MMIWG2T Historical Research and Reporting Project
The MMIWG2T Historical Research and Reporting Project is an investigative journalism initiative led by Crosswinds News to uncover and explain how documented historical injustices and systemic violence against Indigenous people - particularly women, girls, Two-Spirit, and transgender individuals - contribute to ongoing patterns of harm today.
The project engages Indigenous journalists to produce deeply researched, culturally sensitive stories that make clear, evidence-based connections between history and present-day conditions.
This reporting was supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Fund for Indigenous Journalists: Reporting on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two Spirit and Transgender People (MMIWG2T).
In February 2025, Crosswinds News and IWMF’s Fund for Indigenous Journalists brought Indigenous journalists from all over the country to Oklahoma for one week for the MMIWG2T Historical Research and Reporting Project.
Explore the stories they have told so far through the MMIWG2T Historical Research and Reporting Project below:
Is Eastern Oklahoma the site of the worst injustices committed against Indigenous girls in the US?
Written By Allison Herrera A newly acquired archive gives clues about what happened to Indian land and wealth after Oklahoma statehood in 1907. VNN Oklahoma is sharing those stories in a new series that puts names and faces to them. (TULSA, Okla.) In 1923, Martha Axe Roberts (Washington) was searching
Crosswinds Admin
Before there was the MMIP movement, there was Zitkala-Ša
Photo Courtesy: Trista Vaughn/Library of Congress (TULSA, Okla.) The modern Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) movement began gaining ground in the 1980s, largely relating to public outcry of Indigenous disappearances and deaths from the Highway of Tears in British Columbia. Before long, the movement made its way to
Trista Vaughn
Death of 7-year-old Ledcie Stechi highlights the injustice of the guardianship system
Photo Courtesy: Library of Congress USA The allotment era and the guardianship system was a tragic period of time for Native Americans in Oklahoma, including young children who had wealth. (MCCURTAIN COUNTY, Okla.) Ledcie Stechi was just seven years old when she died on August 15, 1923, in Goodwater, Oklahoma
Rachael Schuit
MMIP relatives like Baylee Mason Good may choose to remain houseless
Written By: Chelsea T. Hicks | Osage News (OSAGE RESERVATION) Amidst cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP), it is uncommon for missing persons to be unhoused, according to Olivia Gray, who is the chair of Northeastern Oklahoma Indigenous Safety and Education’s (NOISE) Board of Directors. Read this story
Crosswinds News Team
Zitkala-Ša’s legacy living on through MMIP advocacy in Oklahoma
Pictured: Cheyenne and Arapaho MMIP Chair LaRenda Morgan dresses up as Zitkala-Ša for the Women Voters OKC Women’s Suffragette Play (OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.) Living only to her early sixties, the legacy of Indigenous advocate Zitkala-Ša continues to impact the Native community, especially in MMIP chapters in Oklahoma, nearly 100 years
Trista Vaughn
Two-Spirit discrimination persists, as questions swirl around Aubrey Dameron’s murder investigation
Written By Sarah Liese (Twilla) | KOSU Radio (GROVE, Okla.) Six years after Aubrey Dameron, a 25-year-old transgender Cherokee woman, disappeared from a popular summer destination on the Cherokee Nation reservation, multiple law enforcement agencies in the state have worked on her case. Yet, no details regarding her death have emerged,
Crosswinds News Team
Native rights advocates sounded the alarm on dying children, but the courts did little to save them
Photo of Ledcie Stechi with her grandmother, provided by Richard Johnston, author of Choctaw Woman - Mela Comes Home During the first part of the 20th century in Oklahoma, many Indigenous minors were placed under guardians, who managed their estates and resources. A group of investigators believed they had a
Rachael Schuit
Mystery of Mary Elkins: Was she another unaccounted victim of the Reign of Terror?
Written By: Chelsea T. Hicks | Osage News (OSAGE RESERVATION) Candace Shelton is the granddaughter of full blood Osage Mary Elkins, and the daughter of Mary Jacqueline Elkins Shelton. Mary Elkins died young at the age of 30 in 1932, and Shelton has long wondered what happened to her grandmother. Read
Crosswinds News Team
Teen’s death highlights persistent challenges with Oklahoma’s MMIP cases
But Oklahoma law enforcement is learning fast response and collaboration with tribal police can make a difference. Written By Carrie Johnson (PAULS VALLEY, Okla.) Faith Lindsey was 17 when she went missing. At the time, she was working at a Sonic drive-in and was in a difficult and contentious relationship.
Crosswinds News Team
