RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina families and advocacy groups are rallying virtually to highlight how poor data collection, lack of prosecution and systemic racism have contributed to the neglect of the state's indigenous women.

Crystal Cavalier Keck, founder of the Missing Murdered Indigenous Women Coalition of North Carolina and a member of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, said while there's no official database, her organization has documented hundreds of cases of missing or murdered indigenous women throughout the state.

She explained the first 24 hours in these types of cases are critical.

"After time goes on, police often push back and then often say, 'Are you sure they didn't run away, or maybe they just want to be alone,'" Keck observed. "So after maybe a week or two, they will open a missing-persons report."

The event will be live-streamed at mmiwnc.com and on the WomenAdvaNCe Facebook page.

North Carolina has the largest Native American population east of the Mississippi, and there currently are more than 122,000 Native Americans residing in the state, according to U.S. Census data.

Ashley Graham, an Afro-Indigenous woman with Haliwa-Saponi lineage and a college student, believes the issue isn't receiving enough media coverage. She pointed to the case of Faith Hedgepeth, a University of North Carolina student and member of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe found murdered in her apartment in 2012.

"Her killer has not been found," Graham recounted. "And it can happen to any one of us. There are people you go to school with that you may not even know are indigenous."

Loretta Bolden, member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, said due to poor internet connections in the Qualla Boundary region of the state, she'll be walking with others in her community in solidarity at the same time as the virtual event.

She believes high rates of domestic violence in the region are a contributing factor to what some have called an epidemic.

"We're trying to bring awareness of that, and bring awareness again, keep this in the mind, in front of people right now, because it seems like they lose focus," Bolden asserted.

Last year, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared May 5 a Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

Research from The University of Utah explores the physical- and mental-health implications of social belonging in women.
Study author Lisa Diamond said disproportionately high mental- and physical-health problems among marginalized people have been written off as "minority stress," the cumulative chronic stress experienced because of discrimination and unfair treatment and said the missing piece is what is known as "social safety," the reliable social connections, belonging and sense of protection individuals foster in their social networks.

Through her research, Diamond found women who occupied one or more marginalized categories such as those relating to race, sexuality and gender reported significantly lower social safety, leading to a greater risk for physical and mental problems.

"That sense that you have people around you that are connected to you, invested in you, that you matter to. That feeling is a critical component of human health," she said. "It is not optional. It's not like the icing on a cake. It's the cake."

Diamond added the mental and physical effects one can endure do not depend so much on what type of marginalization they experiences, but rather from the mere fact of being discriminated against and misunderstood. She said a crucial aspect to good mental and physical health is ensuring access to safe and affirmative social ties.

Diamond said the unpredictable and unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic ripped everyone's social safety right out from under them, leaving many feeling isolated. She added while remote work and online school ushered in by the pandemic have their benefits, many are still struggling to recuperate the sense of safety and normalcy they lost which has made many deficient to the "basic nourishment of affirmative social connection."

"We should think carefully about the way we structure our days and our lives, and make sure that we are prioritizing the face-to-face connections that are meaningful to us. We need that, a lot more than we thought we did," she said.

She encouraged state policymakers and community leaders to adopt what she calls a "safety first" approach which begins by identifying whether an individual has access to relationships and people who can provide them with affirmation, protection and belonging.


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New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show another increase in the nation's maternal mortality rate, and a Minnesota expert says there are several underlying factors.

The report, released last week, covers data from 2021. That year, deaths of pregnant women or new mothers in the U.S. went up by nearly 40% over the previous year.

The agency says it follows gradual increases leading up to the pandemic as well.

Dr. Stephen Contag is an associate professor in the Maternal-Fetal Medicine division at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He said improved reporting is playing a role.

But he added that there are other issues at play.

"Disparities in transportation," said Contag. "Getting to health care. Or differences in the number of obstetricians or health providers that can provide that care to patients in certain parts of the country."

The findings show that Black women are especially affected by this issue. The maternal mortality rate for this population rose by nearly 70%, compared with nearly 25% for white women.

Some health experts say COVID-19 likely played a role in the 2021 spike, and that the big jump may have peaked. But there's concern the other factors will keep pressure on these rates.

The maternal death disparities have been documented in Minnesota as well. Contag said he sees hope in reversing trends, including changing how the state's Maternal Mortality Review Committee works.

The panel is now operating under a mandate.

"Now that we have that mandate," said Contag, "it's much easier to obtain the information that we need to review these cases in a fair manner."

He suggested that will lead to more recommendations that get to the root causes of these deaths.

And earlier this year, a new Minnesota law took effect, expanding postnatal care by requiring public and private health plans to cover a series of care visits for up to 12 weeks after a baby is delivered.

Two of those visits would have to involve comprehensive care.




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Wyoming became the first U.S. territory to give women the right to vote in 1869, half a century before the nation finally followed the Cowboy State's lead.

Kylie McCormick is a historian working to uncover the broad range of contributions made by women in the state's development. She said much of what is known today is because of the work of Grace Raymond Hebard, a University of Wyoming professor, who played an outsized role in advancing women's suffrage.

"She was an incredible cataloger of history," McCormick observed. "Her efforts to gather women's testimony and to catalog and record women's experiences across the West is really remarkable."

Hebard worked to reframe the image of Wyoming as a civilized place by marking historic places that emphasized settlers and settlement, as opposed to cowboys and frontiersmen. Hebard's writings and archival materials, which filled 87 boxes, also documented a street brawl involving Cokeville Mayor Ethel Stoner.

Hebard's second Laramie home, at 318 South 10th Street, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the University Neighborhood Historic District.

When Hebard first came to Laramie in 1891, she moved into what has become a fabled duplex near the University of Wyoming. McCormick noted Hebard's neighbors in the duplex included one of many successful women who were drawn to the state.

"Like Dr. May Preston Slossen, she was the first woman (in the nation) to earn her doctorate in the field of philosophy," McCormick noted. "She was the first woman to serve as a chaplain to a state penitentiary."

Hebard's students affectionately dubbed her half of the duplex "Old Maid's Paradise," in part because of her remarkable roommate, who was determined to carry the experience of suffrage with her when she left Wyoming.

"And then on the other side of that duplex, we have Irene Morse," McCormick outlined. "Incredible woman. She leaves Wyoming to become a medical doctor in Massachusetts. She served in World War I under the French flag, and was badly wounded with some mustard gas."


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