“Why are we paying for our own visibility on our own land?”

Northern & Southern indigenous people gathered together on May 5th in Brooklyn to attend a vigil & ceremony held by the Urban Indigenous collective. They honored indigenous victims & survivors of trafficking, gendered, physical, & sexual violence, & abuse as part of their 4-day programming for the 5the official National Day of Awareness of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People crisis.

On Monday May 1st, Sutton King (Nāēqtaw-Pianakiw-comes first woman),the  Menomine/Oneida cofounder of Urban Indigenous Collective, awoke to news that the mural space gifted to her organization had been painted over with an ad for rent. A native woman in red once held hands with a native spirit on red painted bricks in a mural to recognize the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People of Lenape Holing and the surrounding tribal lands. The mural was dedicated to deceased community member & mother, Ingrid Washinawtok (Flying Eagle Woman) who fought to re-establish the Menominee Nation as a federally recognized tribe & helped found the Indigenous Women's Network (IWN). Without notice, it was gone. 

“What a privilege that is- choosing to avoid us & erase our history without our consideration to extend the lease. At the same time… why are we paying for our own visibility on our own land?”

Although the mural was up longer than the than it was leased -about a year & a half- it’s silent removal felt personal & echoes the pervasive, colonial culture that oppresses the sovereignty of Indigenous people. 

“When we contacted the owner about it, she said she didn’t know how to approach the situation because she had only ever interacted with our sponsor. In my own opinion, that’s a deliberate choice to act without contacting us & that’s colonization in action.” - King.

Just off the Morgan stop on the corner of White & Seigel, volunteers draped trees in red fabric & sparkling lights framed the space where the powerful red mural lay buried beneath a fresh coat of white and grey. Red candles lined the brick wall as volunteers set up a banner, community canvas with the words “no more stolen people” covered in red hand prints, free food, & the makeshift conference space.

Butterfly Woman (Shinnecock/Montauk) laid her gift, medicine for any survivors of violence, on a piece of fabric at her feet. She began the warrior woman song to invoke the spirit victims of MMIP & strengthen the survivors. The group joined in song, fists raised, & hearts heavy. 

“We know our history. We know the people that went missing. We are the descendants of the survivors & we have an inherent responsibility to make sure no one else goes missing.” -Butterfly Woman.

Chenae Bullock (Shinnecock), founder of Moskehtu Consulting, LLC, a Native American owned Cultural & Heritage Preservation firm chose to put away her prepared speech to talk about her experience with lateral violence & identity politics. “We’ve got to take care of each other. If your heart is Indigenous to me, that’s all I care about.” The US gov acts as the gate keeper & arbiter of Indigenous identity & recognition. There are over 570 recognized tribes, some federally, others only by state, with an almost equal number of tribes (400+) fighting for US recognition, or choosing to exercise their sovereignty without bending to colonial systems. The construct of borders & US citizenship also disrupts personal journeys toward Indigenous reclamation & self determination. There are some tribes still waiting after 130 years for the ability to register, leaving 10s of 1000’s to rely on neighboring tribes’ scarce amount of resources.

UIC is currently in the process of building a more secure & accessible database for MMIP related cases & recently launched their Taskforce to accept case submissions. You can learn more about UIC & their network of organizations combating the MMIP crisis.

“According to the CDC, the murder rate for women living on reservations is ten times higher than the national average, and is the third leading cause of death for indigenous women. Yet data collected and shared on MMIWGT2S is almost non-existent. The New York City metropolitan area is home to 111,749 Indigenous individuals, but law enforcement data either doesn’t exist or is non-attainable. In fact, the Urban Indigenous Collective’s recent 120 FOIL requests into MMIW data led to quantitative evidence that there is in fact a data genocide, by the inability, incapacity, or willingness of provision of current data collections as requested by Urban Indigenous Collective from law enforcement agencies in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. At the press conference, community speakers, relatives of MMIWGT2S, and others will demand justice for MMIWGT2S and continue the fight to secure data critical to raising awareness and putting an to violence against MMIWGT2S.” -Urban Indigenous Collective.