May 5 will mark National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls.

The date was designated in a 2017 resolution by U.S. Sens. Steve Daines, R-Montana, and Jon Tester, D-Montana, in response to the murder of Hanna Harris, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe who disappeared in 2013 from Lame Deer, Montana, and to highlight other abductions and killings of Native American women in the United States.

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Jessica Alva. Khadija Rose Britton. Hanna Harris. Anthonette Christine Cayedito. If you haven’t heard of these women, it’s no surprise.

They’re four of the untold number of Indigenous women and girls who have been murdered, kidnapped or gone mysteriously missing. A significant number of victims are from communities that are subjected to the harmful presence of fossil fuel and mining companies. The extractive industry is ravaging Native nations where oil and blood have long run together.

Add to this a dysfunctional police and legal hierarchy that leaves Indigenous women and their families with little support during the first crucial hours when they go missing, and little recourse to prosecute predators for their crimes.

In this program, powerful Native women leaders reveal the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, and describe how they are taking action and building growing movements, including with non-Native allies. Morning Star Gali, Ozawa Bineshi Albert, Simone Senogles, Kandi White, and Casey Camp Horinek.

These stories are shocking, harrowing and heartbreaking. But then again, when your heart breaks, the cracks are where the light shines through.

For more information and transcript, visit our episode page.

This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to find out how to hear the program on your local station and how to subscribe to the podcast.

RESOURCES

Sovereign Bodies Institute

The Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women

The Intercept: A New Film Examines Sexual Violence as a Feature of the Bakken Oil Boom

Restoring Justice for Indigenous Peoples: MMIW Initiative

The Mendocino Voice: Community groups begin painting mural honoring Khadijah Britton and highlighting MMIW in Ukiah