“Some Cases Literally Keep Me Up at Night”: Experiences of Advocates for MMIR

• In Event: Sovereign Stories: Indigenous Medias and Narratives

Abstract

Indigenous Peoples across the U.S. experience disproportionate rates of homicide and violence compared to any other racial or ethnic group. In response, Indigenous women mobilized the MMIR Movement to raise awareness, honor missing loved ones, support families, demand justice, and drive institutional change across legal, political, and academic spheres. Despite a growing body of research on MMIR, social movements, and advocates’ experiences, limited scholarship exists on MMIR advocacy and the advocates involved. To address this lacuna, this study explores the experiences of advocates within the MMIR Movement in the U.S., with particular attention to the emotional labor inherent in advocacy work; their interactions with institutions and the ways those institutions support or hinder MMIR responses; and their recommendations for addressing the crisis. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 20 MMIR advocates, this study reveals that MMIR advocacy is concomitantly emotionally demanding and deeply personal. Advocates described emotions of helplessness, frustration, sadness, and anger, particularly in the face of systemic inaction, delayed investigations, and dismissive or harmful institutional responses. Despite adverse emotional reactions, Indigenous advocates described MMIR work as transformative and healing in that it strengthened their connection to their Indigeneity. Additionally, advocates identified several institutional barriers that thwart progress to MMIR, such as jurisdictional complexities, epistemic exclusion, and the phenomenon known as “Missing White Women Syndrome.” Finally, advocates recommended several initiatives to address the MMIR crisis, including increased representation of Indigenous Peoples within political and educational institutions, the integration of MMIR frameworks into mainstream criminology curricula, and the expansion of research and theory guided by Indigenous epistemologies. By exploring the experiences of MMIR advocates, this study highlights the emotional, institutional, and political dimensions of their labor and offers actionable insights into developing anticolonial approaches to MMIR healing, advocacy, research, and policy development.

Author

• Sara Tehrani, University of Central Florida