PEMBROKE — Hundreds turned out Thursday for the Annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) March and Ceremony which went through the town of Pembroke.
Families carried signs in honor of their loved ones who were murdered or are missing.
The half mile march ended at the Milton R. Hunt Memorial Park where a ceremony was held and family and community members had an opportunity to speak their loved one’s name and give details of what happened to them, according to a statement from the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.
The sixth annual march for MMIP is sponsored by the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and James Locklear with Native Visions Magazine.
Monday (May 5) was an annual day of remembrance with events occurring across the nation, according to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.
“The mission of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women/People (MMIP) is to spread awareness of Indigenous women/people that have been murdered or have gone missing across the United States,” said Tasha Oxendie, spokeswoman for the tribe. “Along with acknowledging murdered and missing Indigenous women/people, there is a push to provide support to the families of the victims and encourage tribal communities to come together to take a stand in support of protecting our women.”
As of 2022, the NCIC (National Crime Information Center) reported 10,123 missing persons identified as Native American, with 54% being female and 46% male, according to data provided by the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Website dedicates a page to the urgency of this issue. The webpage states, “For decades, Native American and Alaska Native communities have struggled with high rates of assault, abduction and murder of tribal members.”
A statement from the Interior Department states, “Community advocates describe the crisis as a legacy of generations of government policies of forced removal, land seizures and violence inflicted on Native peoples. A 2016 study by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) found that more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women (84.3%) have experienced violence in their lifetime, including 56.1% who have experienced sexual violence.”
In the year leading up to the study, 39.8% of American Indian and Alaska Native women had experienced violence, including 14.4 percent who had experienced sexual violence, according to the Interior Department.
Overall, more than 1.5 million American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime, according to the Interior Department
Families carry signs honoring loved ones murdered or missing
