‘For too long, Native women have been stolen from their communities’

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Native women rally in support of Kozee Decorah, a 22-year-old Ho-Chunk Nation woman who was murdered on the Winnebago Reservation in Nebraska. Photo by Kevin Abourezk

DNC on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Source: Democratic National Committee

democrats.org

The following is the text of a May 5, 2021, statement from Jaime Harrison, Chair of the Democratic National Committee, and Rion Ramirez, Chair of the DNC Native American Caucus, in commemoration of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day.

“For too long, Native women have been stolen from their communities without a trace and without a network of advocacy and resources available to those they’ve been taken from to find them or seek justice. Enough is enough. We applaud President Biden and Secretary Haaland for creating the Missing & Murdered Unit within the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services and providing this issue with the attention it deserves. Democrats remain committed to increasing safety and access to justice for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian peoples by advocating for the reforms necessary to prevent future acts of violence.

“We must lift the voices of surviving family members to fight for the justice that is overdue for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The time for change is now.”