Eureka High Students Walking for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Awareness Day on May 5th
This is a press release from a Eureka City Schools Student:
On May 5th, MMIP Day (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Day), a group of Eureka High students and I will walk from the school to the courthouse to pour red sand in the cracks of the sidewalk. Both the red sand—a symbol of Natives falling through the cracks of our society, or being forgotten—and our group at the courthouse, will raise awareness of MMIP Day. My community can begin to recognize how these missing and murdered numbers impact us on a local level. This recognition creates pressure in our government’s public agenda, which is beneficial for change.
Despite Humboldt County having a smaller Native American population in California, it has one of the highest MMIP rates compared to other counties (Year 1 Project Report). Many Native Americans are victims of “disproportionate violence against women, families, and children; substance use; drug trafficking; and labor and sex trafficking” (MMIP Crisis).
My overall goal for the project is to help raise awareness on this matter. My project will involve organizing a local MMIP walk in Eureka, California. This walk will help people in my community pay attention to what is happening within their county. Ultimately, I want my community to recognize that these incidents are happening and that we, as a society, need to take action.
For more information, contact me at [email protected] or [email protected].
Best regards,
Autumn Morales
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The Native population is a tight group. Why not protest at the casinos and Hoopa? This protest is a walkout of public schools? That is just what these student dont need to do.
The target audience isn’t the native population. We know what’s happening. This is to bring more awareness to the dominant culture. I don’t understand why you think these students shouldn’t do this?
Then explain it better. Because it seems Humboldt Co isn’t the least selective about drug addiction or profits, human trafficking of any kind, missing women, etc.
Cool. With a missing rate of 717 per 100,000 humboldt county should DEFINITELY pay attention! LITERALLY the worst place in America. LOOK IT UP! MAYBE it because it is ignored. Native Americans are the least investigated . White children and women are top priority. SHIT humboldt thought the massacres was a good thing, or they wouldn’t have named stuff after the murderers. Like laraby valley, laraby creek, or port kenyon.
Why is it everybody else that has to look something up? You have an internet connection right in front of you. Anyway, that 717 is reported missing., based on data from 2018. 53% of that show up just fine and were never really missing, per an old RHBB story. Some just wanted to be left alone and cut off contact. We get that you’ll take any tidbit to paint Humboldt as some vicious outpost of a county, but the data doesn’t back it quite up.
As far as indigenous persons, it is woefully underreported or worse, just not much done at all. I can’t pick a reason, as there are probably several that contribute to the issue but if this walkout keeps it in the public eye, then I don’t see an issue with it. In fact, I see opportunity for the youngsters: get a career in forensics or DNA crime labs. Get more eyeballs working on the missing persons problem and we’ll find them sooner. Or at least ID them sooner and not 25 years later so families can find closure.
Also, check your dates when you make a claim of murder. Port Kenyon, that was originally planned to be a shipping port and neighborhood (so that products like fish didn’t have to be shipped off Centerville beach) by J.G. Kenyon in 1876. He didn’t have anything to do with anybody’s murders to which you’re probably referring (Indian Island) Larabee (with an “e” not a “y”) is another story.
Having friends and acquaintances with school-aged kids, with stories I hear often, I can assure you that not all of them are skipping class in support. They just want a excuse to get out of class. That says more about kids who want to be lazy and play on their phones outside under a veil of sympathy, rather than support for real people that need to be found. But I suppose in marketing, higher numbers of anything are always better, no matter the underlying reasons.
Violence against Native women is a path to extinction and must stop. Keep the dialogue going. The night has a thousand eyes!
In some specific cases, at least someone knows what happened.
One specific example is Khadijah Britton who remains missing but also almost certainly killed by Negie Fallis.
When individuals know who murdered someone and don’t speak up, that’s a problem.
When the killer is widely known, they could be shunned by their tribe instead of protected.
Why don’t they name the perpetrators on Awareness day?