Indigenous gatherings nationwide
Across the country, Indigenous peoples gathered from Saturday, May 5, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to a prayer walk where marchers chanted “No more stolen lives on stolen land” and carried photographs of relatives who have disappeared or been killed. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, the corrected event day was Saturday, and participants wore red shirts and ribbon skirts, a symbol of solidarity with the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) movement. Similar vigils took place in Madison, Wisconsin, Duluth, Minnesota, and Oklahoma City, where trees were draped in red dresses and some demonstrators painted red hands over their mouths.
Disproportionate violence
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Native Americans and Alaska Natives are more than twice as likely as the general population to be victims of a violent crime, and Native women are twice as likely to be homicide victims. The FBI’s National Crime Information Center recorded just under 1,500 active federal cases involving missing Native Americans at the end of 2025, a figure experts say is an undercount due to jurisdictional confusion, racial misclassification and inconsistent data collection.
“Don’t look at the numbers and feel sorry for us,” Abigail Echo‑Hawk, a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma and director of the Urban Indian Health Institute, said. “Look at the numbers and say, ‘How do we ensure that this doesn’t continue?’”
Federal response and challenges
In 2020, President Donald Trump signed Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act to improve data collection and law‑enforcement response in Indian Country. Implementation has been slow; a federal commission convened in 2022 released extensive recommendations in 2023, only to have those recommendations removed from government websites last year amid a broader purge of diversity‑related initiatives.
The U.S. Interior Department announced a new task force in 2023 to prevent violent crime in Indian Country, aiming to align investigative resources and improve case management. Michael Henderson, director of public safety for the Navajo Nation, cautioned that while additional FBI agents bring “fresh eyes and high‑tech forensic tools,” many arrive with little experience working in tribal communities. “More manpower from the FBI on reservations, that’s not a good solution in my mind,” Henderson said, adding that federal funds could be better spent staffing and funding tribal police departments.
Families speak out
Families shared personal stories of loss. Denise Porambo described the grief of losing her 24‑year‑old daughter, Destiny Jeriann Whiteman, who was killed on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation in August. Jessica Montoya traveled three hours from the Jicarilla Apache Nation to highlight her son Jamian Reval’s 2023 killing, noting that “He had a lot of goals. He had a lot to look forward to.” Grace Bulltail recounted how her 18‑year‑old niece Kaysera Stops Pretty Places was found dead in 2019 on the Crow Reservation, with no arrests made and the cause of death ruled inconclusive. These families said they have had to “advocate for ourselves and for Kaysera every step of the way,” underscoring the burden placed on loved ones to seek justice.