MMIWGT2S LEGISLATION INFORMATION

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.

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.”

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.

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 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.