"Lighting The Way For Those Not Here": How Technology Researchers Can Help Fight the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Crisis

TL;DR

The MMIR crisis arises from settler-colonial violence and systemic erasure, with technology both enabling harm and powering advocacy. The authors apply a decolonial feminist HCI lens to perform a large-scale, ethically grounded content analysis of 140 web pages (out of over 123,000 collected) to identify socio-technical barriers and community-driven actions. They contribute a publicly accessible MMIR web-page dataset, a nuanced qualitative analysis grounded in Indigenous storytelling, and actionable design recommendations that prioritize Indigenous data sovereignty, community leadership, and culturally sensitive technology. The work foregrounds Indigenous voices, rejects extractive inquiry, and offers practical guidance for building technologies that support families, advocates, and tribal police in healing, safety, and justice efforts. Overall, it demonstrates how high-impact HCI research can reimagine technology as a site of care, memory, and resistance within MMIR contexts.

Abstract

Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island (North America) face disproportionate rates of disappearance and murder, a "genocide" rooted in settler-colonial violence and systemic erasure. Technology plays a crucial role in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) crisis: perpetuating harm and impeding investigations, yet enabling advocacy and resistance. Communities utilize technologies such as AMBER alerts, news websites, social media groups, and campaigns (like #MMIW, #MMIWR, #NoMoreStolenSisters, and #NoMoreStolenDaughters) to mobilize searches, amplify awareness, and honor missing relatives. Yet, little research in HCI has critically examined technology's role in shaping the MMIR crisis by centering community voices. Through a large-scale study, we analyze 140 webpages to identify systemic, technological, and institutional barriers that hinder communities' efforts, while highlighting socio-technical actions that foster healing and safety. Finally, we amplify Indigenous voices by providing a dataset of stories that resist epistemic erasure, along with recommendations for HCI researchers to support Indigenous-led initiatives with cultural sensitivity, accountability, and self-determination.

Figures (8)

• Figure 1: Data Processing Pipeline -- shows the data collection (\ref{['methods:data_collection']}), downsampling (\ref{['methods:data_filtering']}) qualitative analysis (\ref{['methods:data_analysis']}) of online pages on MMIR crisis.
• Figure 2: Online Reporting Form -- An online reporting form by the City of Wasilla Police Department.
• Figure 3: Social Media Posts -- The posts illustrate actions taken by families, advocates, and tribal police to find missing relatives and raise awareness. (left) A note courtesy Cheryl Horn mabie-mothers-2022 that her daughter left when she went missing. The note provided her name, a description of what she wore and the time she'd left on foot to seek help. The note says "If I do not make it there and you do not hear from me idk (I don't know) someone probs took me" mabie-may-2022. The (middle two) posters found on social media for finding missing relative ( \ref{['tab:actions-A1']}), and (right) image is a social media post to raise awareness about the MMIR crisis.
• Figure 4: Sacred Traditional Healing Practices -- For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples have been using traditional practices to heal and honor the spirits, such as (top-left) sharing circles help create a community of healing native_education_healingsharing_2023, (top-right) smudging, drumming, singing, food offerings and prayers are held by Elders to cleanse spirits mueller-nevada-2020, bottom-left) Medicine wheel "represent the alignment and continuous interaction of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual realities" indigenous_corporate_training_inc_what_nodate , and (bottom-right) sweat lodge ceremonies led by Elders and Grandmothers auger-force-2023.
• Figure 5: Indigenous Art -- Indigenous activists symbolize the resilience of Indigenous peoples through the #MMIR movement. The artworks symbolize (top-left) communities wearing red colors at prayers, protests, candle vigils, marches, and marathons to honor the relatives and raise awareness about the crisis haasken_bring_2023, (top-right) The beadwork portrait of "Mavis Kirk-Greeley created by her sister Merle Kirk" symbolize of the [MMIR] movement in Oregon bull-as-2021, (bottom-left) the red hand symbol embodying the MMIR movement honoring the spirits of the ones who are lost. apok-we-2021, and (bottom-right) TsuuT’ina Cell Block: cellblocks dorn cultural revitalization art and literature depicting trauma-informed and restorative justice values tsuutina_nation_police_service_annual_2022