The Museum of Northwest Art is sharing the following resources to raise awareness about this human rights crisis and to support survivors and families impacted by this national tragedy. The list is compiled in alphabetical order and some of the links contain accounts of violence which could be traumatic and potentially triggering to some readers.

A recent report by the Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI) reports this heartbreaking data:

• Washington State was ranked #2 and Seattle was #1 in terms of the highest amount of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women.

• More than 95% of the 506 cases in the UIHI study were never covered by national or international media.

• Only 116 of the 5,712 cases of murdered or missing Native women were logged into the Department of Justice’s nationwide database.

• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that murder is the third-leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women and that rates of violence on reservations can be up to ten times higher than the national average.

Local Resources:

Mother Nation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization offering cultural services, advocacy, mentorship and homeless prevention services to celebrate and inspire the success of Native American women.

The Native and Strong Lifeline (988 Hotline - Option 4): This line is the first of its kind in the nation dedicated to serving American Indian and Alaska Native people. Calls are answered by Native crisis counselors who are tribal members and are fully trained in crisis intervention and support, with special emphasis on cultural and traditional practices related to healing.

The Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI), a division of the Seattle Indian Health Board, works to decolonize data, for Indigenous people, by Indigenous people and offers resources for Native Survivors of Violence. UIHI created this MMIWG report with data from 71 urban cities in the United States.

The Washington State Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People (MMIWP) Task Force issued this 2022 Interim Report.

National Resources:

The Lakota People's Law Project offers an extensive resource guide of reports, hotlines, toolkits, and information about MMIW, including LGBTQIA+ & Two-Spirit specific resources.

The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) State Legislative Tracker is a navigational database designed to help readers easily search legislation relating to MMIW within each state and across the country.

This Missing and Murdered Native American Women Legislative Report was created by Operation Lady Justice at the Department of Justice.

National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center provides national leadership to end violence against American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian women by lifting up the collective voices of grassroots advocates and offering culturally grounded resources, technical assistance and training, and policy development to strengthen tribal sovereignty. They created a MMIW Toolkit for Understanding and Responding to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women for Families and Communities.

The REDress Project designed by Jaime Black focuses around the issue of missing or murdered Aboriginal women and has been installed in public spaces throughout Canada and the United States as a visual reminder of the staggering number of women who are no longer with us.