Environmentalism and gender-based violence are two seemingly very separate issues plaguing our world today. However, they are connected in a very widespread, but often silenced issue. I am talking about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) and their correlation to the extractive oil industry. 

After five years of fighting for justice, the family of Navajo woman Jamie Lynette Yazzie left a Phoenix courtroom with a sense of relief and joy as the man convicted of her murder was sentenced to life in prison

Ashley Loring HeavyRunner was 20 years old when she was last seen in June 2017. Although Ashley is only five feet two inches tall, a childhood friend described her as emotionally, spiritually, and physically strong. Loxi Loring, Ashley’s mother described her daughter as smart, athletic, positive, and always willing to help, someone who loved horses and the rain. Ashley is a member of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana and was enrolled in Blackfeet Community College studying environmental science. The Blackfeet reservation is expansive and spans more than 1.5 million acres, and is larger than the state of Deleware.

Ashley’s sister Kimberly first knew something was off when she returned from a three-month trip to Morocco. The plan had been for Kimberly to move Ashley into her apartment in nearby Missoula so they could start a new life together. Ashley never contacted her sister when she returned and any calls and messages to her phone went unanswered. Her family initially thought she could have gone to visit a family friend or lost her phone, as that had happened before. Paul was soon unexpectedly hospitalized for liver failure and when there was still no word from Ashley, they knew something was seriously wrong. They were a close-knit family and Ashley would have contacted them.