Albuquerque, New Mexico — Across the country, Indigenous people are coming together this week to honor loved ones who have been lost or killed and to call for better data collection, law enforcement response and reforms to make their communities safer.
From U.S. state capitals and tribal community spaces to the streets of major cities, hundreds of marches, rallies, dialogue circles, self-defense classes and candlelight vigils are scheduled for the week of May 5, observed as National Awareness Day for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Movement.
This day reflects the collective grief and resilience of Indigenous communities, as the federal government has a legal responsibility to ensure public safety. Often, the resources needed to prevent and respond to violence are few.
Many events call on participants to wear red, a color that has become synonymous with honoring Indigenous victims of violence in the United States and Canada.
Native Americans face disproportionate rates of violence in the United States, a crisis that advocates say has its roots in the systematic removal of Native people from their lands and the federal government’s efforts to rid them of their cultures.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Native Americans and Alaska Natives are more than twice as likely to be victims of violent crimes than the general population, and Native women are twice as likely to be victims of homicide. At the end of 2025, the FBI’s National Crime Information Center recorded just under 1,500 active federal cases involving missing Native Americans.
Experts say that’s likely an undercount due to judicial confusion, racial misclassification and inconsistent data collection.
Abigail Echo Hawk, director of the Urban Indian Health Institute, said progress has been made in accounting for the true scope of the crisis, but law enforcement resources have been slow to follow up.
“Don’t look at the numbers and feel sorry for us,” said Echo Hawk, a citizen of the Pawnee Tribe in Oklahoma. “Look at the numbers and say: How do we ensure this doesn’t continue?”
In 2020, President Donald Trump signed Savannah law and the “Invisible Act” in law, both of which aim to solve and prevent cases of violent crime in Indian Country while improving data collection and law enforcement reforms.
But the implementation of these laws was slow and irregular. Under the Biden administration in 2022, federal Committee to study the crisis It was held two years behind schedule. Its sweeping recommendations — from expanding tribal law enforcement authority to improving communication with victims’ families — will be announced in 2023.
The recommendations were removed from government websites last year amid the Trump administration’s purge of initiatives linking them to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Federally recognized tribes are sovereign nations within the United States
Meanwhile, Trump’s Justice Department continued its work The process is unforgettable initiative, sending dozens of FBI agents, analysts and other staff to field offices near tribal lands on a temporary, rotating basis. According to the FBI, those missions have resulted in more than 200 arrests and convictions for murder, domestic violence and sexual assault since 2023.
Michael Henderson, director of public safety for the Navajo Nation, said there are “pros and cons” to the FBI’s larger presence in Indian Country. Federal officers can bring fresh eyes and high-tech forensic tools to cold cases. But many of these agents arrive with little experience working in Indigenous communities or investigating violent crimes, Henderson said.
“More FBI manpower on reservations, that’s not a good solution in my opinion,” Henderson said, adding that federal money could be better spent on staffing and funding tribal police departments.
At a prayer rally Sunday in Colorado Springs, Colorado, demonstrators chanted: “No more stolen lives on stolen lands” and carried signs with photos and stories of dozens of indigenous people who have been killed or disappeared.
Among the demonstrators was Dennis Porambo. Her daughter, Destiny Jerrian Whiteman, was killed last August while living on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation in southwestern Colorado. She was 24 years old and had an infant.
“It hurts every day,” Porambo said after the march, her voice cracking.
In the absence of a national strategy to deal with these cases, advocates for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples’ Movement say the burden often falls on family members.
Grace Bultel’s niece, Kaysera Stops Beautiful Places, 18, was found dead several days after she disappeared from her home on Montana’s Crow Reservation in August 2019. Her family remembers her as a kind-hearted person and a tenacious high school athlete. They organize marches, vigils, and courthouse demonstrations to raise awareness about this issue and tirelessly harass law enforcement for action and answers.
No arrests have been made, and the cause of death has been ruled inconclusive. Jeddah Stops Pretty Places is holding a demonstration on Tuesday at a courthouse adjacent to the crow sanctuary.
“We had to defend ourselves and Kaysera every step of the way,” Bultel said. ___ Spears reported from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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This story was published by The Associated Press Global Indigenous Reporting Network.