We have a lot more work to do: Alaska recognizes Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Awareness Day [Video]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Native American and Alaska Native people experience rates of violent crime higher than the national average, according to the Department of the Interior.

Those numbers are even more startling in Alaska, which has the fourth-highest number of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) in the country, according to the Urban Indian Health Institute.

Alaska recognizes Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Awareness Day on May 5 in honor of those lost to violent crime.

“We want to uplift, we want to educate and have people understand what [MMIP] are and what this issue is,” Kendra Kloster, Co-Director of MMIWG2S Alaska Working Group explained. “But for me, it’s not just today … It’s how we do this every single day and in our lives.”

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski called MMIP Awareness Day an opportunity to honor, acknowledge, and share stories of those who have been affected by what she called an “on-going crisis”.

“We have made …