Anchorage gathering planned to remember missing Native women

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska advocacy groups are hosting a public weekend ceremony in Anchorage to remember missing and murdered indigenous women.

The free Saturday afternoon event at the Alaska Native Heritage Center is being held to coincide with the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls, to be observed Sunday.

The Anchorage event is billed as a community gathering and “heartbeat of drums.” It will feature dance and drum groups, speakers and traditional Alaska Native foods, including moose and seal soup.

The event comes amid a national crisis — the disappearances of hundreds of Native American and Alaska Native women and girls from across the country. Native women experience some of the highest rates of murder, sexual violence and domestic abuse.