Native American Heritage Month: Honoring Indigenous Survivors
Domestic violence doesn’t impact everyone equally due to systemic inequities that fail to take survivors seriously and shape the options that feel safe or comfortable for marginalized communities.
In their report to the legislature, Minnesota’s Task Force on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women found that Indigenous women account for 8% of all murdered women and girls in Minnesota, when they make up just 1% of Minnesota’s population. They also found that they’re 7x more likely to be murdered than white women are, due to systemic risk factors that continually place them in dangerous work, living, and social situations.
For example, Allison Lussier, a Native American woman, was found deceased in her Minneapolis apartment over two years ago, and last month, her boyfriend was finally charged with her death. Her family had always believed he was responsible, pointing to the multiple times Allison called police, the 6 police reports she filed in the 18 months prior to her death, and an order for protection she filed in 2022. A recent audit of MPD also found that responding officers didn’t treat her apartment as a crime scene and didn’t ask for the report from the medical examiner until auditors requested it.
All of this comes after relentless efforts from Allison’s family to push for justice. If you want to learn more about their fight for justice or the risk factors impacting Native communities, read through our sources below.
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