[Episcopal News Service] Episcopal churches throughout the Diocese of Northern Michigan are marking the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives as a monthlong observance by displaying red dresses in May. Each participating parish will display dresses outside and inside the parish, including in the pews. The day of awareness and remembrance, also known as Red Dress Day or the Red Dress Campaign, is observed every May 5 in the United States and Canada to bring attention to the disproportionately high number of Indigenous women and girls who are victims of violence and to call for improved law enforcement investigations of these crimes, which often go unsolved. This is the third year in which the diocese is participating in the Red Dress observances with monthlong displays. “Having [the dresses] also in the pews offers a more personal approach, reminding folks where our missing relatives could be,” Miskopwaaganikwe Leora Tadgerson, a member of the Bay Mills Indian Community and the Diocese of Northern Michigan’s director of reparations and justice, told Episcopal News Service in an email. In the United States, about 84% of Native American women, or 1.5 million, have experienced violence in their lifetime, and more than half have experienced sexual violence, according to data from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. Native Americans are victims of murder, rape and other violent crime at higher rates than national averages. “This happens in every region of our country, on and off the reservation,” Tadgerson said. “The concept of missing and murdered Indigenous relatives is not something new; it is just finally getting more press.” The Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates that approximately 4,200 missing and murdered person cases have gone unsolved due to a lack of investigative resources. The complex, overlapping web of tribal, federal, state and local jurisdictions often complicates efforts to solve cases. Under the 1978 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, for example, Native American tribal courts don’t have inherent criminal jurisdiction over non-Native Americans, creating a jurisdictional gap in law enforcement. The FBI instead handles serious crimes, which decreases prosecution chances. Additionally, the historical dispossession of Indigenous lands fuels systemic poverty, vulnerability and jurisdictional confusion. “We cannot forget the harm of colonization, boarding schools, land grab and cultural erasure that is part of our history here in this place, and it is part of the history of the church,” Northern Michigan Bishop Rayford Ray told ENS in a written statement while acknowledging that the diocese and the Upper Peninsula are situated on the traditional land of the Anishinaabe people. A database listing all state-level legislation addressing the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls crisis can be found on the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center’s website. May 5 was chosen as the annual observance date to honor Hanna Harris, a 21-year-old Northern Cheyenne woman who was murdered in 2013 in Montana. She was born on May 5, 1992. The United States has officially recognized the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives since 2017. Since then, legislation aiming to address the crisis, including Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act, have been signed into federal law. “Episcopalians everywhere have the responsibility in listening and learning the truth of our history in The Episcopal Church and to advocate for solutions shaped by Indigenous wisdom and leadership,” Ray said. “It is part of the healing that must take place in order for reconciliation to take place. This is Gospel work that Jesus called us into.” Using red dresses to bring awareness to the high number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and children stems from the REDress Project, a public art installation by Jaime Black who is a Canadian Red River Métis. In 2010, Black launched the REDress Project at the University of Winnipeg in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The exhibit featured empty red dresses to symbolize and honor missing and murdered Indigenous women and children. The first U.S. exhibition was displayed in 2019 at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. The museum featured 35 dresses outside its building. It’s important to understand the historical legacy of colonization, including Indigenous boarding schools, according to Tadgerson, who also serves as co-chair of The Episcopal Church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Commission on Native Boarding Schools. The schools were established starting in the 1800s to assimilate Indigenous children into white society at the expense of their Native American identities, languages and cultures. “Churches have the power to bring healing to families still today by opening archives for unconditional tribal access to help locate lost loved ones through research,” Tadgerson said. The Episcopal Church’s research has identified church ties to at least 46 of the 526 known boarding schools in the United States. In addressing the crisis of violence toward Native Americans, Episcopalians are encouraged to be “in community” with nearby tribes, according to Tadgerson. “[Episcopalians can] learn about initiatives that contribute towards the prevention of missing and murdered Indigenous women, actions to support victims and families during crisis – and what aftercare can look like – and then challenge themselves to develop what that can look like from church perspectives,” Tadgerson said. For Ray, advocating for missing and murdered Indigenous women, children and their families is “is a responsibility that we all have as Episcopalians and Christians as we live out our baptismal covenant.” “We cannot look away from the crisis that is facing indigenous communities here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and nationwide,” Ray said. “We have a responsibility to walk with our Indigenous siblings to support and amplify Indigenous-led efforts in making each of us aware of the atrocities that have been part of our way of being as a church and as a nation.” -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.
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