Las Vegas is iconic and the home of Indigenous Vision’s MMIW Director Melissa Spence. She’s lived on the traditional homelands of the Nuwui People since 2021. Vegas is the kind of place where every kind of conference goes down for obvious reasons. What might not be more known about Sin City is its growing community of advocacy for MMIR (Missing & Murdered Indigenous Relatives).
The stats show, thanks to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), that around 683 missing person reports are filed every month. That’s over 72,000 a year. Unfortunately, LVMPD acknowledges that there is a data-tracking deficit regarding our MMIR’s and as far as the entire state of Nevada goes, there are only 10 to 11 active, unsolved cases.
This is a familiar story.
On October 15th, 2026, United Natives, an online mentoring program designed specifically for Native American college students, hosted its 3rd Annual MMIR Awareness Summit at the University of Las Vegas. We want to thank the Fund For Nonviolence for generously providing a seat for Melissa to attend this year’s event.
It was a full day of learning from many incredible Indigenous advocates who traveled to share their knowledge and work inside the MMIR space. Panelists ranged from the globally recognized Hard Rock gaming & hospitality brand, to the often overlooked voices of our LGBTQIA+ relatives, and to the powerfully personal and unforgettable keynote from Ashley Callingbull.
United Natives CEO & Founder, Dr. Crystal Lee and her amazing team put together a truly impactful day that started with a prayer from Las Vegas Paiute Nation Spiritual Leader & Chairmen, Chris Spotted Eagle. From there the first of five panels began featuring Jen Murphy who is an Indigenous photographer, film maker, advocate, and member of the Chippewa Cree Tribes. The voice of Lynette GreyBull, Founder/Executive Director of Not Our Native Daughters, set the tone and focus of this event by passionately sharing the multitude of ways why the MMIR crisis is slow moving towards justice due to the systemic and racially biased system foundations families and community members are forced to navigate through.
One of the greatest takeaways from the day was how much more inclusive we need to be when it comes to our LGBTQIA+ relatives. Moderated by Elton Naswood, Executive Director of the Two-Spirit & Native LGBTQ+ Center for Equity, we were reminded of the negative impacts of organized religion within our own communities towards and how it has harmed our relatives and a reminder that their voices matter and belong in these dialogues. We must commit to making our spaces safe for them, their experiences, their knowledge, and their stories as they often go unheard despite them having disproportionately high rates of violence and homicide.
It was also exciting to finally meet Return to the Heart Foundation‘s Gina Jackson in-person! Gina is the Co-Founder and CEO of Return to the Heart, and took part in the ‘Healing the Mind, Honoring the Spirit’ panel bringing the funding realities of Indigenous-led organizations to the conversation. What really left us thinking was what we endure during the grant writing process; retraumatizing ourselves over and over by writing and sharing some of the darkest stories from our communities and families, constantly explaining why it should matter to the world in hopes of receiving funding for our organizations and projects.
Ashley Callingbull shared some of the deepest part of her story and truly inspired us to continue the work, uplifting each other, and using our voice even when it shakes. Balancing everything we experience in an active crisis that shows no signs of moving towards real justice while simultaneously enjoying our beautiful and exquisite gift of life is really the work. But that work is worth it. We met so many incredible people doing such good work. It was truly good medicine.
Thank you United Natives for giving us the space to move forward together.
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