Governor Proclaims Day of Awareness For Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women

Day Of Awareness For Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women

2025

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, North Carolina stands in solidarity with local, state, tribal, and federal governments to raise awareness of the alarming number of missing and murdered Indigenous persons across the nation, particularly women and girls; and

Whereas, American Indian women experience murder rates that are more than 10 times the national average, according to the United States Department of Justice, due to domestic and other forms of violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and a history of childhood, intergenerational, and historical trauma; and

Whereas, North Carolina is home to more than 130,000 American Indians, the second-largest American Indian population east of the Mississippi River with eight state-recognized tribes: the Coharie, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Meherrin, Occaneechi Band of Saponi Nation, Sappony, and Waccamaw Siouan tribes. The state also acknowledges four urban Indian organizations—Cumberland County Association for Indian People, Guilford Native American Association, Metrolina Native American Association, and Triangle Native American Society; and

Whereas, over the past 60 years, North Carolina has documented approximately 106 cases of missing and murdered American Indians, 57 percent of whom were women or girls, a crisis that affects tribal and non-tribal communities across rural and urban areas of the state; and

Whereas, the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs, established by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1971, advocates for the rights and concerns of American Indians and has actively addressed the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women through its Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program; and

Whereas, North Carolina reaffirms its commitment to protecting the inherent rights of American Indians, recognizing that addressing the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women is vital to upholding human rights and delivering justice for victims and their families;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim May 5, 2025, as “Day Of Awareness For Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this fifth day of May in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-fifth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.