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    • Acknowledgment
    • Our Ethos
    • Board of Directors
    • Advisory Board
    • Leadership
    • Staff
  • MMIWGT2S NYC+
    • Overview
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    • For Indigenous Community
  • Projects
    • Mentorship Program
    • Community Health Survey
    • Published Research
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  • Training + Assistance
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    • Urban Native Data
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MMIWGT2S LEGISLATION INFORMATION

Overview of UIC's Policy Work

UIC will provide ongoing policy and legislative updates on topics pertaining to Urban Indigenous health on this site in the following ways: 


  1. A MMIWGT2S+ Legal and Conversational Glossary for defining baseline terms that will be utilized throughout our policy analysis
  2. MMIWGT2S Policy Briefs that will provide crucial updates pertaining to notable legislation, policy, or legal decisions impacting the MMIWGT2S+ crisis across the country
  3. Our unprecedented MMIWGT2S Policy Tracker, providing a current overview of the current spate of legislation and policy introduced or implemented to address the crisis of MMIWGT2S+ across the nation.


UIC will monitor legislation and policy regarding local, state, and federal health care initiatives to ensure that Urban Indigenous communities are included in planning efforts to increase health care access and reduce health disparities of marginalized groups. 

Dive Deeper with Policy Briefs

The UIC team periodically reviews legislation and court cases pertaining to Indigenous rights and sovereignty. 


We summarize and critically analyze the information at hand and its implications, and provide these breakdowns in plain language rather than the legal language that can make these policies and cases so inaccessible for our impacted communities. You can read these policy briefs here.

View Policy Briefs

MMIWGT2S Legal and Conversational Glossary

MMIWGT2S Legal and Conversational Glossary

MMIWGT2S Legal and Conversational Glossary

Our team has provided this brief glossary of terms that are important to understand as you learn more about these issues. 

LEARN MORE

Understanding the UIC Policy Tracker

MMIWGT2S Legal and Conversational Glossary

MMIWGT2S Legal and Conversational Glossary

Our policy tracker breakes down each policy according to certain characteristics. What does each column in the policy tracker tell me?

LEARN MORE

Engage with UIC's Policy Tracker

MMIWGT2S Legal and Conversational Glossary

Engage with UIC's Policy Tracker

An unprecedented compilation of all state-wide or national legislation relating to MMIWGT2S in the United States

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The following map visualizes the key datapoints represented through our policy tracker.








The following chart is an unprecedented compilation of all state-wide or national legislation relating to MMIWGT2S in the United States. Included in this tracker are all policies introduced or passed since 2020, and the UIC team has included various columns breaking down each policy according to certain characteristics, outlined below. The policy tracker will be updated a few times each year.





POLICY TRACKER

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Working alongside the spirits of our Indigenous siblings that we have lost and are looking for on this physical plane takes immense resilience, strength, and physical and emotional labor. If you are a non-Indigenous person who has the capacity, the best way for you to support this cause is either through a one-time or recurring financial gift that will uplift our staff and our work. We appreciate your contribution toward paying the necessary reparations needed for our community.

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WHAT DOES EACH COLUMN IN THE POLICY TRACKER TELL ME?


  1. State: Within which state was this policy relating to missing and murdered indigenous people introduced?
  2. MMIP Policy Status: Has the policy in question been passed or not? Policies that have been passed are ranked as “1” and policies that have failed to pass are “0.” If a policy is pending it is categorized as “introduced.”
  3. Policy Update: This section depicts the name of the policy that was introduced in the state in question. The section includes information identifying the policy as introduced in the House or Senate (or through a state or local level program), the number identifying the legislation introduced, and the title or name of the proposed policy. The section may be clicked to access links to websites or PDF’s with the full text of the policy.
  4. Brief Summary of the Legislation: This section contains a brief summary of the proposed policy or legislation. The summary includes aims of the legislation, key dates, and target populations. 
  5. UIC Position: This section contains key aspects of each policy as compiled by the UIC team, and our overall evaluation of its merits and pitfalls. This section is meant to be a resource to aid understanding of the policies; it is important to note however that our team is made up of people who cannot individually or as a group speak to the viewpoint of the entire Indigenous community on any issue. 
  6. Mechanisms for Evaluation: This section contains information as to whether there are built in evaluation mechanisms for feedback or reform. For policies or legislation mandating the creation of task forces, this section explains whether there are built in clauses to enhance accountability, such as requirements to write a report. 
  7. Gender Inclusive Language: This section contains information as to whether or not there is trans-inclusive and/or two spirit inclusive language, as well as other languages demonstrating awareness of gender diversity.
  8. Prevention Efforts: This section contains information in regard to any prevention efforts that are embedded or mandated within the text of the legislation.  
  9. Level of Survivor/ Relative Input: This section ranks the level of survivor and relative input to the proposed policy or legislation. The polices are scored on a scale of 0-3, with 0 = no input, 1 = a low level of input, 2 = a moderate amount of input, 3 = a high level of input. 
  10. Centering of Indigenous Voices: This section analyzes whether the legislation solicits or incorporates the feedback of indigenous individuals and communities. This section will detail where exactly in the legislation indigenous voices are prioritized. 
  11. Sponsors of the Legislation: This section lists the political or community sponsors of the proposed policy or legislation. 
  12. Indigenous Sponsorship: This section lists the sponsoring members or entities of the legislation or policy that are indigenous through either federal or self identification. 
  13. Last Update: This section contains the date on which information pertaining to this policy was most recently updated. 

MMIWGT2S Legal and Conversational Glossary

The policies and issues discussed on this site use language that sits at an intersection between legal jargon and Indigenous-related terms that can have complicated historical backgrounds. Our team has provided this brief glossary of terms that are important to understand as you learn more about these issues. This glossary is always growing, and we welcome input if you feel there is a term we often use without enough explanation!

Indian as a Political Term

“Native” vs. “Indigenous” vs. “American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN)”

Indian as a Political Term

The term “Indian” did not exist prior to Indigenous peoples’ first contact with colonizers. Rather, it is a word that was and is currently used by colonizers incorrectly to describe Indigenous folks on this continent. It is a word that was created not by us, but about us, as we are diverse peoples from various cultures and backgrounds. Today, “Indian” has significant political meaning in United States law as does Federal “Indian” Policy, as Indigenous folks who are members of federally recognized tribes have a unique political identity in their relationship to the U.S. due to treaties between the U.S. and tribes. For example, having “Indian” status affects an individual’s access to healthcare, scholarship opportunities, and more. Many Indigenous people choose not to use the word “Indian,” while others have chosen to reclaim it (as was seen in the American Indian Movement (AIM)) or use the term “NDN”. It is never appropriate for a non-Indigenous person to use the word “Indian” unless referring to a proper noun, such as the Indian Health Service or the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Indian Country

“Native” vs. “Indigenous” vs. “American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN)”

Indian as a Political Term

In U.S. law, “Indian Country” generally refers to lands “in which tribal sovereignty applies and state power is limited.” A more thorough definition of “Indian Country” can be found here. However, at UIC, we attest that all land on this continent is occupied Indigenous land and should, therefore, be considered “Indian Country.”

“Native” vs. “Indigenous” vs. “American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN)”

“Native” vs. “Indigenous” vs. “American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN)”

“Native” vs. “Indigenous” vs. “American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN)”

The Urban Indigenous Collective uses “Indigenous” to encompass American Indian/Alaska Native peoples, Over the course of this work, we use the word Indigenous, a term that does not center current arbitrary geo-political lines, to describe American Indian, Canadian First Nations, Native American, and Alaskan Native populations. We use this term inclusive of all self-identifying Indigenous individuals from around the world, no matter whether they are outside of colonial federal classifications.

MMIWGT2S and MMIP

MMIWGT2S and MMIP

“Native” vs. “Indigenous” vs. “American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN)”

The acronym MMIWG stands for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls; the acronym exists because Indigenous women and girls go missing and are murdered at disproportionate rates compared to other racial groups in the United States. There are other versions of this acronym that include different Indigenous relatives such as MMIP AND MMIWT2S. MMIP stands for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and is not specific to gender, and thereby includes all Indigenous people. MMIWGT2S stands for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Trans, and Two-Spirit Folks; this acronym is inclusive to the queer relatives in Indigenous communities.

Two-Spirit

MMIWGT2S and MMIP

Two-Spirit

Two-Spirit is a term that refers to an Indigenous person who embodies both male and female characteristics. This could be applied to sexuality and/or gender expression. Two-Spirit is an umbrella term for queer Indigenous people, and may mean something distinct for each two-spirit person.

Featured Policy brief

Download PDF

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Safety of Indigenous Women, Girls, and Transgender and Two Spirit People (pdf)

Download

US v Cooley EXTENDED Policy Brief (pdf)

Download

US v Cooley CONDENSED Policy Brief (pdf)

Download

VAWA Brief 2022 (pdf)

Download

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