{"id":1046,"date":"2025-11-04T13:37:59","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/csej\/?page_id=1046"},"modified":"2026-03-25T16:16:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T23:16:57","slug":"mmipi-copy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/csej\/mmipi-copy\/","title":{"rendered":"Missing &amp; Murdered Indigenous Peoples Initiative (MMIPI)"},"content":{"rendered":"<section  class=\"wsu-section  wsu-color-background--gray-85\"  >\r\n        \n<div class=\"wsu-row  wsu-color-background--white wsu-row--halves\" >\r\n    \n<div class=\"wsu-column  wsu-color-background--white\"  style=\"\">\r\n\t\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-font-size--large\">Overview: Missing And Murdered Indigenous Peoples&#8217; Initiative<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Across the country, Indigenous people \u2013particularly women and girls \u2013 go missing and are murdered and trafficked at rates that&nbsp;far exceed national averages. An extensive and growing&nbsp;body of research&nbsp;links spikes in violence to fossil fuel \u201cman camps,\u201d boom and bust communities that draw itinerant workers from around the country with no connection to tribal communities, and where drug and alcohol abuse are widespread. Nationwide, the city with the highest rates of violence against women and girls is just north of us in Seattle. But much research is needed to understand the scope of the problem in Vancouver and Southwest Washington more broadly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"792\" height=\"989\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/10\/Screenshot_20250324_105613_Instagram-1-792x989.jpg\" alt=\"Julian Ankney\" class=\"wp-image-1190\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/10\/Screenshot_20250324_105613_Instagram-1-792x989.jpg 792w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/10\/Screenshot_20250324_105613_Instagram-1-396x494.jpg 396w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/10\/Screenshot_20250324_105613_Instagram-1-768x959.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/10\/Screenshot_20250324_105613_Instagram-1-159x198.jpg 159w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/10\/Screenshot_20250324_105613_Instagram-1.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 792px) 100vw, 792px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Julian Ankney, Courtesy WSU<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Initiative was launched at WSU Vancouver in the wake of the passage of two key pieces of Washington State legislation to address the crisis \u2013 HB 2951 in 2018 and HB 1713 in 2019. The project was initiated by and is being helmed by Julian Ankney, the Director of Native American Programs at WSU Vancouver. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n<div class=\"wsu-column  wsu-color-background--white\"  style=\"\">\r\n\t\n\n<p>A member of the Nez Perce\/Nimiipuu Tribal Nation, Julian\u2019s work, and her struggle to locate her brother Michael Murphy, have been highlighted&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.columbian.com\/news\/2024\/may\/18\/washington-is-2nd-in-the-u-s-for-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-have-recent-efforts-made-headway\/\">in The Columbian<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under Ankney\u2019s leadership, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Initiative is working to integrate attention to MMIPs across the curriculum at WSU Vancouver, and in faculty, graduate and undergraduate research; and also to&nbsp; develop digital and theater-based intergenerational storytelling bodies with students in the Pacific Northwest to explore the impact of missing and murdered Indigenous people in their own lives.&nbsp;The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Initiative is working to develop a campus rapid response network to help support family members of the missing in their search. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"792\" height=\"528\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/09\/Congress-Finally-Passes-Legislation-to-Address-Missing-and-Murdered-Indigenous-Women-and-Girls-792x528.jpg\" alt=\"A participant at a \u201cGreater than Fear\u201d march.\" class=\"wp-image-1050\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/09\/Congress-Finally-Passes-Legislation-to-Address-Missing-and-Murdered-Indigenous-Women-and-Girls-792x528.jpg 792w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/09\/Congress-Finally-Passes-Legislation-to-Address-Missing-and-Murdered-Indigenous-Women-and-Girls-396x264.jpg 396w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/09\/Congress-Finally-Passes-Legislation-to-Address-Missing-and-Murdered-Indigenous-Women-and-Girls-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/09\/Congress-Finally-Passes-Legislation-to-Address-Missing-and-Murdered-Indigenous-Women-and-Girls-198x132.jpg 198w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/09\/Congress-Finally-Passes-Legislation-to-Address-Missing-and-Murdered-Indigenous-Women-and-Girls.jpg 799w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 792px) 100vw, 792px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>PHOTO: A participant at a \u201cGreater than Fear\u201d march in Minnesota raises awareness of violence against Native American women. (Lorie Straull\/Flickr)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-31-at-11.24.45\u202fAM.png\" alt=\"Close up of signs held by demonstrators reading, &quot;No more stolen sisters&quot; and &quot;The time for truth is now&quot;.\" class=\"wp-image-1189\" width=\"484\" height=\"226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-31-at-11.24.45\u202fAM.png 606w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-31-at-11.24.45\u202fAM-396x186.png 396w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3011\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-31-at-11.24.45\u202fAM-198x93.png 198w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 484px) 100vw, 484px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Image from 2019 Women&#8217;s March on Washington (slowking4\/Wikicommons)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For more information, <\/strong>email julian.ankney@wsu.edu and julian.ybarra@wsu.edu <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":44181,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/csej\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1046"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/csej\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/csej\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/csej\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/csej\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1046"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/csej\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1511,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/csej\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1046\/revisions\/1511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/csej\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/csej\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/csej\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1046"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/csej\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=1046"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/csej\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=1046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}