March For Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women Happening In Wenatchee

A group of local Indigenous women have organized a march to create awareness about the state's missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Shelly Nelson, Cascadia Weaver, and Amanda Keewatinawin collaborated to plan the march after Nelson learned about a missing 14-year-old Indigenous girl named Emily Pike, whose dismembered remains were discovered in trash bags along an Arizona highway in February.

"My son Jake is fourteen-years-old, and in my mind I just couldn't imagine what Emily's family must being going through," explains Nelson. "At the same time that her body was discovered, the Gabby Petito documentary was rated number one on Netflix. And while what happened to her is equally as tragic, Native people go missing at a rate that's ten times higher than the national average but they get no attention. So a pretty, petite, young blonde woman can go missing and the FBI is all over it and the whole nation is watching, but when Emily went missing there was nothing. Nobody seemed to care. Not the FBI. Not the morning talk shows. Nothing. So that story definitely reached me and that's what put the idea in my mind that I have to do something."

Nelson says the Wenatchee Valley and North Central Washington area are no different than the rest of the nation regarding the lack of coverage and support for missing Indigenous people.

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"I think in our community there hasn't been any recognition. We really don't have a pulse with the Greater Wenatchee Valley. So I knew that May fifth is the National Awareness Day for Missing or Murdered Indigenous Women, so I thought 'why not do it in Wenatchee too. Why not get a few people that I know together who are of a similar mindset to put something together that recognizes the Indigenous people from our state that are currently missing.'"

More than 4 in 5 American Indian and Alaska Native women (84.3%) have experienced violence during their lifetimes, while in Washington State, Indigenous people make up 2% of the general population but account for 5% of all unsolved cases involving missing or murdered individuals.

National and Canadian statistics on the issue echo similar numbers and Nelson says she believes the problem, although multifaceted, is rooted in a stigmatizing of Indigenous people who live on reservation lands.

"I think they're a marginalized community. I've personally been fortunate that I can live off-reservation and function in the world. Yes, I'm Native, but I feel like I'm a lot safer than if I were living on a reservation by myself as a single mother. I also feel like there's a lot of Native people who live more of a transient life on the reservation, so when they go missing, law enforcement simply says, 'oh, they'll come back because they always do', but then they don't one day and they still don't do anything. I also think it (missing Natives) goes underreported, and a lot of the violence experienced by Native women goes underreported or isn't reported at all. I also think Native people are often mistaken for other races, so it's not properly reported or documented either."

Nelson says everyone in the community, regardless of race or ethnicity, gender, age or connection to the issue is welcome to join in the march, and that all of those attending should feel free to display the traditional red hand covering the mouth which symbolizes the cause.

"There has always been controversy surrounding who can and can't use the red hand over their mouth. It's a symbol of how Native women are often silenced and not recognized. We are encouraging anyone with an understanding of what the red hand represents to absolutely use it. The red hand isn't attached to any Native ceremony, so we have no problem with anybody who wants to show the red hand over their mouths."

Last week, a small group of supporters gathered at the Wenatchee Public Library to create signs for the event, and anyone attending the march is being encouraged to bring their own signs in support of the cause.

The march will take place at Pybus Public Market in Wenatchee next Monday, May 5 on the same day as the National Awareness Day for Missing or Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

It will begin at noon with a silent walk through the marketplace and the playing of the song, "Remember Me" by Indigenous artist Fawn Wood, before heading to Centennial Park where attendees can wave signs and interact with the public.

Monday's march is the first of its kind in the Wenatchee Valley and Nelson and her co-organizers say it will surely not be the last, as they plan to make it an annual event.