PORT ANGELES — A walk to raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women/people is set for just after noon Thursday.
Participants will gather for the walk — which was coordinated by Angelina Sosa, community culture outreach specialist with the Lower Elwha Tribe’s Language Program — at 12:15 p.m. at the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles, according to Kyle LeMaire, executive director of the Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts, who issued press release.
At 12:30 p.m., the Lower Elwha Drum group will begin the event with a missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) song they were given permission to sing by Antone George of the Westshore Canoe Family before the walk begins at 12:30 p.m.
The walk will end at the The Gateway transit center at Front and Lincoln streets.
Signs in support of MMIW/P Awareness will be made and provided by the Klallam Language Program and Mariposa House.
“All are welcome to be a part of the walk and express their support in creating a global community in recognition and awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous People,” said Sosa, who also is a Port Gamble tribal member.
The walk is in collaboration with the Juan de Fuca Foundation for the Arts, Lower Elwha SART, Lower Elwha Language Program, Lower Elwha Drum Group, Lower Elwha Family Advocacy Program, Mariposa House in Forks, and Victim Advocacy from Neah Bay.
Indigenous women and girls are murdered 10 times more than those of all other ethnicities, Sosa said.
Murder is the third leading cause of death for Indigenous women, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
More than four out of five Indigenous women — 84.3 percent — have experienced violence, according to the National Institute of Justice Report.
