Around 40 people gathered Monday to mark the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. A candlelight vigil, speaking and drumming brightened the Raven Plaza, Ggugguyni T’uh, in front of the Dena’ina Wellness Center in Kenai.
Speakers during the vigil said the hardships and trauma created by violence against Indigenous women reverberate through communities and extend beyond physical impacts. Many carried small electric candles, and the event concluded with drumming and singing.
A proclamation Monday by Gov. Mike Dunleavy recognized Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Awareness Day in the state. He wrote in that proclamation that Alaska Native women make up 19% of the state’s population, but are overrepresented in the populations of domestic violence and rape victims in the state.
The national day was recognized by a resolution sponsored by, among many other U.S. senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both R-Alaska.
The U.S. Congress in 2020 established the Not Invisible Act Commission, which included University of Alaska Fairbanks assistant professor Michelle Demmert, to develop recommendations to address public safety challenges related to better identify, report and respond to missing and murdered Indigenous peoples cases. That body compiled and submitted their report to Congress in 2023.
That report has been scrubbed from the U.S. Department of Defense website since President Donald Trump took office, but can be viewed in the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. The report says that Alaska Natives face unique challenges and issues distinct from those in the Lower 48, and has a chapter dedicated to the state.
“The challenges of distance, poverty, governmental structures, lack of technology and transportation, and a traumatic history set Alaska apart from the rest of Indian country,” the report reads. “Funding needs are substantial to bring Alaska Tribes and Villages to parity with their Lower 48 relatives — a standard that is still substantially lower than what the general U.S. population enjoys in terms of public safety and services.”
Locally, the Kenaitze Indian Tribe offers “culturally relevant advocacy and support” to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Find more information at kenaitze.org under “social services.” The LeeShore Center also provides support and services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, with more information available at leeshoreak.org.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
Kenaitze Indian Tribe chemical dependency councilor Jamie Ball performs during a candlelight vigil marking National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls at the Raven Plaza, Ggugguyni T’uh, in front of the Dena’ina Wellness Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, May 5, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
