Last Tuesday WSAT team members Dr. Tom Acker and Angela Clark visited Montrose for a community wide Human Trafficking 101 training. The host of the event was the beautiful Ute Indian Museum. We had about 35 people present to learn and network.
We tried to show this message from Amber Kanazbah Crotty regarding the violence on Navaho Nation. While she is not Ute, she speaks of the generational harms that all indigenous people have suffered. Each tribe is navigating the specific impact of murdered and missing in their unique way. And, they are learning from each other to find the best practices for their communities.
There is a hotline dedicate to responding to the Native Community, please read more: https://strongheartshelpline.org/about#ViolenceinIndianCountry
Photo Credit - Shutterstock - "One Hundred Hands" at Grand Staircase -Escalante National Monument.
For more understanding of the problems reservations and tribal country face, watch Alaska Daily, a TV series based on this journalistic investigation by ProPublica.
When you visit the Ute Indian Museum, be sure to take in the stunning quilted piece on display of a red dress with tears. There is an article cut out from the local paper of a prayer service for the missing women, that they are found. Please take time to read and listen to fully understand why WSAT cannot speak directly regarding the MMIP. We are not qualified to speak of the harms that we cannot comprehend.
Here is a strong resource for culturally grounded statistics, resources, and education.
We can give statistics, however, statistics are shaky as the names of the missing are still be gathered. It's a slow process to collect the data in one primary system. Angela attended the Four Corners Indian Conference in 2019 and heard Amber Kanazbah Crotty speak about the fact that early data was showing more men missing than women.
The best approach for those of us that choose to be allies, is to listen. Then ask how we can best support their efforts, instead of assume we know how to help.
Respectfully,
Angela and the WSAT team