The Scope of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Crisis
Across the United States, a persistent crisis afflicts Indigenous communities—the disappearance of thousands of Native people. 2023 Missing American Indian and Alaska Native Persons Data, collected by the FBI’s National Crime Information Center, provides statistics on missing persons.
The 2023 data identified approximately 10,600 missing persons as Native American and Alaska Native. The Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates that approximately 4,200 cases of missing and murdered Native American and Alaska Native individuals are unsolved.
Violence against Native American and Alaska Native communities continues to exceed national averages. These communities evidence disproportionately high rates of rape, murder, and violent crime. Often referred to as the “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Crisis,” this issue reflects systemic failures and historical inequalities. This crisis has left Indigenous families without answers and justice unserved. Centuries of racial hierarchies and colonial structures intersecting with gender-based violence have uniquely shaped the experiences of Indigenous Americans.
This article approaches the MMIP Crisis through a framework that integrates holistic elements of Tribal Critical Race Theory. This article also draws on Native Feminist Theory, also known as Indigenous feminism. These theories both center on relational accountability and Indigenous knowledge systems. This framework allows us to look beyond deficit-based narratives and highlight the survival and continued resilience of Indigenous Americans.
Terminology
This article utilizes various terminologies to describe the communities and peoples native to the contiguous United States. An MMIP report prepared for Congress defines individuals who originally inhabited Alaska’s territories as “Alaska Natives.” The term “American Indians” refers to the original inhabitants of the continental United States territories before colonization by Europeans. Data collected on Indigenous populations within the United States, such as census data, often uses the category of “American Indian/Alaska Native” (AI/AN).
The terminology used in this article refers to research findings and classifications used by governmental bodies in data collection. The term Native American refers to the original inhabitants of the United States. Communities indigenous to the United States include Alaska Natives, American Indians, Native Hawaiians, and American Samoans. The word “Indigenous” refers collectively to the culturally distinct, original peoples of North America before colonization, as well as their descendants.
The Intersectionality of Oppression
Scholars at the University of Montana posit that the MMIP crisis stems from colonization. Processes of colonization ultimately introduced systemic violence and dismantled societal and tribal justice structures among Indigenous communities. Centuries ago, before colonization, Native American communities valued women for their important role in tribal life, reflected in oral traditions, spiritual beliefs, and mythological figures that emphasized balance, kinship, and responsibility.
Violence against Native women was rare. This shifted dramatically during European colonization, with the imposition of patriarchal systems that subjugated women. Violence against Native Women emerged as a central conquest strategy. The erosion of tribal sovereignty, centuries of brutal colonization, and forced relocation/assimilation practices. These factors, combined with jurisdictional complexities and socioeconomic disparities, have created conditions in which Indigenous people are vulnerable to violence and exploitation. Historical injustices have contributed to social marginalization and intergenerational trauma. The cycles of poverty and patterns of neglect continue to affect Indigenous communities today.
Data on the Victimization of Indigenous Americans
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, of the 1,631 cases of Native American and Alaska Native individuals reported missing in 2023, 978 were male and 653 were female. Of the 10,650 overall active cases of missing Native American and Alaska Native individuals on record with the FBI in 2023, 5,801 were female. 4,844 were male, and 5 entries were of an unknown sex/gender. Of the 4,844 missing Native American and Alaska Native males, 3,076 were under the age of 18. 1,764 were age 18 or older, and the age data on 4 male entries were unknown. Of the 5,801 missing Native American and Alaska Native females, 4,295 were under the age of 18, 1,503 were age 18 or older, and the age data for 3 female entries was unknown.
A 2023 Congress report cites the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs). According to NamUs data, as of June 2023, 3.5 percent of the missing persons included in this database were American Indian and Alaskan Native. This indicated a significant overrepresentation of missing persons cases involving Native American people, more than three times their 1.1 percent representation in the United States population.
Gendered Patterns of Violence
Native American and Alaska Native women comprise a significant portion of missing and murdered Americans. A 2016 study funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) indicated that “more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women (84.3 percent) have experienced violence in their lifetime.” The study further notes that 56.1 percent of AI/AN women “have experienced sexual violence”. According to 2020 findings presented in the CDC National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, more than two in five (or 43.7 percent) of American Indian and Alaska Native women are victims of rape.
Alarmingly, Native American Indian and Alaska Native women experienced the second-highest rate of homicide in 2020 compared to other races and ethnic groups. This placed homicide in the top ten leading causes of death in American Indian and Alaska Native women between the ages of 1 and 45. Research also indicates that American Indian and Alaska Native Women are victims of stalking more than any other race/ethnicity at 22.4 percent. 96 percent of female American Indian and Alaska Native victims of sexual violence are victimized by non-American Indian and non-Alaska Native perpetrators. Compared to non-Hispanic White women, American Indian and Alaska Native women are significantly more likely to experience physical violence perpetrated by an interracial intimate partner, 90 percent vs. 18 percent, comparatively.
In 2020, 82 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native men had experienced violent victimization. American Indian and Alaska Native men also presented with the second-highest rate of homicide in 2020, compared to all other racial/ethnic groups. Homicide is present in the top ten leading causes of death in this population for males between the ages of 1 and 54. Native American children are more likely to experience trauma and abuse than their non-native counterparts.
A Lack of Urban Focus
A 2008 study funded by the U.S. Department of Justice led to the release of “Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and the Criminal Justice Response: What is Known”. This publication reported that violent crime rates on reservations specifically are significantly higher than national averages. 71 percent of American Indian and Alaskan Native individuals reside in urban areas. However, research focused on the violent crime rates among Indigenous men and women in urban areas is surprisingly minimal. Most Native Americans reside in urban areas. However, research and federal policies aimed at reducing violence against Native individuals concentrate almost exclusively on tribal lands. Clearly, a barrier to understanding and addressing MMIP is the lack of culturally specific services available to Native American crime victims who reside outside of tribal lands.
Human Trafficking of Indigenous People
Human trafficking, and sex trafficking in particular, are commonly associated with the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) crisis. Dr. Sandi Pierce is a Native Scholar and sex trafficking researcher. According to Dr. Pierce, “the selling of North America’s Indigenous women and children for sexual purposes has been an ongoing practice since the colonial era.” She added, “There is evidence that early British surveyors and settlers viewed Native women’s sexual and reproductive freedom as proof of their ‘innate’ impurity.” Dr. Pierce further noted that “many assumed the right to kidnap, rape, and prostitute Native women and girls without consequence.” One study in the United States of four trafficking sites indicated that American Indian or Alaska Native women made up 40 percent of sex trafficking survivors.
Similarly, the disproportionate impact of human trafficking of Indigenous individuals is also prevalent in Canada. Indigenous women and girls make up 4 percent of the population in Canada, but comprise 50 percent of human trafficking survivors. Although available data on human trafficking of Indigenous males is lacking, we must also consider the implications of its potential impact. Minor Native Americans are particularly vulnerable, with the average age of entry into the sex industry for victims being lower for Indigenous people than their non-native counterparts.
Challenges in Conceptualizing and Addressing MMIP
The challenges of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) crisis include a variety of systemic and cultural issues, gaps in data/resource allocation, and jurisdictional complexities. The reality is that official statistics do not accurately represent the MMIP crisis. According to an article authored by Washington State University scholars, in 2016, the Department of Justice’s missing persons database logged only 116 of 5,712 reports of missing AI/AN women and girls. Further, a separate report published by the Urban Indian Health Institute focusing on 506 unique cases involving missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in the United States identified that only 30 percent of these cases existed in law enforcement records. Of the 506 cases analyzed in this report, 95 percent did not receive media coverage.
Another barrier to understanding and addressing the MMIP crisis is the complex jurisdictional overlap among law enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels and tribal law enforcement. Significant gaps exist in information sharing between agencies and in the provision of victim resources. The overlap of tribal land and political boundaries creates confusion in investigative processes and frequently results in disputes over which entity is responsible for handling which cases. Historically, non-tribal law enforcement agencies have not consistently recognized tribal lands accurately, leading to numerous lawsuits.
Tribal law enforcement agencies are limited in their access to resources such as federal databases and modern crime labs. Tribal agencies are affected by chronic understaffing and underfunding. Lack of parity with non-tribal counterparts affects retention and recruitment of officers at Tribal law enforcement organizations. Underfunding and marginalization affect multiple areas, including salaries, benefits, and equipment provided. Understaffing slows emergency response, as only a handful of Tribal officers may patrol vast areas of land.
Indigenous victims and their families may be reluctant to report crimes and concerns due to the historical pattern of neglect, inaction, stereotyping, and implicit bias in response by law enforcement, which has fostered significant distrust of these agencies in indigenous communities. This overwhelming lack of trust in law enforcement authorities represents a major obstacle to accurate crime reporting and appropriate investigatory responses to cases of missing Indigenous persons.
Systemic Failures in Media & Misracialization by Law Enforcement
Systemic failures in the MMIP crisis include underreporting of such cases, contrasted with the disproportionate coverage of non-Native victims. Additionally, mainstream media’s discourse regarding Native American individuals has played a role in perpetuating gendered and racial stereotypes.
Journalist Gwen Ifill coined the phrase “Missing White Woman Syndrome.” Ifill describes a media bias where young (often attractive) White female victims receive disproportionate media coverage compared to cases involving victims of different races. This trend is apparent in the tragic and highly publicized case of Gabby Petito, a white woman. Authorities discovered Petito’s body in a national park in Wyoming in September 2021. The Petito case exemplified a rapid law enforcement response and extensive media coverage of her disappearance. This response was a stark contrast to the significantly disparate media coverage of Indigenous women and girls; the real-world impact of such media coverage is reflected in legislative and law enforcement responses to these cases because authorities and the media deem these cases more important.
Misclassification of Indigenous individuals in law enforcement databases continues to be a prevalent issue. Researchers have found that missing Indigenous women in particular are often misclassified as other racial categories, such as Asian or Hispanic. Law enforcement databases default to the category of “White” if race information is missing, leading to misclassification and inaccurate data collection. Poor record-keeping and non-comprehensive data systems contribute to the difficulty of accurately conceptualizing MMIP data. Practices such as these contribute to the underrepresentation of Indigenous individuals in the media and in official statistics. Misreporting minimizes the impact of the MMIP crimes on the public.
Conclusion
The crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous Americans speaks to a long history of marginalization and the silencing of Indigenous communities. Repairing the trust between Indigenous communities and the systems meant to serve and protect them is essential. Doing so necessitates sustained public attention and a commitment to meaningful change. The MMIP crisis is not an isolated issue; it stems from ongoing struggles over recognition, sovereignty, and justice.
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