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““We are statistically insignificant.”
That is why little attention is paid to what many describe as an epidemic of murdered and missing American Indian women.
“Native women are invisible at best and disposable at worst,” said Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a member of northwestern Minnesota’s White Earth Nation.
American Indians are a small percentage of the overall population, she said, making it easy for some people to ignore the issue.
Sarah Curtiss of Duluth told Flanagan and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota on Tuesday, April 23, that while Native American women like her may be “statistically insignificant,” not a month goes by without a woman close to her being killed or going missing. “These are guys I have hugged or I have hugged their mothers.”
Experts on the missing and murdered issue, sitting in front of a massive painting that Native Americans found so offensive that then-Gov. Mark Dayton removed it from his office, provided Smith background on the issue as she prepares renewed legislation designed to protect women.”
– Duluth News Tribune, ‘Invisible’ American Indian women say they need help to stop sexual violence.
“One expert on the subject, Lori Jump of the StrongHearts Native Helpline, said her organization moved its headquarters to Minnesota, which has worked on the situation longer than other states.
Women sitting around the state Capitol table said that federal officials have ordered tribes to deal with the violence, but Washington did not send money needed for law enforcement, treatment and other programs.
Many complained that “the jurisdictional issues are profound,” as one said.
Roberta Strong told of her daughter, who died in another state.
“I still don’t have my daughter’s body,” Strong said. “They still haven’t given me permission to go and get it.”
Beth O’Keefe said the Strong family needs to “move on from our grieving process,” but that cannot happen until the body is released.”
– Twin Cities Pioneer Press, ‘Invisible’ American Indian women say they need help to stop sexual violence.
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Indian Country 52
Indian Country 52 is a weekly project by David Bernie that uses the medium of posters that promote issues and stories in Indian Country. Follow the series: Indian Country 52
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This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
