First Americans Museum Honors Missing, Murdered Indigenous People

OKLAHOMA CITY – 

First Americans Museum offered a place for families to grieve, reflect and honor any missing or murdered Indigenous person.

Organizers said this is a crisis that has plagued Indigenous communities for far too long.

“It is really, really disheartening when you see a missing poster after missing poster of relatives who were living their lives honestly,” Lauren Palmer with the Wild Mother said.

The Oklahoma state chapter of Missing and Murdered Indigenous people said that there are around 400 missing and murdered Indigenous people here in Oklahoma and that number continues to grow.

“The numbers of people that are recorded alone is shocking but we know that there are many others that have sort of fallen by the wayside,” Palmer said.

For Palmer, her art is her medicine. With flowers, she hopes to spread awareness and honor the families of those fighting this crisis.

“We hope that the families that joined us feel the love and care that we have for them, that they are able to see the flowers that are installed but also the ones that they get to take home as a token of our support,” Palmer said.

Other organizations showed their support as well by sharing resources with families.

“Everyone has kind of similar stories, but of course we’re all distinct in what our stories are. Unfortunately, with violence being so prevalent in Indian country, there’s so many of us that are either survivors ourselves or know somebody that is a missing and murdered indigenous person,” Case Rodwell with Oklahoma Indian Services said.

Palmer said this issue hits close to home. She plans to continue fighting for justice and healing for Indigenous communities.

“I have a relative that was murdered when I was a real young child. In a way we do a bit of this work for her and my elders who are feeling that lost,” Palmer said.

Floral installations will be on view through May 9.