National Day of Awareness for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls & Two Spirits

On May 5th we wear red. For many tribes, the color red is the color that Spirit sees. It is hoped that by wearing red, we can call back the missing spirits of our women and children so we can remember them or find them, honor them and when necessary lay them to rest. A red hand over the mouth has become the symbol of the MMIWG2S movement. It stands for all the missing sisters whose voices are not heard. It stands for the silence of the media and law enforcement in the midst of this crisis. It stands for the oppression and subjugation of Native women who are now rising up to say #NoMoreStolenSisters. #MMIWG2S

Advocacy mainly focuses on cis-women and girls. Two-Spirit is a Pan-Indian umbrella term for American Indians who identify outside the male and female gender binary; who possess both masculine and female energy and exist within another gender identity. Two-Spirits are also targeted, murdered, assaulted, and disappear at disturbing rates akin to Indigenous women and girls. #MMIWG2S.

We want to thank Grantmakers for Girls of Color (G4GC) for making this possible.

Gedakina hosted May 5th awareness events around New England:

• Shelburne Farms staff and friends together with Gedakina staff screened the film, Sisters Rising and hosted and held a Q&A with one of the filmmakers, Willow O’Feral.

• Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science (CBIKS) at University of Massachusetts Amherst hosted an awareness gathering.

• The Indian Township Domestic & Sexual Violence Advocacy Center together with Gedakina’s Township group paid respects to murdered and missing Indigenous women from their location in Indian Township, Maine.

• Gedakina’s Donna Mader-York partnered with the Advocacy Center at the end of a month-long Sexual Assault Awareness Month with a rock hunt. Together the two groups enlisted the help of Gedakina’s girls’ beading circle to help paint rocks to use in a Scavenger Hunt of sorts where the rocks were hidden around Peter Dana Point and the ‘Strip’’s public recreational areas for local community to find and bring in to the Center for a prize.

Row one: Judy Dow with Shelburne Farms staff, Aimee and Andrea at Sisters Rising film screening, MMIWG2S symbol, Willow O' Feral, Sisters Rising filmmaker with Judy, Savitha from CBIKS.

Row two: Items prepared for sunrise ceremony at CBIKS event, red dresses blow in the wind during Indian Township gathering, Indian Township leaders and community members, Lindsay and Danielle drumming during Indian Township gathering.

Row three: Red shirts and dresses hang in memory of MMIWG2S, Gedakina’s info. card affixed to each red shirt sent to participating sites, Rocks painted for the scavenger hunt at Indian Township's Sexual Awareness event, Indian Township community members taking part in gathering.