MSUM Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons event

May 5 is National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Awareness Day to recognize American Indian and Alaska Native people who have lost their lives to violence.

I want to invite you to an event at Minnesota State University Moorhead that will raise awareness about and encourage discussion of MMIP. MSUM is hosting a panel discussion bringing together women working to eliminate human trafficking and violence against all persons.

Event details:

Friday, May 5 | Minnesota State University Moorhead
Art Unveiling & Meet and Greet Artist Laura Youngbird and Panelists | 4-4:30 p.m. | Roland Dille Center for the Arts | Great White Hall (outside art gallery)

Panel Discussion | 4:30-6 p.m. | Roland Dille Center for the Arts | Gaede Stage

Panelists:

Ruth Buffalo is a former Fargo Native American Commissioner and North Dakota State House Representative. She serves as First Vice President for the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition’s board, a local FM MMITP Taskforce co-founder, and an appointed commissioner to the Not Invisible Act Commission.

Anne LaFrinier-Ritchie is a Safe Harbor Regional Navigator for Someplace Safe in West Central Minnesota. She has worked in the anti-trafficking field in direct services, training, and technical assistance in Minnesota and North Dakota since 2016, with previous history in advocacy and tribal child welfare.

Amanda Straus is a Health Educator and Outreach Specialist in Indigenous programming with Planned Parenthood, a Fargo-Moorhead Native American City Commissioner, and an executive board member for North Dakota Human Rights Coalition.

Tracey L. Wilkie serves on the board for the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness, the Jeremiah Program, and Fargo Moorhead Interfaith Center. She is a former North Dakota Women’s Network board member and a 2020 D16 ND House of Representatives candidate.

Lissa Yellowbird-Chase founded Sahnish Scouts, a citizen-led organization dedicated to finding justice for missing people and their families. The organization publicizes missing person cases through social media, postering, and other creative strategies while working with families and communities to investigate disappearances when attention from law enforcement is lacking.

The panel moderator is Dr. Caitlin Johnson, an assistant professor of Educational Leadership at MSUM.

Get your free ticket here -> https://mnstatetickets.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=3822&p=1