Alexis Elam
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Rebecca Irvine
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG) / Other
Program:
Authors:
Session: Session 7: 4:40 pm – 5:30 pm
Poster: 48
Abstract
In recent years, there has been a necessary rise in attention focused on the missing and murdered native and indigenous women and two-spirit people crisis. That being said, this attention also garnered a plethora of misinformation surrounding the topic. In part due to a lack of information, injustices in our legal system, and tribal rights. This project focused on correcting misinformation by developing an easily digestible website and associated social media accounts to compile the facts and raise awareness about the Missing and Murdered Women and Girls (MMIW) epidemic, particularly in the legal sphere. To conduct this investigative research, several physical books, verified websites, and legal journals were dissected to identify the justice system’s role in the ongoing crisis. Each week between 5-7 hours were spent note taking and annotating resources until a general picture of tribal sovereignty and case law were fathomable. Information was then put into manageable articles about the United States’ legislation failing Native Americans through systemic silencing of tribal voices. Additionally, the best way of informing an average citizen of the crisis and its implications was identified. Conclusions from this work include discovering the role jurisdiction issues play in the lack of law enforcement working on MMIW cases and the manners in which legislation has been continually revised over the years to minimize this issue, even though the crisis is ongoing. Additionally, the team has discovered the most efficient way to take action for this issue is reaching out to our community through a website built of my articles and connecting on a more personal level through social media. The discovery and re-telling of the legal origins of this ongoing crisis is crucial to the education of this issue and a necessary step in the nationwide efforts to protect the Native American population.
