Questions? And MMIW

I realize my posting pace has slowed, but I have been a bit busy. PowWow at Grand Ronde this weekend, Siletz last weekend, and this week I will be at a retirees gathering Tuesday to Friday with sketchy wi-fi.

 Observations from Grand Ronde: Saturday evening went very long. Very very long.  Evening sessions are usually 7pm - 10pm.  This one ended about 12:30 in the morning.  (I guess it can be even longer. One woman said she was once at one until 5 in the morning.)

 There were a lot of important things happening.  For one, the time between afternoon and evening sessions is usually 4pm - 7pm.  The afternoon went a bit long, and the “between-time” was scheduled to used for a women’s all-around competition for two hours.  And went long. 

The evening 7pm start ended up being about 8:00.  And there were two dedications and giveaways for individuals who had walked on (passed away). 

 And there was a very important and moving presentation on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (highlighting one Grand Ronde member), and a Red Dress dance competition.

 My next sewing project is going to be a red dress.

 Statistics on MMIW: [NOTE, statistics are known to be incomplete; unlike federal requirements for jurisdictions to report crime data, there is not a standard reporting mechanism for tribes]

 American Indian women are 10 times more likely to be murdered than others.
84 percent: That’s how many indigenous women have experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence in their lifetime.
1 in 3: That’s how many Native American women have been raped or experienced an attempted rape, more than twice the national average.
13 percent: That’s how many sexual assaults reported by Native American women result in arrest, compared with 35 percent for black women and 32 percent for white women.
506: The number of indigenous women and girls who disappeared or were killed in 71 urban American cities in 2016. Read that again, not the national total, but just in certain cities.
116 cases: In 2016, 5,712 indigenous women and girls were reported missing, but only 116 were logged by the U.S. Department of Justice federal missing persons database.

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