There’s a growing, continued movement of bringing awareness to the Native American women who have been missing or murdered across the country. On Sunday morning, during Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women Awareness month, several running groups came together for a healing and prayer walk and run at Papago Park.
According to the US. Department of Justice, Native women are 10 times more likely to be murdered compared to the national average on some reservations.
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“They have a high rate of having violence against them and we’re going missing,” said Angel Tadytin, with the Native Women Running group.
On the trails of Papago Park, splashes of bright red were seen as the group and a few others joined to bring awareness, hoping people will recognize and take action to find missing and murdered loved ones of Native Americans.
“I think that showing representation in the running community is very, very important,” said Zoilabella Calo, with Latinos Run.
Those involved in the awareness run on Sunday say it’s important to have more resources to help find their missing and murdered women.
“We matter. Some of these stories of some of these women who are murdered and missing is very, the stories are very far and few and some don’t get coverage or law enforcement doesn’t pay attention to their needs or their cry for help,” said Verna Volker, the founder of Native Women Running.
According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, it estimates there are approximately 4,200 missing and murdered cases that have gone unsolved.
“That’s why so many groups are coming together this month to really bring that to light so we can actually get some support, get some resources and get some action to help find these missing relatives but also get justice for those who have been taken,” Tadytin said.
More states are creating task forces to help reduce and end that violence. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs established one just a few months ago through executive order, hoping to address the crisis. The group meets for the first time on Monday.
“We see it slowly happening, which is better than nothing happening,” Tadytin said.
