The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law signed by President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1994. The Act provided $1.6 billion toward investigation and the prosecution of violent crimes against women, imposed automatic and mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allowed civil redress when prosecutors chose to not prosecute cases. The Act also established the Office on Violence Against Women within the U.S. Department of Justice.
Catherine Marie Cortez Masto is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Nevada, a seat she has held since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Cortez Masto served as the 32nd attorney general of Nevada from 2007 to 2015.
Joseph John Heck is an American physician and politician who served as the United States representative for Nevada's 3rd congressional district from 2011 to 2017. Heck is a retired United States Army major general and a board-certified physician who previously served as a Nevada state senator from 2004 to 2008. He ran for the United States Senate in 2016, losing to Catherine Cortez Masto.
Michael Spears is an Indigenous American actor. He is a member of the Kul Wičaša Lakota from the Lower Brulé Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.
The Native American Languages Act of 1990 (NALA) is a US statute that gives historical importance as repudiating past policies of eradicating indigenous languages of the Americas by declaring as policy that Native Americans were entitled to use their own languages. The fundamental basis of the policy's declaration was that the United States "declares to preserve, protect and promote the rights and freedom of Native Americans to use practice and develop Native American Languages".
Native American feminism or Native feminism is, at its root, understanding how gender plays an important role in indigenous communities both historically and in modern-day. As well, Native American feminism deconstructs the racial and broader stereotypes of indigenous peoples, gender, sexuality, while also focusing on decolonization and breaking down the patriarchy and pro-capitalist ideology. As a branch of the broader Indigenous feminism, it similarly prioritizes decolonization, indigenous sovereignty, and the empowerment of indigenous women and girls in the context of Native American and First Nations cultural values and priorities, rather than white, mainstream ones. A central and urgent issue for Native feminists is the Missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis.
#AmINext is a social media campaign launched on September 5, 2014, by Inuit Canadian Holly Jarrett, to call attention to the high rate of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. It was one of many awareness campaigns initiated by activists since 2000.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), also known as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and more broadly as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) or Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP), are instances of violence against Indigenous women in Canada and the United States, notably those in the First nations in Canada and Native American communities, but also amongst other Indigenous peoples such as in Australia and New Zealand, and the grassroots movement to raise awareness of MMIW through organizing marches; building databases of the missing; holding local community, city council, and tribal council meetings; and conducting domestic violence trainings and other informational sessions for police.
Tina Michelle Fontaine was a First Nations teenage girl who was reported missing and died in August 2014. Her case is considered among the high number of missing and murdered Indigenous women of Canada, and her death renewed calls by activists for the government to conduct a national inquiry into the issue.
Michèle Taïna Audette is a Canadian politician and activist. She served as president of Femmes autochtones du Québec from 1998 to 2004 and again from 2010 to 2012. She was also the president of Native Women's Association of Canada from 2012 to 2014. From 2004 through 2008, she served as Associate Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Relations with Citizens and Immigration of the Quebec government, where she was in charge of the Secretariat for Women.
Debra Anne Haaland is a Native American politician serving as the 54th United States Secretary of the Interior. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the U.S. representative for New Mexico's 1st congressional district from 2019 to 2021 and as chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party from 2015 to 2017. Haaland, a Native American, is an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe.
Bridget Tolley is a Canada-based Algonquin community worker, activist for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), and the founder of the grassroots activist and support organization, Families of Sisters in Spirit (FSIS).
The REDress Project by Jaime Black is a public art installation that was created in response to the missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) epidemic in Canada and the United States. The on-going project began in 2010 and commemorates missing and murdered indigenous women from the First Nations, Inuit, Métis (FNIM), and Native American communities by hanging empty red dresses in a range of environments. The project has also inspired other artists to use red to draw attention to the issue of MMIW, and prompted the creation of Red Dress Day.
The epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) is not exclusive to any region of the United States, but some states have a higher number of cases. Utah ranked 8th in the United States for the number of missing and murdered Indigenous women. The state's capital, Salt Lake City, was the city with the 9th highest number of cases of MMIW.
Jennifer Lee Bendery is an American political journalist whose focus has been on Capitol Hill and the White House, including coverage of U.S. policy regarding women and minorities – particularly Savanna's Act and the Violence Against Women Act.
Tamra Borchardt-Slayton is a Paiute politician and the chairperson and leader of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah.
Jaime Black is a Canadian Métis artist and activist of Anishinaabe and Finnish descent. Her work focuses on First Nations and Indigenous representation and identity. Black is best known for the REDress Project, an art installation that she created as a response to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis in Canada as well as the United States. A 2014 report by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found that more than 1,000 Indigenous women were murdered over the span of 30 years from 1980 to 2012. However, some Indigenous advocacy groups dispute these reports arguing that the number is much greater than the government has acknowledged.
Patricia 'Patsy' L. Whitefoot is a member of Yakama Nation, is Indigenous elder, activist and professional educator along with being the traditional food gatherer for the Toppenish Creek Longhouse. She served as the President of the National Indian Education Association and President Obama appointed her as a member of the National Advisory Council on Indian Education. She is a prominent advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and Indigenous rights.
The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's and People's Alert System is the first nationwide alert system for missing Indigenous people in the United States. On 31 March 2022, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee signed 6 bills into law, 2 of which focus on helping missing Indigenous people that will take effect June 9. This bill, originally proposed by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, is an Amber-Alert-type system that notifies police and other public broadcasting systems in local and regional areas when a report has been made by a family member of a missing Indigenous person. Washington State has a similar "Silver Alert" for vulnerable adults who have gone missing. While the alert system includes Indigenous men and children, it has a primary focus on Indigenous women, since “the crisis began as a women's issue, and it remains primarily a women's issue.” according to public testimony.
Renée Sans Souci is an Indigenous educator, artist, and activist born in Lincoln, NE in 1962. Sans Souci is a member of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska. She is the co-leader of the Niskíthe Prayer Camp, located in Lincoln, NE. Sans Souci is also known for work as an advocate for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement, an Omaha spiritual practitioner, and a cultural consultant.
