Honoring MMIW Activists: In Loving Memory
MMIW work and advocacy is never ending. Sometimes the people on the front lines become the ones in crisis. This page is dedicated to all the community members working for MMIW Awareness who are gone too soon.
Keely Goff-Birdtail (1971-2025)
Keely Goff-Birdtail — Cherokee-Comanche warrior, mentor, and founder of the Missed Ones Society Inc. She traveled thousands of miles by motorcycle, carrying not only her message but the weight of too many stories left untold.
May her memory be a light to those grieving.
Simone Senogles (1970-2025)
Simone Sengoles — Red Lake band member with given names of Chinoodinikwe and Miskomakwakwe. She was the operations director for the Indigenous Environmental Network, a global organization that organizes campaigns around environmental justice. She was also one of the founders of MMIW 218, raising awareness and building community for families of missing and murdered Indigenous relatives in the Bemidji, MN area.
May her memory be a light to those grieving.
Pat Bellanger (1943-2015)
Pat Bellanger — White Earth Ojibway member, she did a lot with her life as an activist. She was a co-founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM), International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), and and active member in Women of All Red Nations (WARN). She was one of the guiding lights of the survival school movement, typified by the Heart of the Earth Survival School, and a key lobbyist for the Indian Child Welfare Act. Throughout her life, she remained a passionate and unwavering advocate for native women and children. She lived much of her life in Minneapolis after having grown up on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation.
May her memory be a light to those grieving.
