The number of Missing and Indigenous People (MMIP) is still unknown. Despite the efforts of Indigenous communities and awareness groups, this epidemic sadly remains unaddressed. Systems in place for other communities fail ours. Often family members search on foot, sharing photos of their last seen relative on social media, communities respond in crisis, victims of violence and loved ones of murdered relatives are tragically left to try to heal alone. This is for them.
Since setting foot on our shorestep, colonizers have attempted to assimilate or erase Indigenous people, lands and culture, while "holidays" like Halloween and Thanksgiving fetishize and romanticize them. The fact is, statistics only tell a fraction of the story. Statistics also dehumanize and disconnect us from the victims: we need to know their names, see their faces, and honor their lives and the love of their families.
This project has two goals: (1) Get immediate essential tangible care to those searching for loved ones and hopefully save lives. (2) Cut through media silence so that together we can demand a response to this unaddressed violent epidemic. MMIP affects individual nations and communities from coast to coast and their stories, in their own words, in their own voices with conviction and inherited resilience, must be told and known and shared.
While our goal is to save lives, we must honor those who have suffered, those we have lost, and their families. No missing or murdered relative should be dismissed: the narrative that Indigenous people are not important must end. The more we address what happens to individuals, we collectively will be able to advocate for policy change, demand a share of resources for our communities, hold accountable the extractive industries who contribute to so much harm to our people.
