MURDERED & MISSING but not forgotten

THEY WALKED FOR WOMEN ON VALENTINE”'S DAY

by Tesha M. Christensen

Over 1,200 people braved the winter weather to march for missing and murdered Indigenous women on Feb. 14, 2019. Twenty-nine-year-old Amber Brunelle, who works in South Minneapolis, was walking to raise awareness of this issue. She pointed out, “Most cities don”'t have a number on how many Indigenous women are missing in this country.” She is pushing for policy changes that will pinpoint why so many Indignous woman are targeted and what can be done to fix the problem. Brunelle was walking in memory of her friend Brandi, who was murdered 1.5 years ago. “We”'re all part of the same life. We all live here,” Brunelle said. “I just want the violence against Indigenous women and men to stop.”

Organized by Minnesota Indian Women”'s Resource Center with help from the Minnesota Indian Women”'s Sexual Assault Coalition and others, this year”'s walk was filmed by TPT-Twin Cities PBS for an upcoming documentary. All My Relations Arts brought equipment so that participants could create screen prints stating “Justice! For Missing and  Murdered Indigenous Women” and “Bring Her Home,” and then wear the red fabric during the walk. Stations set up inside the Minneapolis American Indian Center, where the walk began and ended, educated attendees on the sexual violence and sex trafficking issues facing Native peoples in North America.… Read the rest “MURDERED & MISSING but not forgotten”