Together with the La Crosse Youth & Learning Center, City of La Crosse Parks, Recreation & Forestry, we're co-sponsoring the 4th annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Relatives 5K. This event is free and all are welcome.
The Common Council of the City of La Crosse proclaimed the 5th of May of each year as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Day of Awarness. This proclamation recognizes that Indigenous women experience racism and prejudice through invisibility, driven by a lack of media coverage. Instead of nationwide searches, alerts and round-the-clock news coverage when an affluent white woman goes missing, news coverage can be minimal to nonexistent. The City resolves to strive to increase awareness and support the health and well-being of people in La Crosse who identify as indigenous, native, American Indian or First peoples. Read the entire resolution here (.pdf).
Join Us
MMIW&R 5K
Monday, May 5, 2025
11-2 p.m. in Burns Park, 702 Main Street, La Crosse
This event is free and open to the public. Register now using the button below or at the event.
For more information, contact the La Crosse Youth & Learning Center at 608-796-1550.
Schedule
11 a.m. Onsite Registration Opens / Food and Merchandise Vendors available
12:30 p.m. Introduction to MMIWR, Tracy Littlejohn, Ho-Chunk Nation Citizen
12:35 p.m. Mayoral Proclamation, Shaundel Washington-Spivey, Mayor of the City of La Crosse
12:40 p.m. City Council Resolution, Jennifer Trost, Common Council Member
12:50 p.m. Wisconsin MMIW Taskforce, Stephanie Begay, Ho-Chunk Nation District 2 Legislator and WI MMIW Taskforce Member
1 p.m. Start of 5K
2 p.m. Closing Remarks
About Red Dresses
Red dresses hang in trees in Burns Park during the MMIW&R 5K.
Red dresses are used as a symbol to raise awareness and honor Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Relatives. The color red is chosen because some Indigenous beliefs hold that red is the only color spirits can see, allowing the spirits of the missing and murdered to be recognized and remembered. The dresses are also a way to evoke the presence of those who are missing by marking their absence.
Awareness and Remembrance: Red dresses serve as a visual representation of the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, making the issue more visible and memorable.
Honoring the Spirits: The belief that red is the only color spirits can see allows the red dresses to function as a way to call back the spirits of the missing and murdered to their loved ones.
Evoking Presence in Absence: Empty red dresses, hung in public spaces, symbolize the absence of the women and girls who should be wearing them, while also evoking the presence of their spirits.
Red as a Symbol of Lifeblood: The color red can also be seen as a symbol of lifeblood, connecting the missing and murdered women to the larger Indigenous community and reminding people of the violence they have faced.
More information: Métis artist Jaime Black initiated the REDress Project in 2010, which involved displaying red dresses in public spaces to raise awareness and memorialize missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
About MMIW&R
According to National Indigenous Women's Resource Center, niwrc.org, "It is important to understand the connection between domestic violence, dating violence, and sexual violence and the high incidence of missing and murdered Indigenous women and relatives (MMIW&R) in the United States. The crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and relatives is not new. It is more than an epidemic—rather, it is part of the spectrum of violence experienced by Native women for centuries. This crisis of MMIW&R has deep roots in colonization and genocide, and can be attributed to the lack of legal protections as a result of the systematic erosion of Tribal sovereignty stretching back more than 500 years."
In response to the crisis of MMIW&R, a groundswell of grassroots advocates, family members, and Tribal leaders from across the nation continue to call for public attention and accountability by federal authorities to address these crimes:
National Week of Action for MMIWR
Scenes from 2024 MMIW&R