An Indigenous women's group, Medicine Wheel Ride, is coming to the Central Coast on Thursday to raise awareness about the missing and murdered Native American women across the nation.
Chris Stevenson, with the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, is helping organize the event. He said Medicine Wheel Ride will screen their short film, "We Ride For Her,” which showcases their advocacy work.
“We are trying to do our part in supporting what they do,” Stevenson said. “As a tribe and as a whole, the Chumash have been blessed, and so we try to create a safe space for all indigenous people so they feel welcome.”
Attendees will receive a free dinner and have the opportunity to meet the activists.
“They can meet a core group of very strong indigenous women who are doing a grassroots campaign to bring more awareness,” Stevenson said.
The US Department of the Interior reports that Native American women go missing and are murdered more often than other groups. However, accurate counts are challenging because their race is often misclassified or omitted from official lists.
According to the National Crime Information Center, 5,712 cases of missing indigenous women and girls were reported in 2016, but the federal government only logged 116 of these cases.
The event starts at 2 p.m. at the Tribal Hall on the Santa Ynez Reservation.
