Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Grand Rapids on Tuesday for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People's Day.
The event is meant to honor and remember the high number of missing Indigenous women, and of people affected by violence.
The Centers for Disease Control reports Native American communities experience violence at higher rates than other groups, and thousands have been reported missing nationwide. But gaps in data likely underestimate the scale of the problem.
In Grand Rapids, organizers gave speeches, held ceremonies and marched through the streets to raise awareness.
Samantha Brown is a community outreach specialist at Uniting Three Fires Against Violence, a group that offers help to Native American women experiencing violence.
She said her family has also been affected.
“So these issues are very deeply personal to me,” Brown said. “And I think for most any person here, I think they’re deeply personal. So it adds a whole 'nother layer to this issue of education and awareness. Because when we say our relatives, it really is. It’s our cousins and our sisters and our moms.”
Melissa Isaac has been the emcee of the annual event for the past few years. She told the crowd that violence against native people is not random.
“It’s connected to a long history of dehumanization and erasure,” Isaac said.
“It’s not always loud, neglect,” she added. “Sometimes it’s quiet. And quiet can be just as harmful, because silence teaches people not to look.”
