Nearly 60 people worldwide learned about the serious plight of Indigenous women and girls, thanks to the National Episcopal Church Women (NECW)’s March 11 zoom panel presentation, “Raising Awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.” The event was held in parallel with the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), the U.N.’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s rights.
Moderator Gloria Rogers, NECW Second Vice President, stressed that ECW is committed to “raising awareness of murdered and missing Indigenous women” in this “urgent and ongoing crisis.”
The panel also focused on the lack of resources and law enforcement to address the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, referred to as MMIW.
Tucson resident the Rev. Canon Debbie Royals provided background concerning the diminished authority of tribal leaders because of colonization and the Doctrine of Discovery.
Royals, a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe from Tucson, is a priest, educator, retreat leader, and author. Previously the Canon for Native American Ministry in the Diocese of Arizona, her ministry focuses on a new Indigenous church community called Four Winds, and leading the Indigenous Theological Training Institute.
She pointed to the “disproportionately high rates of violence against indigenous women and girls.” Her statistics were eye-opening. Royals said currently there are 5,712 missing and murdered Indigenous women, with only 116 under investigation. Royals continued: the murder rate is 10 times higher for Indigenous people; one in three native women will be raped in her lifetime; four out of five will be victims of violent assaults.
Royals pointed to the recent major news of Nancy Guthrie, mother of a prominent media host, who was abducted February 1. With numerous state, local, and federal agencies actively involved in her search, Royals pointedly asked, “When you heard that, did you also hear the name of a missing or murdered Indigenous woman?”
The practice of seizing land forced cultural changes. “Traditional roles, traditional social systems were diminished and devalued,” Royals stated.
She concluded, “Institutional racism contributes to the vulnerabilities of today,” such as generational poverty, physical concerns, and discrimination in healthcare, social services, and economic inequalities.
Equally moving were the accounts from Madeline Sampson, of Fort Defiance, Arizona, who said that the bodies of missing Indigenous women were sometimes found, sometimes not.
Sampson, who comes from Navajo/Nodah Dine people of Southeastern Utah, dedicates her ministry to truth-telling, sharing her experiences in the Placement Program as a child and how non-Native systems were a means for erasing Indigenous identity. She is known for her advocacy for tribal sovereignty as well as environmental, healthcare, and educational concerns.
Sampson announced that May 5 is National MMIW Awareness Day and encouraged the wearing of red on that Tuesday.
The Rev. Isaiah “Shaneequa” Brokenleg said that, “The media doesn’t see our stories as important as others.”
Brokenleg is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Nation). She is the Episcopal Church Staff Officer for Racial and the Interim Indigenous Missioner. A priest in the diocese of South Dakota, she focuses on social justice and ending oppression and violence.
Brokenleg cited jurisdiction is a serious issue in investigating crimes. “There are two different police departments – tribal police, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and that can cause confusion.”
Tribes have limited authority to prosecute non-indigenous people on indigenous people’s land. “Huge number of crimes were not investigated,” Brokenleg said. “Sometimes only the FBI can investigate crimes on indigenous land.”
Brokenleg called for more funding to help train culturally appropriate care. “We don’t give the weight or the funding of this that it needs,” especially in patrolling large geographic areas. The Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, which is the size of Connecticut, she said, has only four police officers.
Brokenleg also pointed out that more is spent in this country on prisons than on Indian Health Care.
NECW President Lisa Bortner said that resolutions concerning MMIW should be presented at General Convention 2027. A resolution about this issue was approved by the 2022 General Convention, she noted.
“Across North America, Indigenous women and girls experience violence at disproportionately high rates,” explained Bortner. “Many go missing. Many are murdered. Too often, their cases receive little media attention, inadequate investigation, or are lost in jurisdictional gaps between tribal, state, and federal authorities. The crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women is not new — but it is urgent.”
She continued, “For the National Episcopal Church Women, this issue is not political. It is profoundly spiritual. Therefore, participation in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women is not a political act for ECW — it is a Gospel act.”
Bortner concluded: “You do not have to be Indigenous for this to concern you. You do not have to be Episcopalian for this to require your attention. Violence against women anywhere diminishes human dignity everywhere. We must move beyond awareness to accountability. We must move beyond sympathy to solidarity. We must move beyond prayer alone to prayer that leads to action.”
The video of the presentation will be available on the NECW Facebook page and the NECW YouTube page.
Neva Rae Fox is a communications professional with extensive Episcopal experience, serving the boards of The Living Church Foundation, Bible and Common Prayer Book Society, Episcopal Community Services of New Jersey, and others.
