National Week of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives

May 4-8, 2026, marks the National Week of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIWR). Although this week is dedicated to advocacy, it's important to remember that we must take action year-round. Indigenous communities are experiencing high rates of missing and murdered women, girls, and LGBTQ2S+ folks throughout the entire United States and Canada. In honor of this National Week of Action, Eighth Generation is calling attention to MMIWR and spotlighting a list of resources and organizations who are doing important work at the forefront of this issue. 

What is MMIWR?

The acronym, MMIWR, is used to call attention to the thousands of missing person cases that are often left ignored and neglected by the State and Federal U.S. Government. In fact, 95% of Native missing person cases receive no mainstream media coverage, despite the fact that Indigenous women represent less than 5% of the U.S. population, but experience violence at about 10 times the national average[i]. Similarly, over 40% of sex trafficking survivors are Native with cases being frequently linked to a missing person’s report[ii]. Additionally, murder accounts for about a third of the leading cause of death among Native girls and women aged 10-24, and the sixth leading cause for Native women aged 25-44[iii].

It is clear: Indigenous women and relatives are going missing each year at an extremely alarming rate. So why don't we hear about MMIWR in mainstream media or from U.S. government officials? The answer is rooted all the way back to colonization. Native people have been forced for generations to advocate for themselves, calling attention to issues like MMIWR through grass roots organizing. It has always been on the shoulders of Indigenous communities, especially women, to demand help and bring awareness to the issues ignored by the mainstream public. Historically, U.S. laws and regulations have made it intentionally hard for Native communities to investigate missing and murdered Indigenous people. In the 1978 case of Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, the Supreme Court ruled that tribal police could not arrest non-tribal members who committed crimes on their reservations[iv], meaning those perpetrators could leave freely with no charges against them.

In more recent times, the Supreme Court in the 2021 U.S. v. Cooley case rules that tribal officers have authority to, at minimum, investigate and detain non-Native people suspected of committing crimes on tribal land, but they cannot prosecute them and must be handed over to federal or state authorities[v]. This means that state or federal police can pick and choose if they want to investigate or prosecute. However, the passing of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2021 allows an exception to this law, allowing tribal courts to have special jurisdiction to prosecute non-Natives for specific domestic violence crimes[vi]. Although a step in the right direction, there is so much more the federal and state government can and should do. 

We Need Your Help:

Alaska, Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington are the top 10 states with the highest rate of missing Indigenous person cases[vii], with New Mexico being the first and Washington State being the second[viii]. We must do more as a community to protect our Indigenous relatives and the first step is education. Now that you have learned about MMIWR, how will you take action? For more information on how you can do your part please check the list of state and national resources listed below.

National Organizations & Resources:

MMIWR Resource List: mmiwhoismissing.org/resources

National Indigenous Women's Resource Center (NIWRC) - niwrc.org/policy-center/mmiwr

Mother Nation - mothernation.org/mmir

 State-Based Organization and Resources:  

Albuquerque, NM - Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women  csvanw.org/about-us

Washington - Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women of Washington  facebook.com/MMIWWashington

Utah - MMIR Utah mmirutah.org

Wyoming and Colorado - Not Our Native Daughters notournativedaughters.org/our-mission

Navajo Nation - Missing & Murdered Diné Relatives Coalition navajommdr.org