Indigenous people honor and raise awareness for relatives who are missing or have been killed

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Across the country, Indigenous people are gathering this week to honor loved ones who are missing or have been killed and to call for better data collection, law enforcement response and reforms to make their communities safer.

From U.S. state capitols and tribal community spaces to the streets of major cities, hundreds of marches, rallies, talking circles, self-defense classes and candlelight vigils are planned for the week of May 5, which is observed as a national day of awareness for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples movement.

The day reflects both the collective grief and the resilience of Indigenous communities, where the federal government has a legal responsibility to ensure public safety. All too often, resources to prevent and respond to violence are in short supply.

Many events call for participants to wear red, a color that has become synonymous with honoring Indigenous victims of violence in the U.S. and Canada.

A hidden crisis

Native Americans face disproportionate rates of violence in the U.S., a crisis that advocates say is rooted in the systematic removal of Native people from their land and the federal government’s efforts to rid them of their cultures.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Native Americans and Alaska Natives are more than twice as likely than the general population to be victims of a violent crime, and Native women are twice as likely to be victims of...