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Native communities have struggled with high rates of assault and murder for decades. Statistics don't accurately reflect the true rates of violence.
The local nonprofit, American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions (AIT-SCM), has joined the movement to bring awareness to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People, or MMIWP.
The group has arranged an MMIWP Week of Action, from May 5 to May 9.
Joining us to talk more about the troubling numbers and the week of action are Sabrina San Miguel, AIT-SCM's Director of Development and Communications, and Maya Soto, MMIWP Week of Action organizer at AIT-SCM.
Soto explained why the week of action is needed.
Soto: And when we talk about this issue, I always think it's really important to take a look at the deep roots of the issue. So for generations, systems have been put in place that have pushed Native people off their land, broken apart families, and tried to erase our culture. These are not just efforts of the past, but this is a living history that has and continues to create lasting trauma and instability that impacts Native communities.
And so the systemic loss of connection protection and voice has made Indigenous women and people especially vulnerable and often overlooked when they go missing. So this inaugural week of action — that's what it's all about.
And so we'll be kicking off this week on May 5 with a press conference at the steps of City Hall and anticipating that Mayor Ron Nirenberg will be there to give an address as well. And then on the 6th and 7th of May, we are going to have two different film screenings and discussion groups.
On the 7th, we're going to have a discussion panel. On the 8th, we're going to have a community meal and a coalition kickoff,. And then on the 9th, we are going to have a fundraiser and gala at our space at AIT-SCM, and we will have a gallery display featuring Nan Blassingame, who is, I believe, the only Native fashion designer in the State of Texas.
Martinez: Wow, that's amazing, considering how huge the State of Texas is. And so Sabrina, I would like to ask you how important it is to have the support of the city and of local officials in bringing awareness to this issue.
San Miguel: Absolutely. So, city leaders should know that we should take this epidemic really seriously and invest in urban specific MMIWP response protocols, culturally rooted services for Native survivors, cross-department collaboration with Native-led orgs like AIT-SCM and really just help invest in public campaigns and awareness in city spaces.
I think it's just really important to note that the last time we pulled the Census information in 2020, they reported 67,079 Native American or Alaska Native residents in Bexar County, which was huge in my mind. And then we went back and looked at the 2010 Census. And with that one, we found only 3,809 Native and Native American and Alaskan Native residents were counted. So from 2010 to 2020, there's over 60,000 more Native-identifying people in San Antonio.
So it's not just a Native issue. Essentially, it's a community safety issue, it's a gender-based violence issue, and it's a racial equity issue.
Martinez: And San Antonio has some very high levels of domestic violence, especially against women with intimate partners. The murder rates by intimate partners are also very high, and Maya, this is probably reflected disproportionately among the Native population.
Soto: Yeah. Thank you so much for bringing that up. I believe that San Antonio has the highest revised rate of rape in the entire state. So yeah, that's a really excellent point.
And on that note, I like to refer to the Urban Indian Health Institute report on missing and murdered indigenous women and people in urban cities. So this was a report where the Urban Indian Health Institute identified more than 500 cases across 71 urban cities, including San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and Arlington. And of these 500 cases, 19% of those cases had a status of unknown. That's just astounding. That number is astounding.
And then when we look further at that data, more than 50% of the perpetrators of these crimes are not Native, and 28% of them, of the perpetrators, are never found guilty or held accountable in this report.
So yeah, when we talk about San Antonio and Bexar County, specifically, yes, it's really important to consider exactly what you said, which is that we have disproportionate rates of these types of crimes.
And on a national level and on a statewide level, we see that these crimes disproportionately impact Native women and Native communities. So it's safe to assume, I think, that the case is no different here in San Antonio and Bexar County specifically.
Martinez: Well, can you tell me a little bit, Sabrina, how AIT-SCM has really kind of evolved over the years. I mean, you have a brand new space in downtown San Antonio. How is it that this group has been able to just really grow in the last few years, to be able to hold events such as this, in order to bring more awareness to indigenous issues?
San Miguel: Absolutely, that's such a great question. So with my role as the director of development and communications, essentially I'm the storyteller for the organization. So I take our data, I take all of our events. I take all the things that we're doing, all the initiatives that we want to push out, and I tell this story to reach the community and to expand our engagement, and get people interested and educate them about what we're doing here.
And so when I arrived two years ago, AIT had just moved into our East Side location. We're at 1616 E. Commerce Street, which is essentially like a historically Black neighborhood on the East Side.
And like I said, there's just been such an exponential growth within the organization, and with the expansion of services and the increase in clients and people that we're serving, new needs arise.
And so oftentimes, when Ramón [Vasquez, AIT-SCM Executive Director] and I are talking about strategic planning, as far as how we're reaching people, how are we diversifying our funding sources and whatnot, he always says something that is just really poignant for me, and something that I always go back to. And he says that our people, they're not going to want to volunteer to come to the cultural arts events and register to vote and do all these things when their basic needs aren't being met.
And so what AIT does, as the second largest Native nonprofit in Texas, is we essentially meet whatever needs they need from us, whether it's help with parenting classes, whether they need assistance with financial literacy, whatever they need. We do our best to meet their needs first, and we keep them in our community by being a place that they can trust, and people they can trust.
They're coming to our office and they see people that look like them, that are just like them, who have, at times, gone through similar experiences, whether that be intimate partner violence as well. And they feel safe at AIT-SCM. And I think that has been really pivotal in our growth and in this new era of AIT.
We just celebrated our 30 year anniversary. And I'm always talking about, like, okay, what do the next 30 years look like? What are we doing? How are we showing up for the community in a way that is helpful and not harmful?
And we don't turn any other group of people away either. We serve plenty of BIPOC people in the community. We don't turn anyone away. So yes, we're a Native American nonprofit, but we serve everyone.
And I think it's important for us to note, too, that like so many other organizations, we’re suffering, essentially, great losses financially when it comes to grants. There was some funding, federal funding [grants], that we anticipated applying for and receiving, and now they're just not on the website anymore. And so we're having to kind of go back and get creative about how we're raising money and, if worst case scenario, if we do have to cut things, where are we cutting things? And how are we recuperating this loss of essential help in the form of finance and grant money. And so we're getting really creative.
I think we're really lucky to have the executive director that we have, because he's so open to everything. It's a breath of fresh air.
Since I've gotten here two years ago, we've increased the amount of women in leadership roles at AIT. We've increased the number of young people, brilliant young minds that are coming in and just so creative and so ready to do their part and then do more. And they just approach everything with so much heart. And it's a beautiful thing.
It's a scary time, but it makes it less scary when we have the team that we do that cares about the work that we're doing for our people. Everyone is very mission driven, and it's like I said, a breath of fresh air.
Soto: On that note, if I may, I'm a relatively new employee at AIT-SCM, but it's my understanding that part of this exceptional growth that AIT has seen in the last few years includes the creation of the department that I work for, the Office of Community Engagement.
And one of our biggest programs, one of the things that I'm most excited about, and that I am taking the lead on, is our Pīlam Tāp Taī project. And Pīlam Tāp Taī translates to “people of the Earth mother” in Pajalat, which is the language of the Tāp Pīlam Coahuiltecan Nation. And this initiative, through this initiative, we are working for and towards resource development advocacy and community-based coalition building, moving towards justice for MMIWP and Native people that have been violently removed from their culture and community.
And so a really exciting part of this week of action for me is the launch of our San Antonio MMIWP Coalition, which I envision as a grassroots effort to bring people together to work towards justice for MMIWP here in San Antonio, Bexar County, and even at the state level.
Martinez: So Maya, can you give us again a quick summary of what is happening with the MMIWP Awareness Week events that are happening May 5 to 9?
Soto: Yeah, thank you. To summarize this upcoming week of action, we're going to have a press conference, and hopefully, we will be announcing a proclamation declaring May 5 through May 9 the Week of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People here in the City of San Antonio. And then we will also have a series of awareness building and educational events throughout the week on May 6, 7, and 8, and then culminating on that Friday, May 9, with a fundraising event and gala, again featuring designer Nan Blassengame.
San Miguel: Another great way to support, especially if you're new to this campaign of MMIWP, is we're asking the city, our neighbors, businesses, schools, other nonprofits, to turn the city red for MMIWP on May 5. Wear red. We really want to send this clear message that we see them, we remember them, and we demand justice. And so if you do choose to participate, please, if you post anything online, use the hashtag #TurnSARed to join our movement and raise awareness.
MMIWP Week of Action schedule:
- May 5, 10 a.m.: Press conference, San Antonio City Hall
- May 6, 5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.: Voices Unheard film screening & discussion, Little Carver, 226 N. Hackberry, San Antonio, TX, 78202
- May 7, 5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.: Bring Her Home film screening & panel discussion, Little Carver.
- May 8, 5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.: Community meal & MMIWP Coalition kick off, Little Carver.
- May 9, 6 p.m.—9 p.m.: Red Dress Gala & Mixer, featuring regional Native artists, AIT-SCM Spirit Waters Gallery, 1616 E. Commerce St.
