Portland's MMIR Day of Awareness and Action
Nika Bartoo-SmithUnderscore Native News + ICT
Content warning: domestic violence, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives
On May 5, crowds gathered throughout the day at the Oregon Convention Center Plaza in Portland to bring attention to the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives and create space for remembering those who have been impacted.
Red shirts, ribbon skirts and red handprints filled the plaza square as people began to make signs with phrases such as 'We are their voices,' 'Honor their spirit,' and 'Justice for MMIR.'
Early in the day, a bald eagle flew overhead, a rare sighting in the middle of the city. As people paused to point it out, a hawk joined it. To many, this seemed like an offering of a blessing from the two birds.
Across the country, May 5 is a National Day of Awareness and Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and People (also referred to as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives or MMIR for short).
American Indian and Alaska Native women are murdered at a rate of 10 times higher than the national average, and more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women experience violence in their lifetime, according to the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center.
Two Spirit and trans Indigenous relatives also face disproportionate rates of violence, which is part of the push to change the name to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives to acknowledge the reality that Indigenous people of all genders are impacted by the MMIR crisis, according to Polimana Joshevama, Hopi, research and evaluation mode lead for Future Generations Collaborative.
MMIR Day of Awareness and Action is a day to raise awareness, demand justice, take action and create space for healing.
'I think that the MMIR Day of Awareness and Action that we're having today has two parts to it. I think there's the external, bringing awareness,' Joshevama said, mentioning the importance of wearing red and holding signs out in public.
'[And secondly] just a space to be able to come together and hold space for those memories and the thoughts and the prayers that we have for all those people,' she added.
Creating a space for both education and healing during a particularly intense day, organizers of the MMIR Day of Awareness and Action grounded the occasion with opportunities for ceremony.
After a free lunch provided by Sisters Fry Bread, Shalaya Williams, Cayuse from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, asked those gathered to come together in a circle.
Williams led more than 50 people in a breathing exercise, acknowledging that MMIR Day of Awareness brings up trauma for many people. Williams talked about how their grandmother taught them how to release that stored, intergenerational trauma and called on those in need of healing to step forward.
'Whoever has a heavy heart today, who needs extra prayer, come join me in the middle,' Williams said.
People stepped forward to form a smaller circle in the center around an abalone shell filled with burning sage. The smaller group held hands while Williams offered a song and prayer, encouraging those in the larger circle to do the same.
Later in the day, community members marched to the Willamette River to take part in another ceremony, joined from the water by the 7 Waters Canoe Family at the Duckworth Memorial Dock.
Around 50 people walked the three quarters of a mile to the dock, including women pushing strollers and elders pushing walkers. People raised their signs high in the air with phrases such as 'No more stolen sisters,' 'Gone missing but still in our hearts,' and 'Search the landfills.' Cars honked their horns in support all along the way.
Angela Polk, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs and a Yakama Nation descendent, spent the walk to the river reflecting on her sister, Tina Spino, who went missing two years ago.
'My daughter has never been the same since,' Polk said.
Two weeks after Tina went missing, she was found dismembered, Polk said. She has lost other loved ones as well to the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives, including her nephew Casey Lillie.
'The importance for me is to release the pain we carry,' Polk said, reflecting on MMIR Day of Awareness and Action. 'I pray for the children and I pray for my family.'
Once at the river, those standing at the dock welcomed the 7 Waters Canoe Family with war whoops.
'We're happy to be here, happy to pull our canoe in prayer,' said skipper Lukas Angus, Niimiipuu and Cayuse on his father's side and Tlingit and Haida on his mother's side. 'When we paddle, we're praying. We're offering our strength. We hope that you can pray with us.'
Event organizers handed out flowers to those gathered on the docks, to take part in a 'letting go' ceremony. One by one, community members were invited to step forward and add their flower to a growing pile on a wool blanket at the front of the canoe, sending with it a prayer of something that they need to let go of.
After everyone stepped forward, the 7 Waters Canoe Family pulled back out into the center of the river. The two paddlers in front gently threw the flowers into the river, one by one.
Silence fell over the dock, as people watched the canoe family release their prayers into the river through the flowers. Out of the silence, a man's voice rose, sharing a song.
When it comes to the actual numbers of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives across the country, and specifically in Portland, it is hard to know the true reach of the crisis, according to Joshevama.
'We know there are so many gaps in data,' she said. 'There is no official data for the City of Portland.'
One of the reasons there is such a gap in data has to do with racial classification, as Indigenous people are often misclassified, according to Joshevama.
Acknowledging the gaps in data, Joshevama is working with Future Generations Collaborative on creating a database to track MMIR cases in the Portland Metro area. The hope is to engage with the community and officially launch the database in 2027.
In Oregon, secrecy and data issues seem to be impeding progress on MMIR cases, as Underscore Native News reported in August 2024.
Family members and grassroots groups are leading the way when it comes to advocating for and searching for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives, such as the MMIW Search and Hope Alliance based in Oregon.
The National Indigenous Women's Resource Center created a guide as part of its MMIR toolkit for what to do in the first 72 hours after a loved one goes missing. Some state legislators in Oregon are calling for further action to improve the state response to the MMIR crisis.
This legislative session, state Reps. Tawna Sanchez, Shoshone-Bannock, Ute and Carrizo, and Annessa Hartman, Haudenosaunee, championed House Bill 3198. If passed, the bill would allocate staff within the Oregon Health Authority to lead prevention efforts, provide victim services and collect statewide data on MMIR cases.
'For years, we've heard from families and community members who've done this work alone because state systems weren't built to support them,' Sanchez said in a press release about the bill. 'This bill is a response to that call. It invests in the prevention, coordination, and healing our communities have asked for.'
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