Data for Indigenous Justice

Community Building- healing community events and outreach. DIJ partnered with other Indigenous-led organizations in Alaska for community engagement and outreach. Events have included policy forum, VAWA22 banking, Integrated Public alert system training, Bring her home screening, Self Defense and Awareness Seminar, May 5th National MMIWG Awareness Day, an upcoming MMIWG2S Alaska SK: Run for Healing, and Run for Justice. DIJ is a partner in an Alaska MMIWG working group that does statewide work to address this crisis. DIJ sat on the planning committee for First Alaskans Institute MMIR Tribunal. This partnership has fostered future ideas for collaboration.

Reclaiming Data- constant data collection and cross referencing of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples. Gathering of data has come directly from our community with trust, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, reporting and cross referencing, media and social media. DIJ has developed direct partnership with national database systems and law enforcement agencies, improving access and accuracy of reclaimed data. DIJ has established meaningful connections with statewide and national organizations who are leading similar efforts in other states. DIJ continues to be sought for data expertise on this topic area and addressing the MMIWG crisis and has done dozens of presentations, key notes, and panels across the state, nationally and internationally. DIJ's "We are Calling to You" report has been cited in numerous legislative bills and other narratives for advocacy here in Alaska. The purpose of a baseline for referral has been a success.

Data systems Advocacy- advocating for data systems that serve Indigenous peoples. We know that the current systems were not made for us, and we have many recommendations from race/ethnicity categories, to location, reporting etc. DIJ released a new 2SLGBTQ data report for our data forums held in late 2021. DIJ worked closely with PREVENTION NOW, a nonprofit doing data analytics for human trafficking prevention on an Alaska service provider needs assessment. DIJ is creating a data working group with these partners for statewide collaboration. DIJ has done many presentations and speaking events this year, including at NCAI, University of Washington, UAF, and for the state public health and public safety conferences. DIJ meets with the Governors office every two weeks to discuss MMIWG2S and data. DIJ partnered with ANWRC to provide Savannahs Act Guidelines feedback to the feds on implementation here in Alaska.