91探花

Thursday, May 5 marks the National Day of Awareness for Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP), a day to acknowledge the violence that disproportionately affects Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. It鈥檚 also a chance renew our commitment to combatting this ongoing epidemic and to ending the silence that surrounds it and tomorrow, we can signal our awareness and solidarity with the movement by

Across the nation, thousands of Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people are victims of abuse, rape, abduction and murder, and many of their cases go unsolved. Indeed, it鈥檚 difficult to know exactly how many Indigenous people are missing or slain because federal databases are woefully incomplete and jurisdictional ambiguity between U.S. and tribal law enforcement makes it even harder to get a complete picture. Suffering and abuse on this scale should be a matter of national concern and outrage, but persistent and systemic racism and discrimination have allowed this crisis to continue.

The impact of these crimes is especially acute here in Washington, which is among the states with the highest number of MMIP. American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) women go missing at the rate of white women in our state. As the home of 29 federally recognized tribes, Washington has a special responsibility to advocate for justice and safety for our Native American friends, family, neighbors and colleagues. It鈥檚 customary at the 91探花to recognize the tribal nations of Washington and the Coast Salish peoples as part of our land acknowledgement, and it鈥檚 vital that we live up to the spirit and intention of those words through our actions.

Throughout our great public University, dedicated and talented individuals and organizations are engaged in the movement to raise awareness and end this scourge of violence, work that also falls under the umbrella of our Population Health Initiative. Recently, the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice , executive director and co-founder , to understand and address the systemic gaps in information that are exacerbating the crisis. The 91探花School of Medicine offers to better prepare medical students to meet the needs of AI/AN people and communities.

91探花students are also deeply engaged in the movement. The intertribal student organization has raised money for the , which promotes leadership of Indigenous women. 聽And in April, student athlete Rosalie Fish, a member of the Cowlitz Tribe and a descendant of the Muckleshoot Tribe, was selected as a Truman Scholar in recognition of her The led by Director Madison Truitt, sponsored a bill, passed by the ASUW, to recognize May as Missing and Indigenous Persons Month. In Madison鈥檚 words, 鈥� honors the lives of our Indigenous family by continuing to shed light on the countless tragedies involving our Indigenous people, highlighting the need for ongoing grassroots advocacy to change laws, policies, and protocols and encouraging the allocation of increased resources at the tribal, federal, and state levels to end these injustices.鈥�

As a society and a community, we share a responsibility to raise awareness and end the crisis of violence affecting Indigenous women, girls, LGBTQIA+, and two-spirit people. This epidemic demands attention, resources and action at the federal, state and local levels, and together, we can be part of the movement to make the world safer for all Indigenous people.