“We gather to remember those who we hold close to our hearts”
January 22, 2025
After her first child, Kathy Mishow prayed to St. Kateri Tekakwitha for another baby. She told The Catholic Spirit that she promised that if she were to be blessed with a daughter, she would name her Kateri, after the first Native American Catholic saint.
Nine years later, Kathy’s prayers were answered, and Kateri Marie “Waabigwanens” Mishow was born. Her first name honors the saint that gave her mother solace. Her middle name, “Waabigwanens,” means “little flower,” a tribute to her Ojibwe heritage.
Now Mishow prays for answers about what happened to her daughter. “Somebody knows what happened to Kateri. We need to bring her home.”
Kateri Mishow has been missing for over 18 years. She is one of hundreds of missing and murdered Indigenous relatives who will be honored at Minnesota’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Day of Remembrance on Feb. 14.
The event is hosted by the Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition (MIWSAC) in collaboration with several community organizations including the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office, housed in the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Justice Programs.
"Each year hundreds, and sometimes thousands, gather to bring awareness to the high rates of missing and murdered Indigenous women and relatives. We use this day as a time to increase visibility of this issue, call on legislators and policy makers to be accountable to our communities, and to honor our families and relatives who have been impacted. I look forward to the day when we no longer need rallies like this, because we will have ended this violence against our people. But until then ... we will take up space in the streets and continue to call for action,” said MIWSAC Executive Director Nicole Matthews.
Although Indigenous women account for less than 1 percent of Minnesota’s population, they account for 10 percent of the missing females in the state according to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Missing Person’s Clearinghouse. Indigenous men are also overrepresented in missing person’s and homicide data.
“The trauma wrought by having a missing person in your family is something that reverberates across our communities,” said Ana Negrete, MMIR Office interim director. “We gather to remember those who we hold close to our hearts, those who did not make it to our holiday tables, missed a birthday, an anniversary. We gather to say that we remember you, we mourn your absence and miss you each day and year that goes by.”
Hundreds of marchers carry signs with pictures of their missing loved ones, some mark their faces with the signature red handprint of the MMIR movement, and they brave the Minnesota’s winter temperatures on 1-mile march through the community.
Teddi Wind’s daughter Nevaeh Kingbird has been missing from the Bemidji area since October 2021. Last year, Wind joined the march carrying a colorful homemade sign with a picture of Nevaeh surrounded by dozens of words to describe her: sister, daughter, volleyball player, honest, and artist, to name a few.
“Every day is different. And it doesn't get easier. I try my best to just try to move on with life and keep her in my prayers and talk about her all the time and look for her," Wind told MPR News.
Know Before You Go:
What: Minnesota Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Day of Remembrance program and 1-mile march
When: Feb. 14, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Minneapolis Indian Center, 1530 E. Franklin Ave. Minneapolis
What: Free community screen-printing event. Bring your own article of clothing to screen print for the march
When: Feb. 12, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Where: Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, 2300 15th Ave S, Minneapolis
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