BREWSTER – Dozens of people assembled on Main Street in Brewster Tuesday evening to honor Indigenous women whose lives were affected or lost through murder or disappearance.
Pastor Jennifer Boyd from Trinity Lutheran Church in Southeast led the prayer vigil, urging those present to support families searching for answers, justice, and healing.
According to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Indigenous women are more than two times likely to experience violent crimes while homicide is the third leading cause of death for Indigenous women 10-24 years of age.
Boyd noted the movement was expanding into Putnam County to raise awareness about the crisis while seeking to offer support to communities like Brewster with missing individuals and at the same time addressing the underlying causes of the calamity.
In 2019, Tuesday was established as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls.
Boyd said the “lack of action by our governments, law enforcement and society as a whole in addressing the issue was unacceptable. We must not forget that every person has inherent dignity and worth. Violence against Indigenous women is an affront to that dignity.”
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