Indigenous Episcopal leaders address missing, murdered women and girls in panel discussion

The Rev. Debbie Royals, former canon for the Diocese of Arizona’s Native American Ministry and a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, was one of three panelists who discussed the high number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in the United States during a March 11 panel discussion. The National Episcopal Church Women hosted the virtual panel discussion as part of a series of in-person and virtual events held March 9-19 during the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, CSW70. Photo: Screenshot

[Episcopal News Service] The National Episcopal Church Women hosted a March 11 virtual panel discussion on the high number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in the United States.

The panel discussion was part of a series of in-person and virtual events planned during the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, CSW70. Episcopal women and people from across the Anglican Communion are participating in the March 9-19 event, the U.N.’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s rights.

It’s important to understand the historical legacy of colonization, including forced assimilation policies, Indigenous boarding schools and the dispossession of Indigenous lands. These issues, which are increasingly being recognized as acts of literal and cultural genocide, created the systemic conditions that “perpetrate violence and marginalization of Indigenous women,” the Rev. Debbie Royals, former canon for the Diocese of Arizona’s Native American Ministry and a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, said during the panel discussion.

In the United States, more than 1.5 million Native American women – 84.3% of the population – have experienced violence in their lifetime, according to data from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. They are more than twice as likely to experience violence than women from any other demographic. More than half of the total Native American population, most of whom are young women, have experienced sexual violence.

“Colonialism and the ongoing systemic racism destroyed traditional ways of life for Indigenous men, women and children. It included the seizure of land and the forced erosion of language, culture, spirituality and traditional values,” Royals said. “As a result, the traditional roles of men and women … were diminished and devalued, causing immeasurable harm. Women who were once respected and honored for their spiritual and mental strength lost their traditional roles of leadership and the reverence as life givers.”

Royals was among three Indigenous Episcopal panelists who participated in the discussion. The other panelists were the Rev. Shaneequa Brokenleg, The Episcopal Church’s staff officer for racial reconciliation and interim missioner for Indigenous Ministries, who is Lakota; and Madeline Sampson, Province VIII president of the National Episcopal Church Women and a member of the Navajo Nation. The Rev. Twilla Two Bulls, a deacon at Christ Episcopal Church in Red Shirt Table, South Dakota, and an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, also was previously scheduled to participate.

In 2023, homicide was the fourth leading cause of death among Indigenous men and boys ages 1 to 44, and the sixth leading cause of death for women and girls in the same age group, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs, a federal agency within the Department of the Interior, estimates that approximately 4,200 missing and murdered cases have gone unsolved due to a lack of investigative resources.

The complex, overlapping web of tribal, federal, state and local jurisdictions often complicate finding and solving cases. Under the 1978 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, for example, Native American tribal courts don’t have inherent criminal jurisdiction over non-Native Americans, creating a jurisdictional gap in law enforcement. The FBI instead handles serious crimes, which decreases prosecution chances. Additionally, the historic dispossession of Indigenous lands fuels systemic poverty, vulnerability and jurisdictional confusion.

A database listing all state-level legislation addressing the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls crisis can be found on the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center’s website.

During the panel discussion, Sampson named two missing and murdered Indigenous women, Ella Mae Begay and Emily Pike. Both of their cases remain unsolved.

In June 2021, Begay, an elderly Diné master rug weaver, disappeared from her home near Sweetwater, Arizona, and remains missing. Her case, according to Sampson, “has helped bring national attention to the high rate of violence faced by Native American people” as tribal leaders and advocates “continue pushing for law enforcement resources and more cooperation for investigations across jurisdictional lines.” In January, the only suspect in Begay’s disappearance pled guilty to one robbery charge in exchange for murder charges not being pursued.

Pike, a 14-year-old San Carlos Apache girl residing in a group home for girls in Mesa, Arizona, disappeared in Jan. 2025. Parts of her remains were found a month later in trash bags. No suspect has been arrested.

Royals noted that Pike’s family wasn’t immediately notified of her disappearance, and some of her relatives learned about her death from news reports.

“It’s important for us to recognize [this fact] as well because it speaks again to the way in which the diminished value of a person continues to play in the way that the system works,” Royals said.

Pike’s killing prompted the state of Arizona to establish later that year a Turquoise Alert system, also known as “Emily’s Law.” The alert notifies the public of people under the age of 65 who are members of a federally recognized tribe and have disappeared under suspicious circumstances.

The loss of Indigenous women affects their communities spiritually, according to Brokenleg, and reforming Western education so that it doesn’t center around men “can help change our community norms and about how we value women and women’s roles.”

Additionally, “I think we can enhance parenting skills, and we can also, in education, train teachers to be able to see when things might not be OK and intervene so we can prevent harm and prevent future risk,” Brokenleg said. “I think also teaching children how to talk to adults [so they know] to find people to help when something does come up – [would help] them find their voice.”

In 2022, General Convention passed a resolution calling on congregations and dioceses to engage in state and local advocacy efforts addressing missing and murdered Indigenous women and all women and girls of color.

Nationally, May 5 is National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives, and Sep. 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day. Some congregations and dioceses, including the Diocese of Northern Michigan, already observe Orange Shirt Day to honor survivors and victims of Indigenous boarding schools. The Episcopal Church’s Truth, Justice & Healing Commission on Native American Boarding Schools is working on a resolution to commemorate both awareness days churchwide.

Individually, Brokenleg often wears a red handprint symbol representing missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls on her clergy shirts to help spread awareness.

“I think that part of our role as church leaders, both lay and ordained, we can talk about [and advocate combatting the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls crisis] and make sure we raise awareness about it,” she said.

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.