MMIW stands for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. It has been updated to MMIW2SG to include 2 Spirit peoples and Girls. This movement has come from a crisis Indigenous women and 2 Spirit folks are experiencing all across Canada and the US. The exact number of missing indigenous women in Canada is unknown, however:
- Indigenous women were about twice as likely than white women to experience violence
- Native women face murder rates 10 times the national average
- The murder rate for Native women is about 3 times more than that of white women (1)
- Indigenous women 15 years and older were 3.5 times more likely to experience violence than non-Indigenous women (2)
In just Ontario alone in the past 14 years, we have gathered the following names:
| Abigail Ootoova, 54 | Donna Tebbenham | Melissa Miller, 37, her unborn baby boy, and two other community members |
| Adele Rose Mary Matinet, 22 | Doreen Hardy, 18 | Mercedes Stevens, 9, |
| Adrienne Amikons, 14 | Edith McGinnis Quagon, 42 | Minnie Sutherland, 40 |
| Agnes Sutherland, 62 | Elaine Vawn LaForme, 48 | Mitzi MacDougall, 27 |
| Alice Quoquat Netemegesic | Elena Assam-Thunderbird, 17 | Pamela Holopainen, 22 |
| Alissa Martin-Travers, 5 | Evaline (Evaleen) Cameron, 19 | Patricia Carpenter, 14 |
| Alloura Wells, 27 | Gloria Jean Martha Abotossaway | Paula Joy Martin, 31 |
| Ameilia Sainnawap, 31 | Heather Pelletier, 30 | Petrina Lynn Whitecrow |
| Annie Pootoogook | Helen Gillings, 19 | Rebecca Jean King, 22 |
| Ahshellla Huxtable, 36 | Helen Louise Jacobs, 73 | Regis Korchinski-Paquet, 29 |
| Ashley Chantal Mckay, 25 | Helyna Rivera, 25 | Rena Fox, 38 |
| Ashley Mandamin, 20 | Hilda Agawa, 63 | Renee Neganiwina, 26 |
| Ashley Smith,18 | Jane Jack, 22 | Robyn Garlow, 30 |
| Autumn Andy, 15 | Jane Louise Sutherland, 20 | Samantha Johnings, 19 months |
| Azraya Kokopenace | Jeanine St Jean, 42 | Sandra Kaye Johnson, 18 |
| Barbara Kentner, 34 | Jennifer Stewart, 36 | Sarah Jane Wawia Bernard, 43 |
| Barbara Loon, 34 | Jocelyn McDonald, 16 | Sarah Mason, 44 |
| Barbara Shapwaykeesic | Jordina Skunk, 29 | Sarah Skunk, 43 |
| Bella (Nancy Marie) LaBoucan McLean, 25 | Josephine Sutherland, 38 | Savanna Kakeyash, 23 |
| Bernadette Leclair, 16 | Josephine Thompson, 18 | Shawna Taylor, 37 |
| Betty Anne Cup, 72 | Judie Thibault, 57 | Shelley Lynne Joseph, 40 |
| Beulah Peters, 23 | Judy Ann Quill, 33 | Shelley May Anderson, 51 |
| Bonnie Atagoogak, 34 | Karla Desrosiers, 45 | Sonya Nadine Mae Cywink, 31 |
| Carolyn Connolly, 54 | Katelynne Sampson, 7 | Sparky (Terri) Johnson, 52 |
| Cecilia Payash, 48 | Kayleigh Ivall, 14 | Spring Phillips, 26 |
| Cileana Taylor, 22 | Kelly Morrisseau, 27 | Susan Asslin, 19, |
| Charnelle Masakeyash, 26 | Laura Pilon, 22 | Susan Kuplu-Iqqittuq, 37 |
| Charity Keesic, 19 | Liana Mathewson, 44 | Tanya Andy, 37 |
| Chelsea Nagokee, 28, | Leanne Lawson, 23 | Talia Carey Tomaselli, 30 |
| Cheyenne Fox, 20 | Lisa Lynn Anstey, 21 | Tashina Cheyenne Vaughn General, 21 |
| Chloe Matthews, 11 | Liz Bonnie Sakakeesic, 16 | Terra Gardener, 26 |
| Clarene Rose Panamick, 36 | Lorraine Rivers, 18 | Theresa Anne Yakimchuck, 23 |
| Cynthia Lynette Jamieson, 44 | Loretta Lavalley, 36 | Theressa Wilson (Jamieson), 30 |
| Danielle Marie Faye Big George Zaagaategabowik | Lynn Childforever, 20 | Therese Labbe, 47 |
| Debbie Sloss-Clarke, 42 | Mae Morton, 15 | Tricia Paquette, 8 |
| Deborah Toulouse, 41 | Margaret Perrault (Bluebird), 32 | Vanessa Tagoona, 29. |
| Delaine Copenace | Margaret Yvonne Guylee | Verna May Simard-Shabaquay, 50 |
| Delta Makanak, 6 | Mariah Wesley, 18 | Verna Patricia Sturgeon, 33 |
| Denise Katherine Bourdeau, 39 | Mary Ann Davis, 25 | Viola Melvin, 67 |
| Diane Dobson, 36 | Mary Papatsie, 39 | Viola Isabella Panacheese, 42 |
| Diane Marshall, 43 | Mary Peters King | Virginia May Nootchtai |
| Donna Kabatay, approx. late teens | Maxine Susanne Peters, 34, | Vivian Cada, 53 |
Please note this list is not comprehensive. Violence against indigenous women and 2 Spirit folks often goes unreported or undocumented.
Why are indigenous women missing in Canada?