‘Someday they will come home. They won’t be forgotten.’ These are their names

A sea of red formed at the Haxton Way and Kwina Road roundabout as Lummi Tribal members gathered in honor of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People Awareness Day Thursday, May 5, on the Lummi Nation Reservation near Bellingham.

With posters, drums and wearing red, the official color of the movement, the group walked down Haxton Way to highlight the crisis. According to Washington State Patrol’s Missing Native American Persons report, as of May 2, there are 126 Indigenous people currently missing in the state — 40 men, 34 women, 31 girls and 21 boys. Led by Santana Rabang, who is of Coast Salish and Stó:lō Nation heritage, the group chanted the names of the missing and murdered: Andre Revey Jr., Arlene Keith, Carol Greene, Casey Jo Tom, Charleen “Tulee” Solomon, Darlene Celestine, David William, Diana Humphreys-Ballew, Donald Cook, Eddie Lawrence, Essie Cagey, Georgianna James, Ike Scarborough, Iva Smith, Jesse Celesinte Adams, Joseph Cagey, Kenneth Joseph, Lamar Felipe James, Lindsey Greene, Melina Ghost, Michael Jordan, Nancy Cooke, Roberta George, Theresa Mike, Tim Bowman, Treston Jefferson, Tyrell Jackson and Valerie Jefferson.

Organized by the Tribe’s advocacy and support services group, Lummi Victims of Crime, the march highlighted the high rate of disappearances and murders Indigenous people face.

According to Lummi Victims of Crime and a study commissioned by the Department of Justice, the murder rate of Native women is more than 10 times the national average.

 

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