Women hold photos of loved ones during a press conference on missing and murdered indigenous women on Friday, May 5 at the city council Ward 1 office.
Congressman Raúl Grijalva introduced a bipartisan resolution Friday designating May 5 as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Grijalva hopes to prioritize the issue amid a standoff in Congress over raising the debt ceiling and cutting federal spending.
He says that he does not want to cut initial investments, such as investments in tribal law enforcement, coordination between jurisdictions and mental health treatment and intervention.
“We take that investment back, not build on it, and we’re back to where we were, which is no place we need to be,” he says. “That is dangerous and tragic for Indian country and for women and girls.” Native American rates of murder, rape and violent crime are all higher than national averages, and nationally Native American women make up a significant portion of missing and murdered people, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. There is a growing movement to bring awareness and call for action on the issue.
As well, President Joe Biden declared today Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day. And the City of Tucson announced its intention to create a regional task force with Pima County. The city council will have a presentation on the issue at the May 9 board meeting.
“This historic tragedy that we see with murdered and missing Indigenous women is a legacy,” Grijalva says. “It’s a legacy of policies. It’s a legacy of Colonialism that this nation has had with native nations and with Indigenous people and communities in general.”
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