MMIWG2ST NYC+ East Coast Summit

Join us in raising awareness for the pressing issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIWR), we extend an invitation to kin and allies– to join us for a water prayer, candlelight vigil and prayer walk.

Opening Water Prayer/Sign Creation

We will begin with a water prayer led by Chenae Bullock, member of the Shinnecock Nation and member of the UIC MMIP Task Force at The Pond at Central Park. The water becomes a conduit for our prayers, voices and memories, holding the stories of our missing and murdered relatives as we honor their lives and call for justice. Here, we will create signs and immerse the palms of our hands in red paint. As we proceed our palms, stained in red, will symbolize the life’s taken, asserting our presence and demanding to be seen. The nature of this prayer walk will leave a lasting mark in the cracks of our city, as passersby are confronted with the plight of our women, Trans and Two-Spirit relatives who have been left behind, and fallen through these tactical societal cracks. In this walk, we invoke the medicine of Grief, bearing all its awful weight, to insist on being heard, insisting on preserving our dignity and a rejection of the systemic apathy of this crisis—a call on the urgency of both rage and resistance.

Prayer Walk & Vigil at Columbus Circle

Our first destination will bring us to Columbus Circle, where the first documented case of trafficking of Indigenous women came from a letter written by Christopher Columbus in 1500. As we gather at Columbus Circle, we confront the statue of Christopher Columbus, a symbol of colonialism, genocide, and the violent erasure of Indigenous peoples. His legacy is stained with the blood of our ancestors, whose actions laid the foundation for the ongoing exploitation and marginalization of Indigenous women, trans, and Two-Spirit relatives. It is here, at the very site where the seeds of our suffering were first sown, that we make our stand, and reclaim as a rallying point for resistance and resilience. Together, we reaffirm our commitment to dismantling the systems of oppression that continue to perpetuate violence against indigenous peoples. We demand the removal of this monument to colonization!

Here we will hold our candlelight vigil. The candlelight flame invites the missing and murdered to speak through us.

Prayer walk & Vigil Walk Time Square

We will then walk to our final destination - in the heart of Times Square. We gather as warriors of truth, defenders of our kin, and stewards of our ancestral lands. Here, in the belly of the beast, where capitalism's neon glow attempts to drown out our cries, we rise undeterred, fueled by the fire of our ancestors' spirits and the unbreakable bonds of our indigenous communities. With each beat of the drum, we march forward, reclaiming the sacred space of our stolen lands, reclaiming our voices. We refuse to be relegated to the shadows, to be erased from the narrative, or to be silenced by the deafening roar of consumerism . We are a living testament to the strength and resilience of indigenous peoples everywhere. We are the descendants of survivors, the torchbearers of tradition, and the architects of our own liberation. In this concrete jungle, we plant the seeds of resistance, nurturing them with our prayers, our songs, and our commitment to justice.

Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable attire and to bring red dresses to hang on trees and around the city. We encourage the community to bring water for the water prayer, photographs to honor their relatives, as well as drums, prayers, songs, flowers, art, drums, instruments, medicines, and candles. Organizations are encouraged to bring their organizational banners.

Host or Publisher Urban Indigenous Collective