nicole Wagon is a Northern Arapaho advocate, raising awareness about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Crisis, or MMIP. Wagon lost two of her daughters to the crisis in the span of a year. Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann spoke with Wagon about the state’s MMIP task force, the motorcycle group Medicine Wheel Riders, and what keeps Wagon going as she continues to fight for justice.

The federal commission compiling a report about missing and murdered Indigenous peoples is traveling to Indigenous communities to hear their stories. The next stops are Albuquerque and Billings.

President Joe Biden signed a proclamation marking May 5th, 2023 as Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day. It highlights the injustice and violence that are disproportionately high among Indigenous women and others.

The crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people has been a focus for President Biden’s administration since he took office. But the rollout of federal solutions has been slow, and states have been picking up the slack

Delegates from Mexico, Canada and the U.S. came together in Washington, D.C., to discuss the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.