Near the end of a House floor session that included adopting the Conference Committee Report on HF3280, a bill that nullify the state's existing wild rice water quality sulfate standard (which the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe opposed), the four Native American Women serving in the Minnesota House read the governor's proclamation declaring Saturday, May 5, Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women Awareness Day.
Legislation to establish a task force on issues related to violence against indigenous women and girls is moving forward in both bodies of the legislature, both in separate bills and as part of the public safety omnibus bill. Native women and girls experience sexual assault and violence at a much higher rate than the general population.
Mary Kunesh-Podein, DFL-New Brighton, author of HF3375, thanked the House for supporting the legislation, then read the governor's proclamation with her colleagues Susan Allen (Minneapolis/Rosebud Lakota), Flanagan (St. Louis Park/White Earth Ojibwe), Kunesh-Podein (Standing Rock Lakota), and Becker-Finn (Roseville/Leech Lake Ojibwe):
Kunesh-Podein responded to a tweet about the resolution from our editor, with a copy of the resolution:
And you all can read it here: pic.twitter.com/1DJlwEDnvJ
— Mary Kunesh-Podein (@mkuneshpodein) May 7, 2018
To learn more about the caucus, check out Something new for the Minnesota Legislature: a caucus of first Minnesotans and First Nations Women’s Caucus.
For more on the MMIW movement, read What the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Day of Awareness Meant to Native Women.
Image: Artwork from the 2018 MMIW Day, Saturday, May 5. Via Mary Kunesh-Podein.
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