Families Honor Loved Ones at 4th Annual Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women’s Memorial

"What amazes me is how a person can just stuff out another person's life, like killing a fly."

DULUTH, Minn. – Research shows that Native American women and girls are among the most targeted for trafficking and murder.

The Native Lives Matter coalition hosted its fourth annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s memorial ceremony

Each person in the room received a red ribbon as the ceremony began with a prayer.

A bowl filled with tobacco, smoldered in the room to give comfort.

During the ceremony many families shared their personal connection to the women honored.

Organizers say this annual event is a form of condolence.

“They are not alone in this struggle,” said Rene Ann Goodrich

It helps them to reach out to a network of other family members that are also struggling,” Goodrich continues.

The ceremony revived a memory for one woman.

She suppressed it for many years.

At the age of twenty seven, she almost lost her life over a simple dispute about food she was sharing with friends.

If it wasn’t for a Good Samaritan, she could have been one of the names of women honored at the ceremony.

“What amazes me how a person can just stuff out another person’s life, like killing a fly. Like we are nothing,” said Babette Sandman.

“What’s coming to me this year, I’m somebody that could have been missing they would have never found me. My daughter would have never known where her daughter went,” Sandman finishes.

Now as a survivor, Sandman believes love also needs to be taught in addition to awareness for the abduction and murdering of Indigenous women.

The event ended with everyone taking part in a red shawl dance ceremony.

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