Saturday is the annual Murdered and Missing Indigenous Relative’s walk, organized by the Qualla Boundary Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women’s (MMIW QB) community advocacy group. Recently, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Tribal Council approved establishing a new database that will help officially track this information for the first time.
Last year, 38 community members were honored on the walk, including 35 women and three men. This year, 37 women as well as 20 men and nonbinary relatives are included. MMIW QB Co-Chair Maggie Jackson explains that families submit the names of loved ones who have been murdered or missing and they are added to the list if they meet the group’s criteria.
“We've had to do our own research to try to dig into a lot of the older cases but even the newer cases that happen on the boundary within the past 10 to 15 years are not well documented. That's a problem throughout Indian Country nationwide. There's not a formalized tracking system,” Jackson said.
Last year was the first time that the walk also honored men. This year, the walk has been renamed to include men and gender nonbinary individuals. Jackson says that the shift to include Indigenous people beyond women and girls has been nationwide.
“The idea of including both men, women, and relatives is that we want people to understand that this affects Indigenous communities as a whole, not just the women, not just [their] families, but it also affects men and other relatives,” Jackson said.
Jackson explains that the group reorganized last fall to be more community-centered and is now partnered with the Center for Native Health.
“What's different about the revamped leadership structure and committee group is that we've become more involved with the community directly,” Jackson said. “Part of what we're doing now is connecting with families of these victims to provide support in any way that we can.”
This support includes attending court with families and providing financial support.
“We're still in the early stages of that, but we hope to grow that more and more each year,” Jackson said.
Murdered and Missing Indigenous People’s database for EBCI
Last month, Principal Chief Michell Hicks’ office brought forward a resolution to the Tribal Council to create the first database of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People for tribal members. The Tribal Council approved and the Chief’s Office is working with the Cherokee Indian Police Department and other community members.
“This decision reflects our commitment to protecting our people and honoring those we’ve lost. For years, families, advocates, and community members have worked tirelessly to bring awareness to the MMIP criticism,” Hicks said on Facebook. “We’re building on that work by investing our resources into a system that brings structure, accuracy, and action to this ongoing fight.”
While some national research and state studies estimate the total number of indigenous people killed and missing, there is no official list. National research concludes that indigenous women in the U.S. experience higher rates of violence than most other women, but “without more comprehensive case data in federal databases, the full extent of the problem is unknown.”
It has been previously reported that Indigenous women are murdered at a higher rate than white women – as much as 10 times higher than the national average in some counties in the U.S., according to a report by the Department of Justice.
The Not Invisible Act Commission, which was organized in 2020 by the Department of the Interior and Department of Justice, digs into the issues surrounding violence against indigenous people. The commission released a report of recommendations in November 2023. While the commission webpage is still live on the Department of Interior website, the report has been removed from the Department of Justice website.
The report can still be found on The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center website.
Sheyahshe Littledave is public relations officer for the chief’s office. She says this database will provide important information for the community.
“Chief Hicks hears a lot from the families. He hears a lot of the pain and the frustration when there are no answers, or we have a missing loved one. So it just kind of came about organically in that way like, we need to do something. This is what we can do. We can create a database,” Littledave said.
She says that the database discussion was already underway, but the Trump administration’s deletion of the report spurred their team to work faster.
Littledave co-hosts the We Are Resilient podcast, which focuses on MMIW cases, along with Ahli-sha “Osh” Stephens. Jackson also previously co-hosted but she has stepped away from the show because of other responsibilities.
“I'm just really proud that the tribe's taking an active step in this because there's more parts to it. Having this database will also allow the tribe to look for patterns,” Littledave said, explaining that they will be able to better track issues of domestic violence, for example.
During Tribal Council, community members brought up the fact that some do not want their loved ones to be included in such a list. They also asked how the names added to the database would be confirmed. Littledave explained that the database will be made in partnership with the tribal police.
“It's tribal-led, it's community-focused and we're going to be collaborating and working with the Cherokee Indian Police Department, the Cherokee Court System,” Littledave said, adding that they also plan to work with MMIW QB.
“Accurate data collection is key. Without it, we’re left with gaps in investigations, accountability and prevention. A centralized database will help us close those gaps, identify patterns, strengthen collaboration with law enforcement, and ensure no case falls through the cracks,” Hicks said on Facebook.
“This is just the beginning. Real change will come through continued collaboration between Tribal leadership, law enforcement, families and community voices.”
Jackson said she is hopeful that the database will help clarify the needs for the community.
“I do hope that there is a better tracking system to at least raise more awareness about how big the problem is, because each year, what we're learning is there's more and more cases that are identified that we never knew about,” Jackson said.
The MMIR march is at Oconaluftee Island Park on Saturday, May 3, from 3 to 5:30 p.m. There is also a virtual walk option for supporters to participate from anywhere.
