MMIPI

The Legacy and Lethality of Colonialism

Murdered and Missing Indigenous People’s Initiative (MMIPI) CSEJ launched the MMIPI in Fall 2021, under the leadership of Nimiipuu WSU instructor, creative writer, and radio producer Julian Ankney. With funds from WSU Vancouver’s Council for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (CEDI), Ankney is coordinating Vancouver’s first march and vigil to raise awareness of the issue and mobilize action. Tentatively scheduled for April 2022, the event will feature a keynote by Roxanne White, the Nez Perce, Yakama, Gros Ventre, and Nooksack, Indigenous outreach coordinator for Innovations HTC, an Indigenous survivor-led Olympia-based non-profit, focused on ending human trafficking.

The MMIPI is working to integrate attention to MMIPs across the curriculum at WSU Vancouver, and in faculty, graduate and undergraduate research; and also to  develop digital and theater-based intergenerational storytelling with Native high school students in the Pacific Northwest to explore the impact of MMIPs in their own lives. 

CSEJ’s MMIP Initiative aligns with the passage in Washington State of two key pieces of legislation to address the crisis–HB 2951 in 2018 and HB 1713 in 2019, as well as WSU’s commitment to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion, and recruiting and retaining Indigenous students. For more information, contact julian.ankney@wsu.edu