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Research & Reports
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2020 NCIC Missing Person and Unidentified Person Statistics - FBI
"A compilation of statistics from the National Crime Information Center’s (NCIC's) Missing Person and Unidentified Person Files for the 2020 operational year."
Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change- Working Group III contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
"The Working Group III (WG III) contribution to the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) assesses literature on the scientific, technological, environmental, economic and social aspects of mitigation of climate change."
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women - Native Hope
"Across the United States and Canada Native Women and girls are being taken or murdered at an unrelenting rate."
Missing or Murdered Indigenous Women: New Efforts Are Underway but Opportunities Exist to Improve the Federal Response - U. S. Government Accountability Office
"Research shows that violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women in the U.S. is a crisis. Cases of missing or murdered Indigenous women persist nationwide, but without more comprehensive case data in federal databases, the full extent of the problem is unknown."
Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women - Native Womens Wilderness
"Our women, girls, and two-spirts are being taken from us in an alarming way. As of 2016, the National Crime Information Center has reported 5,712 cases of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls. Strikingly, the U.S Department of Justice missing persons database has only reported 116 cases. The majority of these murders are committed by non-Native people on Native-owned land. The lack of communication combined with jurisdictional issues between state, local, federal, and tribal law enforcement, make it nearly impossible to begin the investigative process."
NCAI Publications - National Congress of American Indians
"NCAI often releases policy papers on key topics, legislation, and milestones related to Indian Country. These policy papers are provided to inform tribal leaders, the general public, and members of the media about these aspects of NCAI’s work"
Research on Violent Victimization (ROVV) Lab Publications - Arizona State University, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Who we are: The ROVV is a research lab within the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University (ASU). Centering on social justice and promoting safer and healthier communities for all people, we are driven by the need to reduce victimization among underserved populations, including Indigenous Peoples. We acknowledge that the insights into the causes of victimization and practical solutions are drawn not from the centers of power but rather from survivors' lived experiences and resilience.
Our past MMIP work: Our previous research sought to unravel the ongoing violence encountered by Indigenous Peoples in the form of MMIP. In partnership with Native communities and organizations in Arizona, in 2020, we conducted the first known study to document the causes and prevalence of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) crisis in Arizona. Further, in 2022 we sought the guidance of ASU Indigenous students and the staff serving them to understand the limitations of campus service providers in addressing the needs of Indigenous students living with trauma. To access our work on MMIP, see our publications.
Our current MMIP work: Our current work centers on highlighting the lived experiences of Indigenous Peoples impacted by MMIP. Centering on decolonial methodologies, we work closely with survivors of MMIP, who guide us in ensuring that our research is trauma-informed, victim-centered, and culturally sensitive.
The Status of Navajo Women and Gender Violence - Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission
"Conversations with Diné Traditional Medicine People and a Dialogue with the People."
U.S. Department of Justice Declinations of Indian Country Criminal Matters
"The Department of Justice (DOJ) has reported that the crime rates experienced by American Indians are two and a half times higher than those experienced by the general population in the United States."
Violence Against the Earth Begets Violence Against Women: An Analysis of the Correlation Between Large Extraction Projects and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and The Laws That Permit the Phenomenon Through an International Human Rights Lens - Summ
This note examines the prevalence of sex trafficking of Native women and children, and the correlation those rates have with large extraction projects, such as the Bakken Oil Fields in North Dakota, and the camps (“man camps”) that employees live in. In order to fully flesh out the phenomenon accurately, this note walks through pertinent history and the Truth of the Native experience of
colonization and genocide in the United States. Further, this note also examines
the current laws and policies in the United States that perpetuate and exacerbate
the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls phenomenon. Finally, it
compares those laws and policies to international human rights standards, speaks
to how the United States consistently falls short of international human rights standards, and how the issue can be remedied.
Documents
Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, and Stalking: National Data Collection Efforts Underway to Address Some Information Gaps - U.S. Government Accountability Office
"This testimony discusses issues related to the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). In hearings conducted from 1990 through 1994, Congress noted that violence against women was a problem of national scope and that the majority of crimes associated with domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking were perpetrated against women."
Half of Native American Homicides are Unreported - MAP
"Law enforcement agencies failed to notify the FBI about nearly half of homicides of American Indians and Alaskan Natives committed from 1999 to 2017, according to a study by the nonprofit Murder Accountability Project (MAP)."
Journal of Federal Law and Practice Volume 69, Number 2 - U.S. Department of Justice
"Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons: Legal, Prosecution, Advocacy, & Healthcare"
MAZE OF INJUSTICE The failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA - Amnesty International
"This report focuses on sexual violence against indigenous women in the USA. Governments have a responsibility to ensure that women are able to enjoy their right to freedom from sexual violence. As citizens of particular tribal nations, the welfare and safety of American Indian and Alaska Native women are directly linked to the authority and capacity of their nations to address such violence."
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Report - Annita Lucchesi and Abigail Echo-Hawk, Urban Indian Health Institute
"This report is the second of the Our Bodies, Our Stories series. Go to UIHI.org to read the first report regarding sexual violence against Native women in Seattle, Washington."
Reclaiming Power and Place - National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
"First Nations, Inuit, and Métis women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people in Canada have been the targets of violence for far too long. This truth is undeniable. The fact that this National Inquiry is happening now doesn’t mean that Indigenous Peoples waited this long to speak up; it means it took this long for Canada to listen."
Reducing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: November 2020
The United States is now waking up to the fact that Indigenous Peoples have been oppressed by the dominant (non-Indigenous) culture for centuries. This oppression continues today and has led to a national
and international crisis involving missing and murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP).
This report aims to tell a data-driven story about what is known so far about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) in Arizona and offers best practices to reduce MMIWG. The goal of this work is
to improve the lives and safety of Indigenous Peoples and communities. We thank the State of Arizona for recognizing the importance of this issue and being at
the forefront in terms of legislation. The focus on women and girls is a direct mandate from Arizona’s MMIWG legislation and an initial step toward understanding and reducing murder and disappearance of all Indigenous
Peoples in the state including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and Two Spirit people.
A Roadmap for Making Native America Safer Report to the President and Congress of the United States - Indian Law and Order Commission
"The Indian Law and Order Commission is pleased to transmit its final report and recommendations—A Roadmap For Making Native America Safer—as required by the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, Public Law 111-211 (TLOA). These recommendations are intended to make Native American and Alaska Native nations safer and more just for all U.S. citizens and to reduce the unacceptably high rates of violent crime that have plagued Indian country for decades. This report reflects one of the most comprehensive assessments ever undertaken of criminal justice systems servicing Native American and Alaska Native communities."
Violence against American Indian And Alaska Native Women and Men - André B. Rosay
"An NIJ-funded study shows that American Indian and Alaska Native women and men suffer violence at alarmingly high rates."
Academic Scholarship
Links
Consortium on Gender-Based Violence - College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Arizona
"The University of Arizona Consortium on Gender-Based Violence is a research and resource center that seeks to model and inspire a radical shift in the way we think about and address gender-based violence."
Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy - James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona
"What makes the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy (IPLP) Program at the University of Arizona Law unique is our approach to legal education in the fields of federal Indian law, tribal law and policy, and Indigenous peoples human rights. Students are trained in the classroom and in real-world settings by faculty who are leaders both in their academic fields and as practitioners in tribal, national, and international forums."
Navajo Women and Abuse: The Context for Their Troubled Relationships - Mary J. Rivers
"In this article, on the basis of interviews with seven Navajo women, the author discusses the Navajo woman’s perspective on domestic violence. These discussions reveal several factors that distinguish the Navajo woman’s experience of abuse from that of the Anglo3 woman. These factors are examined in light of historical and contemporary understandings of the Navajo world." https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10896-005-3171-x
Students, Staff Study Impacts of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women - Sadie Buggle
"Data collected by the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice shows there have been 160 missing Indigenous women and girls from 1976 to 2018"
Views from NAU: Addressing the missing and murdered Indigenous people in the United States - Raymond D. Austin, Professor, Department of Applied Indigenous Studies
"Dr. Raymond D. Austin was an attorney for the Navajo Nation and Pascua Yaqui Tribe Court of Appeals, an associate justice for the Navajo Nation Supreme Court for 15 years and a judge pre tempore for the Arizona Court of Appeals. In addition to his legal work, he has taught law and applied Indigenous studies for 35 years throughout the American Southwest and has been a visiting lecturer of law at a number of national and international universities. "
Violence Against the Earth Begets Violence Against Women:1 An Analysis of the Correlation Between Large Extraction Projects and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and the Laws That Permit the Phenomenon Through an International Human Rights Lens - Sum
"This note examines the prevalence of sex trafficking of Native women and children, and the correlation those rates have with large extraction projects, such as the Bakken Oil Fields in North Dakota, and the camps (“man camps”) that employees live in. In order to fully flesh out the phenomenon accurately, this note walks through pertinent history and the Truth of the Native experience of
colonization and genocide in the United States. Further, this note also examines
the current laws and policies in the United States that perpetuate and exacerbate
the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls phenomenon. Finally, it
compares those laws and policies to international human rights standards, speaks
to how the United States consistently falls short of international human rights standards, and how the issue can be remedied."
Documents
American Indian and Alaska Native Knowledge and Public Health for the Primary Prevention of Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons - Delight E. Satter, Laura M. Mercer Kollar, and Debra O’Gara ‘Djik Sook’
"Violence against American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) women, children, two-spirit individuals,1 men, and elders is a serious public health issue. Violence may result in death (homicide), and exposure to violence has lasting effects on the physical and mental health of individuals, including depression and anxiety, substance abuse, chronic and infectious diseases, and life opportunities, such as educational attainment and employment."
The Arizona Intimate Partner Homicide (AzIPH) Study: a Step toward Updating and Expanding Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Homicide - Jill Theresa Messing, Millan A. AbiNader, Jesenia M. Pizarro, Jacquelyn C. Campbell, Megan Lindsay Brown & Karissa R. Pe
"Despite the importance of intimate partner violence (IPV) and homicide research to women’s health and safety, much remains unknown about risk factors for intimate partner homicide (IPH). This article presents the Arizona Intimate Partner Homicide Study, pilot research that is being conducted in one U.S. state to update and expand on risk factors for IPH. "
Globalization as Racialized, Sexualized Violence THE CASE OF INDIGENOUS WOMEN - Rauna Kuokkanen
"In my article, I suggest that indigenous women are among the hardest hit by economic globalization – the expansion of markets, trade liberalization and cheapening of labour – and that globalization represents a multifaceted violence against indigenous women. I consider this with the help of two examples. First, I discuss the largely ignored case of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada and how the interlocking systems of oppression (colonization, patriarchy and capitalism) are further intensified by globalization. Second, I examine the death of a Hopi woman, Private Piestewa, in the context of militarization, history of colonization and globalization. I analyse these examples in an intersectional framework that reveals the links between colonization, patriarchy and capitalism all of which inform the current processes of globalization."
Gone, but Never Forgotten: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in the United States - Julianna Kramer
"Native women and girls in the United States are twice as likely to be sexually assaulted compared to white women, and murder rates on certain reservations can be tenfold higher than the national average. This pervasive violence traces back to colonialism. Native women have historically been abused, exploited, and neglected by America’s institutions, and lasting prejudice against Native peoples endures."
Indigenous Feminist Pedagogy Disorienting Whiteness as Disappearance: Passage of the Violence Against Women Act of 2013 - Lori Bable
"This project brings together rhetorical theory and law to construct a grounded theory named critically sovereign feminist methodology (CSFM). It draws upon rhetorical theory, legal cases, and the rights of Indigenous women (“Native women,” hereafter, reflecting these activists’ self-identification). It examines literacy activities deployed by various Native women activists related to VAWA 2013 and explores why these activities are invaluable pedagogical tools for future activists and social-change strategists. It does so by adapting a critical race theory approach to illuminate the pedagogical frameworks deployed by these Native women activists in their literacy activities to transform the prior limits placed on Tribal Nations’ inherent sovereignty and characterized by tactics of disappearance. Drawing out principles of a critical feminist pedagogy, this project explicates these features through rhetorical analysis of the play, Sliver of a Full Moon and Amnesty International’s report, “Maze of Injustice: The Failure of the United States to Protect Native Women.” This project also provides the deep historical connection of “Indian” rights and legal cases to contemporary social movements of Indigenous women, offering a framework for import by activists in the areas of law and rhetoric."
Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color - Kimberle Crenshaw*
"Over the last two decades, women have organized against the almost routine violence that shapes their lives.1 Drawing from the strength o shared experience, women have recognized that the political demands of mil- lions speak more powerfully than the pleas of a few isolated."
Databases
Links
I-Portal Indigenous Studies Portal
The I-Portal contains full-text electronic resources including articles, e-books, theses, government publications, videos, oral histories, reports, and digitized archival documents and photographs. As of 2022, the I-Portal had over 71,000 records and new content is added on a continuing basis.
Indigenous Governance Database - Native Nations Institute, University of Arizona
"Launched in September 2012, the free Indigenous Governance Database (IGD) features online educational and informational resources on tribal self-governance and tribal policy reform that:
-Foster Native nation building
-Promote tribal sovereignty
-Disseminate Indigenous data
-Encourage tribal leadership development
-Support the development of capable governing institutions
-Highlight sustainable economic and community development in Indian Country." "About" - https://nnigovernance.arizona.edu/about
Indigenous Law - Library Of Congress
"The Law Library of Congress collection contains a variety of Indigenous legal materials from the United States and jurisdictions from around the world, including historical constitutions and charters."
Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program
"The graduate and undergraduate research collections share, archive and preserve research from University of Arizona students. Collections include honors theses, master's theses, and dissertations, in addition to capstone and other specialized research and presentation topics."
Indigipedia
"The world's first crowd-sourced database of Indigenous resources, knowledge, and content, curated through an Indigenous cultural lens."
Missing and Murdered Open Cases - U.S. Department of the Interior
"Missing or murdered individuals in Indian Country are members of our communities, of which our law enforcement officers are closely connected. The pictures of individuals are provided by family members to help the public share and submit tips and information that can help law enforcement give closure to families."
MMIWG2 Database - Sovereign Bodies Institute
"
The MMIWG2 Database logs cases of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, and two spirit people, from 1900 to the present."
National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) - U.S. Department of Justice
"By bringing people, information, forensic science, and technology together, NamUs helps resolve missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases nationwide."
