For many years, it felt like missing or murdered indigenous people was an issue only Indigenous people knew about. However, in the past decade, more people have become aware that American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN) individuals experience violence at extremely high rates.
In 2016, the National Institute of Justice published a report that noted that “more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women and men have experienced violence in their lifetime.” This study found that 84.3% of Indigenous women and 81.6% of Indigenous men experienced violence in their lifetime. Comparatively, 71% of non-Hispanic women and 61% of non-Hispanic males experienced violence in their lifetime.
These statistics show why everyone in our society should care about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR).
Where does Utah fit into this issue? In 2018, the Urban Indian Health Institute released a report that looked at 506 cases of missing and murdered women in 71 urban cities in the U.S. Salt Lake City was listed in the top 10 cities in this report.
The report also found that there is a “lack of available data on urban Indians,” and little coordination between law enforcement agencies and tribal nations when sharing data on missing and murdered Indigenous people.
This lack of coordination leads to less accurate data about missing and murdered Indigenous people. The study also pointed out inadequate funding and research about missing and murdered urban Indigenous people that could help urban Indian organizations to better address the impacts on individuals, families and urban communities.
This report publicized this issue to many non-Native people, and it highlighted systemic issues that needed improvement in order to reduce the likelihood that Native people would be impacted by a loved one going missing or being murdered.
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