Ellis Brehme
Pronouns: they/them
Research Mentor(s): Rebecca Irvine
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG) / Other
Program:
Authors: Ellis Brehme
Session: Session 7: 4:40 pm – 5:30 pm
Poster: 50
Abstract
The disproportionate number of Missing and Murdered Indigenous people in the United States has reached the public eye in recent years but has deeply affected Native communities since the Western colonization of the Americas. Even with increased awareness, there is no federal database that records every missing Indigenous person’s case. This research project was focused on finding every known case of a missing Indigenous person, using sources such as state-wide missing persons databases, the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ database, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s database, NamUs’ database, The Charley Project, various FaceBook groups focused on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons who post Missing Persons reports, such as Indian Country’s Missing, and the Facebook profiles dedicated to law enforcement agencies, such as Blackfeet Law Enforcement Agency. These cases were then recorded in a Google Spreadsheet, then sorted and separated by year, sex, age, state, and region of the state. This database-like spreadsheet has all missing Indigenous persons cases that can be found from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, updated to the date of March 31st, 2024. Additionally, there is an up-to-date map submitted with the database that uses heat mapping to display the cities where more Indigenous people have gone missing compared to others. The goal of this research is to use this database-like spreadsheet for additional research purposes, such as demographic percentages and correlation to other data points, such as pipelines. This spreadsheet will give other researchers a pool of data to go by as awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People rises and academics take more interest in studying it.
