by Wanda Frenchman
I am an Indigenous woman living and working in the United States. I am Oglala Lakota and Lenape. I am proud that my DNA carries the ancestral blood of many generations of Indigenous people; however, because of this ancestral blood, I am 2.5 x more likely to experience violent crimes and 2 x more likely to experience rape or sexual assault crimes.
May 5 is designated as the official day for remembrance of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and has now grown to include all relatives or MMIWGR Day. In some places, it’s called Red Dress Day, and it’s a day of remembrance and advocacy for the ongoing injustice against Indigenous people. People in the United States and Canada wear red, attend rallies and marches, organize fundraisers, and raise awareness of the crisis.
I was propelled to write this article because I wanted to put a face to this crisis. My hope is that if the readers hear this from an Indigenous woman, they can see firsthand from my point of view what this crisis is doing to our communities. I pray that we have more allies and advocates in the non-Native communities who will be better able to advocate and raise awareness of this crisis. I am grateful that I was asked as an Indigenous woman to give my point of view.
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| Download “We stand for her” | Attend the Vigil via Zoom, May 5 |
There is also sadness in writing this because there have been too many women that I know that have fallen victim to violent crime. I think of one woman, a girl to me, whom I had known for many years. She passed away in 2012, at age 23, at the hands of intimate partner violence. Recently, in Arizona, an Apache girl, 14, was found deceased very close to her reservation after she had run away from a state group home in Mesa. Homicide is the number one cause of death of Indigenous women. Sadly, I could go on naming Indigenous people, a friend of a friend, a treasured community member, my friend’s cousin, sister, daughter, mother, brother, uncle, etc.
My job as vicar is at a church in downtown Phoenix at Native American Urban Ministry, which is housed at Grace Lutheran. Native American Urban Ministry worship service offers a moment of silence to all missing relatives. We are often asked to be a resource for finding people because we work with a large Indigenous homeless population. Maricopa County in Arizona issues a list every month of all the people who are deceased and buried as Jane or John Doe, with an age and race. I go over those lists and notice many are Indigenous people, buried with no notification to family or ceremonial burial traditions for their respective tribes. These are some of the relatives that need to be advocated for.
You can be active in bringing awareness and advocating for MMIWGR in many ways. In 2024, during Lent, the Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations of the ELCA released a guide with important information and resources regarding MMIWG. This new resource guide provides an extensive list of resources you and your community can use throughout Lent and beyond. It can be found at ELCA.org/Indigenous, then click on the words Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
The resource guide suggests ways to honor MMIWGR in your congregation on May 5:
1. Wear red (T-shirts available from the ELCA) and take pictures. Use social media to raise awareness. Use hashtags: #MMIW #NoMoreStolenSisters #TruthandHealing #ELCA
2. Organize a prayer vigil (prayer included on elca.org/indigenous).
3. Include MMIWGR in the prayers for the day.
4. Say the names of MMIWGR (this would be especially meaningful if you also researched to identify locally/regionally specific MMIWGR) and light candles for them during worship.
5. Invite (and compensate) a local Indigenous expert to share on this topic during your educational time.
6. Invite (and compensate) local Indigenous musicians to play/sing during worship.
Join the Women of the ELCA for A vigil for MMIW on May 5 from 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
In honor of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women Awareness Day, Monday, May 5, join leaders, staff, and more as we pray together, “Candlelight Vigil for Murdered and Missing Women,” written by Dr. Kelly Sherman-Conroy. Register to attend via Zoom webinar: https://www.womenoftheelca.org/event/a-vigil-for-mmiw
Discussion Questions:
1. What could you do in your congregation or women’s circle to raise awareness of MMIWGR in your community?
2. How can we, as indigenous women, assist or help you better understand the issue at hand?
3. In what ways can you resist the culture of domination that exploits other people — especially Native women and girls?
Wanda K. Frenchman is an Indigenous leader in the ELCA. She is a member of the Oglala Lakota (South Dakota) and Lenape (Oklahoma) tribes. She serves as the vicar for Native American Urban Ministry in Phoenix, Arizona. The ministry serves all urban Natives in Phoenix, providing a community for believers and traditional culture to come together for spiritual growth.
Wanda is currently a student at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in the new TEIL (Theological Education for Indigenous Leaders) Program, with the hopes of taking over leadership for NAUM. She is a Mission Developer and Fund for Leaders Mission Developer Scholarship winner in 2021.
She has a twin sister, Yolanda and is the daughter to ELCA Pastor Mary Louise Frenchman.
Her personal passions include playing competitive billiards, doing yoga, camping, traveling, bible study and attending Native American powwows and ceremonies.