Eighty-four-point three percent of Indigenous women and 81.6 percent of Indigenous men experience violence in their lifetime. According to the Urban Indian Health Institute, murder is the third-leading cause of death for American Indian and Alaska Native women, with rates of violence on reservations up to 10 times higher than the national average. In 2016, there were 5,712 cases of missing or murdered Indigenous women and girls; only 116 cases were reported in the Department of Justice’s missing persons database.
These sobering statistics are a lived reality for Indigenous people.
“We don’t have much visibility when this happens to us,” said Morgan Bear (Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi Tribe in Iowa), Assistant Director at the Native American House (NAH) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “In Native communities, it feels very personal—even when you don’t know someone, I feel like I know them. Because we all know someone who knows someone.”
In spring 2024, the NAH launched a signature program called “MMIR: Red Regalia Project,” to raise awareness about the on-going crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR).
MMIR is a movement that addresses centuries-long and pervasive violence of abuse, assault, kidnapping, trafficking and murder of Indigenous peoples in the United States. Initially referred to as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), MMIR became the preferred name for the movement in 2020, acknowledging that Indigenous peoples of all ages and gender identities experience disproportionate violence. This crisis, deeply rooted in the history of U.S. colonization, racism and sexual objectification of Indigenous women and children, is an intersectional issue.
Over the last five centuries of U.S. colonial Indian law and practices, the original protections and concept of safety have deteriorated for Tribal Nations. There is, and continues to be, a lack of awareness, visibility, resources and comprehensive support for Indigenous communities. There are many factors that compound this devastation: a lack of closure for victims and families, a lack of punishment for perpetrators, a lack of resources for Tribal Nations to justice and victim services, and the failure of local, state and federal responses to these crimes.
While MMIR is a crisis, a movement, a clarion call for justice, Bear stresses, it is also one of many multi-faceted issues that are impacting Native communities in the present day.
“With MMIR, we want to bring awareness to the movement without trying to glorify it. We don’t want to romanticize our issues in the community—because we do have issues—and this is just one of them,” Bear said. “At the Native American House, we are trying to write our own narrative and share it with the Champaign-Urbana community.”
The MMIR: Red Regalia Project at Illinois seeks to honor the lives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives while uplifting Indigenous resilience, visibility and cultural expression. The project utilizes art, identity exploration and community engagement to educate the campus community to foster dialogue, healing, remembrance and continued advocacy for the protection of Indigenous communities.
Co-developed in 2024 by NAH Director Dr. Charlotte Davidson (Diné/Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation) and former NAH ambassador David Eby (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Doctoral Student, School of Information Sciences), this project has been a collaborative effort. Davidson, Bear, NAH student ambassadors Mia Davlantis (Menominee), Ingrid Gonzalez (Yaqui) and Ashlee Shoemaker (Diné), Archivist for Multicultural Collections and Services Jessica Ballard-Lawrence, Student Success Librarian María Emerson and graduate student Jaidyn Smith contributed to the MMIR: Symbolic Art Displays featured at the Main Library from March 2 through March 31, 2026. Eby also created a living MMIR syllabus.
NAH also partnered with Native North American Artist-in-Residence Angel Starr (Arikara/Omaha/Odawa) to lead a red ribbon shirt / skirt making workshop in 2024 and a red beaded earring-making workshop in 2025. The University Library hosted collaborative zine-making sessions alongside these workshops each year. Starr’s residency was funded by the Krannert Art Museum, and NAH led the implementation of the program and shaped opportunities for Starr to engage with Illinois students and the Champaign-Urbana community.
May 5 is the National Day of Awareness for Missing & Murdered Native Women and Girls. Introduced in 2017, this resolution by Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester from Montana was drafted in response to the murder of Hanna Harris on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation and other acts of violence perpetrated against Native women across the United States. For the last nine years, this date has served to honor the movement at the local, regional and national levels. In Champaign-Urbana, the Native American House, American Indian Studies, Women’s Resources Center and the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures will have the interior or exterior of their building illuminated red on May 5, 2026 in observance of this day. In Indigenous cultures, red is believed to be the only color that spirits can see, and red clothing is worn to guide lost loved ones home.
Bear emphasized that this movement is more serious than a trend or clickbait, however social media, posters, stickers, voting and protests can be a vehicle for people to use their voice in support of MMIR.
“You could do something as simple as care and not ignore it when you hear about the movement. If social media is your starting point, then continue to do it,” Bear said. “Anyone can come to our events and do your part with where we are right now.”
2026 MMIR: Red Regalia Project Events
MMIR: Symbolic Art Displays
Dates: Monday, March 2 through Tuesday, March 31
Location: Main Library (1408 W. Gregory Dr., Urbana)
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW): Integrating Structural Analysis and Lived Experience to Address Risk and Protective Factors
Date/Time: Tuesday, April 14 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Location: Illini Union, Room C (1401 W. Green Street, Urbana)
Presenter: Oliviah Walker, M.Ed (she/her), Meskwaki Nation
This is a Dinner On Us event.
Walking for MMIR: Reflection, Remembrance, and Art
Date/Time: Saturday, May 2 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Native American House (1206 W. Nevada Street, Urbana) and CU Community Fab Lab (1301 S Goodwin Ave, Urbana)
National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Relatives (May 5)
In recognition of this day, the Native American House, American Indian Studies, Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, and the Women's Resources Center will illuminate either the interior or exterior of their spaces in red to create visible sites of remembrance and solidarity.
