RACHEL HEATON & ROXANNE WHITE on Funding, Fossil Fuels and Femicide /132

This week’s episode seeks to shed light on the ongoing, urgent crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls or MMIWG that remains largely invisible in public life and mainstream media. In 2016, The National Crime Information Center reported that there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls, though the US Department of Justice’s federal missing persons database, NamUs, only logged 116 cases. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that murder is the third-leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women.  These disturbing rates of violence are even higher in areas around pipeline construction and resource extraction projects, which bring an influx of thousands of male workers onto or nearby reservations. The encampment of temporary housing facilities, known as “man camps,” correspond with a surge of violent crime and aggravated assault over which tribal law enforcement does not have jurisdiction to prosecute. Veiled by institutional racism and the lack of data collection, this epidemic and its systematic erasure is part of the ongoing genocide against Indigenous communities and the desecration of their land and sacred sites.  We’re joined this week by two incredibly powerful Indigenous organizers and activists: Rachel Heaton is a member of the Muckleshoot Tribe of Auburn, Washington, a fierce activist, and mother. She traveled to Standing Rock several times to stand alongside water and land protectors and helped form a coalition that successfully persuaded the City of Seattle to divest their 3 billion dollars from Wells Fargo, one of the leading funders of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Rachel co-founded Mazaska Talks, an Indigenous-led organization that offers tools to help others divest their personal finances, cities, and organizations from Wall Street banks funding the desecration of Mother Earth. Recognized nationally for her work on Native issues, Roxanne White is Yakama and Nez Perce and serves as the Indigenous Outreach Coordinator for Innovations Human Trafficking Collaborative in Olympia, Washington. Inspired by the tragic loss of her auntie, she works to amplify the voices of MMIWG across North America, providing advocacy and support for families with missing and murdered relatives. As a survivor of human trafficking, domestic violence, childhood abduction, and sexual abuse, Roxanne draws on her personal experience to empower and support other trauma survivors.  In this episode, Rachel and Roxanne share their experiences from the frontlines of resistance and call out the toxic culture of patriarchy and settler colonialism that underpins how we navigate issues of land, money, and resource extraction. Together, they discuss the complexity of jurisdictional issues on reservations, the need for free, prior, and informed consent, and potential paths towards justice, healing, and reconciliation. Those impacted by missing or murdered relatives, friends, and community members should not have to rely on hashtags to make their voices heard and seek justice. Let Rachel and Roxanne’s words move you to action; we must demand better from our elected leaders, our banks, the media, one another, and ourselves.  ♫ Music by Cary Morin, Justin Crawmer