May 5th marks the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People across the country.
In Albuquerque, the Indian Affairs Department held an event on Monday at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center where families of the missing, state officials and advocates came together to bring awareness to the ongoing crisis.
It was a somber day of advocacy for the families of missing Indigenous people. The Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women displayed shawls on five vacant chairs at the front of the room to remember missing loved ones.
According to the New Mexico Department of Justice’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s portal, there are currently 199 Indigenous people missing in the state.
Around 75 people attended the event, which included an honor walk, speeches, dances, and workshops.
Tiffany Jiron from the Pueblo of Isleta and director of the Coalition said families have told her what they need the most: Resources, accountability, education and prevention.
She advised attendees to vote Indigenous people into leadership roles.
“They know our stories,” she said. “They experience the violence in our families. They know exactly what we need, and they will advocate for us.”
In the current political climate, attorney David Adams, who is Chippewa, said he anticipates the federal government will cut funding for these efforts.
“I expect the feds to want to eradicate our sovereignty to the highest degree possible through cutting of every grant you can possibly imagine,” he said. “Or cut every funding you could possibly imagine, with the hope that sovereign nations just disappear, which won't happen. But in order for that not to happen, we have to take that sovereignty and actually exercise it by self-government.”
In February, the Trump administration took offline a report from the Not Invisible Act Commission, which contained recommendations to prevent these cases from happening, according to New Mexico In Depth.
But in the recent legislative session, New Mexico became the 4th state in the country to create an alert system for Indigenous people who go missing. It will allow law enforcement to share information more quickly.
Still, Albuquerque and Gallup remain among the top cities nationwide that have the highest number of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women cases.
Support from the coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation.
