Sign in Subscribe

MMIWG2T Historical Research and Reporting Project

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
CrosswindsCrosswinds 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
CrosswindsTrista 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
CrosswindsRachael 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
CrosswindsCrosswinds 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
CrosswindsTrista 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,
CrosswindsCrosswinds 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
CrosswindsRachael 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
CrosswindsCrosswinds 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.
CrosswindsCrosswinds News Team
Relative of neglected Native girl uncovers pattern of atrocities and greed in Oklahoma
(MCCURTAIN COUNTY, Okla.) For 79-year-old Richard Johnston, retirement from his career as a computer programmer hasn’t led to a quiet life off the clock. The Choctaw citizen has honored his love of history by researching and investigating cases of Native minors who found themselves both in sudden wealth and
CrosswindsRachael Schuit
Reflecting on an era of fortune and deviousness: The Jackson Barnett saga
Photo Courtesy: Library of Congress Written By Noel Lyn Smith (OKLAHOMA) Ronald Barnett recalled a time in 2022, when he stood on a patch of eastern Oklahoma land that once belonged to his great-great-great-uncle. “It was just like a one room hut, and the fireplace was right in the center
CrosswindsCrosswinds News Team
Missing and Murdered Indigenous People crisis is a century-old problem. Akey Ulteeskee’s story proves it
Written By Sarah Liese (Twilla) Mainstream media outlets have often overlooked stories of missing and murdered Indigenous people for more than a century. The story of Akey Ulteeskee, a Cherokee woman who suffered sexual and financial abuse at the hands of her alcoholic guardian in the early 1900s, highlights a
CrosswindsCrosswinds News Team
Trapped by Wealth: The Abuse and Trafficking of Katie Fixico
This story contains descriptions of alcohol misuse, domestic abuse, exploitation, racial violence, and historical trauma related to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit and Transgender People (MMIWG2T). Some readers may find this material distressing. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use,
CrosswindsTrista Vaughn
The abduction of Jackson Barnett: What really happened to the “world’s richest Indian”
Photo Courtesy: Library of Congress Written By: Noel Lyn Smith (LOS ANGELES, Calif.) Buried in what is now known as Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Muscogee oil millionaire Jackson Barnett died in California in 1934 at the age of 93 following a 14-year marriage to his alleged kidnapper Anna Laura “Mary” Lowe.
CrosswindsCrosswinds News Team
Historical Connection Reporting Toolkit for MMIWG2T Investigations Coming Soon!

We are deeply appreciative of the brave souls who helped forge the path of “Historical Connection Reporting”

Project Leads

Trista Vaughn (United Keetoowah Band, Hualapai, and Chickasaw)

Allison Herrera (Xolon Salinan)

Journalists

Rachael Schuit (Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin)

Sarah Liese (Turtle Mountain Chippewa and Navajo)

Carrie Johnson (Chickasaw and Pawnee)

Chelsea Hicks (Osage)

Noel Smith (Diné and Navajo)

Whitney Pingleton (Muscogee Creek, Yuchi, and Cherokee)

Editors

Rosemary Avance, PhD (Cherokee and Delaware)

Brian Bull (Nez Perce)

Brittany Harlow

Special Thanks To

Tara Gatewood (Pueblo of Isleta and Diné) Director of the Fund for Indigenous Journalists: Reporting on MMIWG2T at the International Women’s Media Foundation for all of her support!

This work was also greatly assisted by access to the “Indigenous Peoples of North America, Part II: The Indian Rights Association, 1882–1986” made possible through Crosswinds News and the Tulsa City County Library

Leveraging funding from Northwestern University’s Data-Driven Reporting Project, a Crosswinds News research and reporting team traveled to Philadelphia in the summer of 2023 to view the Indian Rights Association collection firsthand and inspect records specifically relating to Tulsa County’s Allotment Era injustice.

They returned from Pennsylvania determined to find a way to make the private documents available to the public, ultimately formulating a plan to obtain the $18,900 licensing fee for the digital records and make them accessible through a partnership with Tulsa City-County Library (TCCL).

Read more here.