Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Altar for Midterm Part 2 - Zahra McKee

“Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women” by Zahra McKee. My altar is honoring missing and murdered indigenous women (MMIW) to try and raise awareness of this issue. When reading about the murdered women of Juarez, I was shocked by the parallels between this femicide and the current tragedy involving native women in our own country. In 2016, 5712 cases of missing or murdered indigenous women and girls were reported in the United States but only 116 cases were logged into the Department of Justice databases (Lucchesi 2). This altar is designed to encourage the viewer to actively remember these women because the government is forgetting them. Included in the altar are traditional elements like candles, flowers, salt, and a water cup. Additionally, there are elements specific to my theme, like the real posters for missing indigenous women, the red fabric, as red is the color of the MMIW movement. There is also a feather to represent air, rocks to represent earth, shells to represent water, and the candles to represent fire. This combination of items is an attempt to acknowledge the history and traditions of altar building as a feminist resiliency practice, while also adapting to address the topic of missing and murdered indigenous women.

Lucchesi, Annita, and Abigail Echo-Hawk. “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls A Snapshot of Data from 71 Urban Cities in the United States.” Urban Indian Health Institute, Seattle Indian Health Board, 14 Nov. 2018, www.uihi.org/resources/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-girls/.