National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Women (MMIW) Toolkit
May 5th is recognized as an annual National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Women, Girls, & Relatives (MMIWGR). The MMIWGR movement works to raise awareness about this ongoing crisis, provide support to communities and families affected by missing and murdered individuals, and address the underlying causes that contribute to it. It is both an act of remembrance and a call to justice, centering the voices and experiences of Indigenous women, girls, and relatives.
In the Declaration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to American Indian and Alaska Native People, the church committed itself to “advocacy for and being in solidarity with Tribal nations, MMIWGR organizations, families, and friends who have long been searching for their loved ones—Indigenous women, girls, and relatives—who have gone missing or who have been murdered” (4). In support of this commitment, a toolkit created by the ELCA Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Taskforce has been developed for individuals and communities across the church to learn more about this issue and participate in the National Day of Awareness. It offers resources and stories that are encouraged to be shared and amplified within congregations and wider networks.
This crisis, however, is not confined to a single day of remembrance. The toolkit also invites ongoing reflection and action, encouraging individuals and communities to consider how they can continue to name, resist, and respond to the lasting impacts of colonization. It calls for sustained commitment to accompaniment, healing, and justice alongside those who are affected.
