JAY, Okla. — Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks held awareness rallies throughout Oklahoma and Arkansas on Monday for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.
The Red Sand Project is part of the nationwide awareness program. The idea behind the project is for individuals to pour red sand into sidewalk cracks highlighting vulnerabilities that can lead to human trafficking and exploitation, said Amy Guinn, Clinic Nurse manager.
Guinn is with the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks.
The group poured red sand into cracks near the Jay Veterans building and passed out educational materials.
Another statistic the group brought attention to is “50 Million people are being trafficked or are living in modern slavery.”
American Indian women are killed at a rate 10 times the national average.
Native American Indian Caucus
A red hand over the mouth stands for all the missing sisters whose voices are not heard, according to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women website.
Monday’s rally also brought attention to reducing violent crime against American Indians and Alaska Natives.
In 2005, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System also known as NamUs was created. NamUs is the only national centralized repository and resource center for missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases across the United States.
In the extreme arm of northeast Oklahoma, including the counties of Delaware, Craig and Ottawa, there are three missing people – all Cherokee Nation residents.
Lauria Bible, 16, of Welch, was last seen on Dec. 30, 1999.
Robert Livers, 58, of Vinita, was last seen on April 26, 2008.
Aubrey Dameron, 25, of Grove, was last seen March 9, 2019.
Dameron, who is transgender, was last seen leaving the family’s home near Grove around 3:30 a.m. March 9, 2019. Several searches in the area have been unsuccessful.
The Departments of Justice and Interior created a Joint Commission on reducing violent crime against American Indians and Alaska Natives. Despite efforts to raise awareness, of the 5,712 cases of MMIP in the United States only 116 were included in the Department of Justice database.
Did you know
84% of American women and girls experience violence in their lifetime.*
86% of sexual assaults against American women and girls are by non-Indian men.*
Other missing American Indians in northeast Oklahoma.
- Rhonda Anderson – American Indian/Alaska Native, Tribe Unknown
- Tina Brashear – Member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation
- Roley Butler – Member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation
- Coolidge Cochran – American Indian/Alaska Native, Tribe Unknown
- David Allen Crabtree – Member of the Cherokee Nation
- Lee Andrew Davis – Member of the Cherokee Nation
- Stephanie Jean Fuller – American Indian/Alaska Native, Tribe Unknown
- Anthony Hardy-Bear – Member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation
- Kimberly Doreen Mullens – Member of the Cherokee Nation
- Danielle Lea Prost – Member of the Cherokee Nation
- Tracy Michelle Samuels – Member of the Cherokee Nation
- Jonas Albert Summers – Member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation
- Crystal Dawn Wiggins – American Indian/Alaska Native, Tribe Unknown
*Native American Indian Caucus
