GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Local Native American tribes are organizing a march at Ah-Nab-Awen Park in downtown Grand Rapids to raise awareness for missing and murdered indigenous people in the United States.
The march is taking place Thursday, May 5 at noon and falls on National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
The statistics for the number of missing and murdered indigenous people in the United States are staggering.
4-in-5 American Indian men and women have experienced violence in their lifetime, according to the National Institute of Justice Journal.
Native women are ten times more likely to be murdered than any other ethnicity, according to the Urban Indian Health Institute
Many of these cases remain unsolved too, according to Melissa Pope who serves as a chief judge on two tribal courts and says this is an issue most people don’t even know about.
"I personally do not know any native person, who hasn't either been a victim of violence, or a very close loved one has been a victim of violence," said Pope. "I have lost people to murder, it never heals, it never gets any better. Because you can never have that person back."
Popes says she hopes by hosting this rally, communities will become more aware.
"It brings that sense of community of giving each other support for those who are in that pain of not knowing where their relatives are. It is incredibly frustrating for it to be so slow. It is incredibly frustrating to have to point out the number of missing and murdered over and over again, for the family members to have to tell their stories over and over again."
That rally is Thursday, May 5 from noon to 3 p.m. at Ah-Nab-Awen Park.
