Fighting the MMIP Epidemic

Greetings to our MMIP Storytelling Initiative Supporters!

We hope that you have been keeping well and that this Native American Heritage Month and on the Day of Mourning Thursday, November 24 you were able to pause, know and acknowledge all that you made possible. 

You are part of an incredible community of some 226 donors who together raised $13.058.21 from December 2021 through June 2022 for our unique grassroots healing programming for Indigenous peoples that puts the families of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples first. Together we fought to save lives and remind families that in this ongoing epidemic of violence, their murdered and missing relatives are more than statistics and that they are not suffering - or searching - alone.

The number of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) is still unknown, and despite the efforts of Indigenous communities, this tragic epidemic still largely remains unaddressed. Indigenous women have an 85% stronger chance of being murdered, going missing, or experiencing some form of violence than they do of graduating, getting married, or having children. Indigenous peoples face alarming disproportionate rates of violence and the movement to raise awareness, find justice, and create avenues of healing and solutions for prevention is long and ongoing. 

Often MMIP families are exploited and family members are reduced to a statistic. This year, with your generous support, our MMIP Storytelling Initiative honored six brave families who lost loved ones to violence; their advocacy unwavering. With courage, these MMIP families told of their grief and the unfathomable violence their loved ones experienced to amplify this crisis and prevent another Indigenous person from suffering this loss. By centering MMIP families as the experts and putting control of how their story is told in their hands, the voice of MMIP work is authentic and led by those directly impacted. Your generous donations supported their honorariums needed in hard economic times and the beautiful care packages they received that offered tangible care, gratitude, and personal healing. 

“I just want to say how I felt afterwards and what you are doing is really going to change and bring more awareness to MMIP work. Usually how I feel after I share my story is sad and I have to pull myself together a little after I talk about my mother, brother and grandma. The way we conducted this made it easy flowing and I was very comfortable, I felt really good afterwards. Thank you for providing this safe space for me to tell my story and I hope it reaches so many people and helps them on their journey as well.” MMIP Family Member

When a loved one goes missing, many families are often left to search on their own and lack volunteers. Assimilation policies have heavily impacted Indigenous communities and many are born into poverty and set on a path of isolation, desolation, and alienation. In spite of that and because of that, many rise to become community change makers and cycle breakers and fight to help. Your donations funded active family-led searches through stipends to community volunteers, food and gas funds for searchers, safety and search gear to aid in their search efforts and radios for a community search in Bismarck, North Dakota. Lessening the financial burden and need to fundraise allowed panicked MMIP families to focus on finding their loved ones. 

Sadly, too many lives are taken. This year your donations supported grieving families with needed funds to hold vigil and burials and feed gathered community members. Lessening the financial burden and need to fundraise allowed families to begin to try to heal from their unspeakable losses. For example, we responded to a mother’s request for funds to purchase fabric needed to make memorial blankets in honor of her daughter who was murdered. Each month we also mailed countless care kits to MMIP families to express tangible love and a wish for comfort - reminding them they are not forgotten or alone. All of these small acts of generosity matter immensely to those who feel isolated in their grief.

Annually, May 5th is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls when we wear red, attend gatherings, marches, and vigils. This day also triggers grief and trauma for many families who have lost their loved ones or who are still searching. To bring tangible care to their doorsteps, we undertook a huge task, and mailed 200 care packages to MMIP family members across the United States and Canada. Each kit contained items meaningful to family members and supported Indigenous-owned businesses where purchases went directly back into the community. Kits included: traditional medicines, medicinal teas and self-care sweetgrass soap made by an Indigenous company that offered mutual aid during the pandemic, handmade clay pins and earrings from an organization that offered free safe rides to Indigenous women, a “Justice For MMIP” t-shirt with all proceeds going to MMIP families, red candles made by a MMIP family member, sacred sage, and more. Healing past trauma helps living survivors today, and makes it possible for future generations to find a way forward. 

Family members shared gratitude for their May 5 care kits and the emotions they felt opening them.  “Thank you from the bottom of my heart, nobody has ever helped me before.”

Today we want to thank you for believing in us and supporting our MMIP work. Our learnings have been many. Becauase we are losing our community members at an alarming rate, we are expanding the programming your contributions has nurtured to deliver more resources to Indigenous communities whose voices have been silenced and deepen our work to end this violent epidemic. Our resources and services are streamlined because we exist in and are of the communities we serve. 

Our new GlobalGiving Missing and Surviving Indigenous Peoples Project expands our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples work to save lives to include frontline work for communities targeted by violence and specific healing for survivors of forced assimilation. We are hoping to welcome 30 new recurring donors in the upcoming Giving Tuesday campaign November 29 before Native American Heritage Month ends this Wednesday, November 30. 

Additionally, we are focusing on Indigenous youths and launched Medicine Wheels Indigenous Youth Wellness Program on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Please consider helping us meet our goal is to get skateboards to isolated youths this holiday season and fund safe community events for youths facing epidemic rates of depression, suicide, addiction, joblessness, and poverty.

We acknowledge all you have made possible, and are humbled. Our work is grassroots and community funded, and it is our sincere wish that you know how much you matter and make possible. 

Please sign up at the link at the bottom of our home page  to follow our work and stay connected with us and this community - we want to hear from you, too!

Many thanks and wishes for health, safety and peace this time of year!

The Team at Seeding Sovereignty