Minnesota recognizes Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Awareness Day

Community gathered at the Minneapolis American Indian Center for a remembrance ceremony to honor missing and murdered Indigenous relatives. The gathering included community members, partner organizations, and state officials to honor over 250 Indigenous relatives who have gone missing or been murdered across the state.

The Minnesota Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Office held a moving remembrance ceremony in recognition of National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Day of Awareness. Through tears, Director Guadalupe Lopez addressed the crowd, emphasizing the deep connections within the community, the profound impact of grief and a critical need for healing.

A nationally respected advocate and coalition-builder with deep ties to Minnesota’s Indigenous communities, Guadalupe Lopez began July 2025 as the new director of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office.

“My beloved community, I want to remind you that we are forever connected. Survival runs through our blood, through our humor, through our strength, through our tears and our medicine. We love hard, and because we love hard, we feel deeply. 
”

“That grief that we feel is caused by an epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous relatives that impacts our families, our community, and our nations. Grief doesn't stop at the threshold of generation from one to the next. It compounds, and it claims the lives of it, if we don't heal correctly.”

Mario was walking near the 2700 block of Bloomington Ave. in Minneapolis when he was fatally shot. If you have any information, email policetips@minneapolismn.gov

Since its inception, the MMIR Office has compiled 250 names from public news reports and community submissions, underscoring the urgent need to address violence against Indigenous communities. Attendees at today's ceremony participated in a moving tribute, reading aloud the names of the missing and murdered, creating a space for families and loved ones to acknowledge their loss.

On December 26, 1862, the U.S. government executed 38 Dakota men by hanging in Mankato, Minnesota, marking the largest mass execution in American history. Ordered by President Abraham Lincoln following the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, these men were convicted in rapid military trials after a six-week conflict over broken treaty promises and starvation. 

“So we begin with the Dakota 38. We begin there because the epidemic of violence did not begin in our lifetime. It has been happening since colonization,” Lopez said. “It is a story shaped by historical trauma, systematic inadequacies, and by generations of Indigenous people acquiring risk factors that make them vulnerable to violence.”

During the ceremony, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan read a proclamation from Gov. Tim Walz, declaring May 5, 2026 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Awareness Day in the state of Minnesota: “Whereas indigenous people continue to experience the highest rates of murder and exploitation per capita in Minnesota's urban, rural, and reservation population, disappearing at alarming rates with very little public visibility or justice.”

She called the epidemic a long term and ongoing crisis impacting Indian country across the United States.

“There is no comprehensive estimate for the number of Indigenous people who have been lost to violence since the beginning of colonization,” she said. “More than four and five American Indian women have experienced violence in their lifetime and more than half have experienced sexual violence. 
Although they make up just 1% of Minnesota's population, indigenous women and girls account for 10% of the missing females in the state.”

The ceremony served as both a remembrance and a call to action, urging continued efforts to combat the crisis. Lopez encouraged healing through cultural reclamation.

“Whether that is going back to school, finding your sobriety, learning our language, going back to our culture, celebrating ceremony—we reclaim who we are.”

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office Impact

Allison Lussier, a 47-year-old Indigenous woman, was found dead inside her Minneapolis apartment in 2024 after multiple domestic violence reports were filed. A recent audit of MPD found that Lussier and the people close to her had called police 12 times.

In 2025, the MMIR Office provided vital services and resources to 39 families dealing with the loss of missing or murdered Indigenous relatives, successfully closing 12 cases when victims were located. On any given day, an average of 63 Indigenous Minnesotans were reported missing.

Last year, 732 Indigenous individuals went missing in Minnesota, with 64.3 percent being women. Still, Lopez acknowledged the progress made by the community.

“For far too long, there was a culture of silence. But slowly a movement grew that refused to stay silent. You all did that. I want to remind you, you all did that. We did that.”

MMIR Specialized License Plates

You can support the work of the office by purchasing a specialized license plate. The funds support the investigation of unsolved cases and helps to establish a reward fund for information relating to missing and murdered Indigenous relatives.