While many Americans spend May 5 celebrating Cinco de Mayo, a day that commemorates the Mexican army’s unexpected victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, Native Americans and their allies across Indian Country will spend May 5 wearing red shirts to commemorate Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) Awareness Day.
At various places across Indian Country, those wearing red will gather and some will march to bring awareness to the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous people in the United States.
Some core national statistics are:
- ~4,200 unsolved cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people in the U.S.
- ~1,500 active missing cases currently recorded in federal databases
- ~2,700 homicide cases involving Indigenous victims reported federally
These numbers come from federal sources like the Bureau of Indian Affairs and FBI—but even they acknowledge gaps.
Hannah Harris
May 5th was selected following the introduction of a resolution in 2017 by Montana Senators Steve Daines (R) and Jon Tester (D) recognizing May 5, Hanna Harris’ birthday, as a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls, according to a post on the National League of Cities (NLC) website.
In 2021, President Biden issued a proclamation designating May 5th as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Awareness Day. The proclamation was removed by the Trump White House.
Hannah Harris was 21 years old at the time of her death, which occurred after she left the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation to go into nearby Lame Deer, Montana, to watch the Independence Day fireworks and never returned home. When her immediate family reported her missing, local law enforcement downplayed her disappearance. Four days later, a volunteer search team found her badly decomposed body in the summer heat of the Great Plains. Her body was so decomposed that forensic technicians could not ascertain whether she had been sexually assaulted or the cause of death.
Testimony from those responsible for her death confirmed Harris was raped and bludgeoned to death.
The crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and relatives is not new. On some reservations, Native women face murder rates more than ten times the national average — and these disappearances and murders are often directly linked to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, sex trafficking, and longstanding harms impacting Indigenous communities.
Wearing Red
Wearing red has become a unifying act of visibility and resistance. Advocates say the color was chosen because red is believed to be the only color spirits can see, a call to those who have been taken and a signal that they are not forgotten. Across tribal communities, marches, prayer walks, and vigils will be held, with families carrying photos of loved ones whose cases remain unsolved or ignored.
For many, May 5 is not symbolic—it is deeply personal. It is about demanding accountability from law enforcement, improving data collection, and ensuring jurisdictional gaps no longer allow perpetrators to evade justice. Until that happens, the red shirts will remain.
CLICK to see the compiled list of activities for May 5 throughout Indian Country.
