MMIP activists hold late summer walk in Oregon to spread awareness

Last year’s event drew 300 people to Salem’s Riverfront Park, and was largely supported by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde.

Since then, founder Amanda Freeman’s group has become established as a non-profit and operates under the name of Ampkwa Advocacy. She’s hoping the walk at Riverview Park – about 40 miles southeast of the Grand Ronde reservation – will build on last year’s event and reach residents and business owners who’ve not heard about the crisis.

“There’s so many local shops and farmers’ markets,” Freemen told Buffalo’s Fire. “And the majority of people in these towns have no idea about MMIW or MMIP. So to be able to raise awareness and carry signs and drums and let people know that this is happening to our communities is really important to us.”

The Spirit Mountain Community Fund has helped cover this year’s awareness walk through a grant. The walk goes from 9am to 2:30pm on Aug. 30, and will start at 50 C Street in Independence, near the banks of the Willamette River.

“We’re also going to have an Indigenous women’s dance performance,” said Freeman. “So I think having all this will just bring people in to learn more about what we’re doing and why.”

Like last year’s event, there will be a special guest celebrity. In 2024, rapper, actor and motivational speaker Sten Joddi participated (“Reservation Dogs” fans will remember him as Bear’s absentee father.) In Saturday’s walk, TikTok influencer Che Jim will be the featured speaker.

“I’ve seen him do a lot of work around MMIP. And he teaches while also having humor in his videos,” said Freeman. “So that’s a good approach that I like, because as Native people we rely on our humor to get through a lot of our trauma.”

Freeman’s creative conduit is photography, so she’ll likely have multiple images of the awareness walk for MMIP/MMIW to share on her social media channels after the weekend.

“Advocacy is advocacy through art, and also just spreading awareness and being able to teach the youth about a lot of this that’s happening today,” said Freeman.

Ampwkwa Advocacy will mark its first year of operation in December. Freeman encourages anyone in Oregon who’d like to participate and support its activities to visit its website.